The Collective Face’s 2013-2014 season kicks off with “Equus”

It’s hard to believe that Peter Shaffer’s Equus was written 40 years ago. The text still has tremendous power and immediacy. Daniel Radcliffe broke from his Harry Potter roots and starred in the highly praised revival that hit Broadway in 2008. Richard Burton and Peter Firth were among the stars of the film adaptation directed by Sidney Lumet.

Equus seems an appropriately ambitious season opener for The Collective Face Theatre Ensemble. It runs from Sept. 20-Oct. 6.

Other plays in the upcoming season include Bell, Book and Candle by John van Druten (Dec. 6-22), Fool For Love by Sam Shepard (March 7-22), and The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson (May 9-25).

All performances will be at Muse Arts Warehouse.

From today’s press release:

Following an inaugural season of unparalleled quality and unprecedented success, The Collective Face Theatre Ensemble is thrilled to announce the four shows that will comprise the 2013-2014 season.

“I looked at what we had done this past year, what was very successful, and took that into account,” says Artistic Director David I.L. Poole. “I take suggestions from the audience and I take suggestions from the company members. Some of the more challenging plays for this season were chosen because audience members wanted us to do them.”

Renowned for dazzling dramatic interpretations of such classics as Angels in America, Suddenly Last Summer and Shadowlands, Savannah’s only repertory company also brought uproarious comedy (What the Butler Saw), a literary classic (Pride and Prejudice) and Biblical drama (Oscar Wilde’s Salome) to theater-goers during the 2012-2013 season.

According to Poole, the goal is to keep the bar as high as possible, to produce work that “challenges the audience. Then you take into account the people that you have in your company, and what roles would be very good for them. We’re also into actor development, so I always look for roles that will stretch company members. We’re growing as a company … and as a community as well.”

I don’t know anything about Bell, Book and Candle, a romantic comedy that was turned into a film with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak back in the 1950s, but it sounds fun. Fool For Love is an American classic, and The Memory of Water, which tells the story of three sisters at their mother’s funeral, seems a great vehicle for the excellent actors in the ensemble.

Here are the ensemble’s current members: