Playhouse season begins with ‘slashing' courtroom drama

Monroe- Is she a prostitute? Is she a killer? Is she nuts? The Playhouse at Museum Village begins its season with "Nuts," a courtroom drama by Tom Topor.  The setting is Bellevue Hospital, where an incarcerated woman valiantly attempts to fight those who want to have her declared mentally incompetent to stand trial on a manslaughter charge.  The state, represented by a court-appointed psychiatrist and an aggressive prosecutor, says Claudia Faith Drapper is nuts. She believes, however, that she is sane and innocent of the murder.  She does not want to be locked away in a mental institution, but rather accept responsibility for her actions and be allowed to take her chances by going to trial on the murder charge.  The audience is in a courtroom watching a woman fight for what she believes is her future. "Nuts" will run from May 1 to 16. The Playhouse season continues with the popular farce "Noises Off" by Michael Frayn, to run from July 10 to 25. The comedy follows the on-and-off-stage antics of a touring company as it fumbles from dress rehearsal to the disastrous last night of its doomed production of "Nothing On." Completing the season will be performances in September of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," a musical comedy about a young, eager man named J. Pierrepont Finch. Thanks to his book on business politics, Finch goes from window washer to chairman of the board in a short time and in the most extraordinary way. This will be the ninth season that the all-volunteer company has performed at the Playhouse, located on the grounds of Museum Village in Monroe. The company offers audiences a dessert buffet of apple pie, ice cream, and iced tea and coffee during intermission. For information on ticket prices, group rates, and season subscriptions, call the box office at 294-9465.