Clayton Community Theatre proudly announces our 27th (2025-2026) season! We will be performing each production for two weeks, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 and Sunday afternoons at 2:00.
The School for Scandal, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, directed by Heather Sartin
October 9-19, 2025
The intrigues of such aptly named characters as Lady Sneerwell, Sir Joseph Surface, Lady Candour, and Sir Benjamin Backbite have amused audiences for more than two centuries. The invention of Irish-born playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, they unfold, collide, and backfire hilariously in this masterpiece, a play still widely considered the best comedy of manners in English. The two plots, one involving Sir Oliver Surface and his two nephews, and the other unleashing Lady Sneerwell’s attempts to ensnare the hapless Lady Teazle and others in her designs, converge brilliantly in the screen scene – one of the most famous in all of theater. The School for Scandal reveals not only Sheridan’s mastery of stage comedy, but also his flair for witty dialogue and his delight in skewering the pretentious affectation of 1770’s London society. Visually beautiful, linguistically melodious, and shamefully hilarious, it remains one of the most produced of all theater classics today and a truly enjoyable night of theater for both actor and audience alike!
Wit, by Margaret Edson, directed by Rob Corbett
January 29 – February 8, 2026
Vivian Bearing, a brilliant and uncompromising professor of English Literature who has spent years specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne, has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. She agrees to undergo an experimental chemotherapy treatment that, although not guaranteed to save her, will provide excellent research data for the future of oncology. Once the teacher, she is now the student, learning everything she can about the disease and constantly at the mercy of the doctors in authority. Over the course of her treatment, she begins to seek the warmth and care that, in her quest for excellence, she denied her students during her many years of teaching.
Man of La Mancha, book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion;
directed by Sam Hack, music directed by Gene Rauscher
April 23 – May 3, 2026
Adapted from Don Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Spanish novel, “Don Quixote”, Man of La Mancha is wonderfully theatrical, funny, and uplifting. The inspirational Tony Award-winning musical about one man’s refusal to give up on his “Impossible Dream” to right all wrongs has mesmerized audiences for years! Playwright Cervantes has been thrown into a dungeon to await trial. To save his cherished manuscript from fellow prisoners, he and his faithful servant transform themselves and act out a heartfelt story. The wonderful score includes “Dulcinea”, “Little Bird” and the incomparable “The Impossible Dream.” The show espouses pure theatricality in its most passionate form. It is also a musical that gives HOPE. We can get through anything and achieve personal peace.
Terms of Endearment, by Dan Gordon, directed by Jessica Johns Kelly
July 23 – August 2, 2026
Aurora, a widowed and controlling mother, and Emma, her feisty and independent daughter, have a close but often strained relationship, connected by frequent phone calls and strong opinions. Emma marries Flap Horton, a young college professor, who turns out to be a philandering husband. Meanwhile, Aurora develops a relationship with her next-door neighbor, Garrett, a retired astronaut. The play explores the complex relationship between the mother and daughter as they navigate life's challenges including love, marriage, family, and loss with humor and heart.
All plays are presented in the Washington University South Campus Theatre, 6501 Clayton Road, Clayton, MO 63117.