A small play that's been making a big impact in New York is scheduled to open Ensemble Theatre's 2002-03 season.

        The Guys is about a New York Fire Department captain who has to write eulogies for eight men lost in the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center. At ETC, it would coincide with the 9-11 anniversary.

IF YOU GO

What: Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati 2002-03 season     Where: 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine     Tickets: Subscriptions ($100-$130) now available; mainstage single tickets ($28), students and seniors ($25), and Off-Center tickets ($10) go on sale June 5. 421-3555.     Mainstage     The Guys (rights pending), Sept. 4-22     Underneath the Lintel/Bed Among the Lentils, Oct. 9-27     The Frog Princess, Dec. 4-29     TBA, Jan. 22-Feb. 9     James and Annie, March 12-30     Triple Espresso, April 23-May 11     Off-Center/On-Stage series The Credeaux Canvas, Oct. 30-Nov. 2     Tape, Feb. 12-15     Breath, Boom, April 2-5     Apprentice Co. Project, TBA, May 14-17

        “It seemed important to do this play, to commemorate something which changed all our lives forever, and was written from the heart of it all,” says ETC producing artistic director D. Lynn Meyers. “It's about coming together and understanding the aftermath.” Rights are pending.

        Next year's Off-Center series spins strongly twentysomething, and Ms. Meyers says her mind was on attracting young adult audiences and actors. The three named entries (the final show will be a TBA showcase for ETC's apprentice company) “are very different looks at coming of age.”

        Breath, Boom, in particular, is widely considered to be a breakthrough work by an important new voice in theater.

        Kia Corthron's play about the life of the leader of an African-American girl gang opened to great acclaim last season off-Broadway. All the Off-Center plays were chosen, says Ms. Meyers, “to give great roles to young people, to give young actors a reason to stay in Cincinnati.”

        Other mainstage entries include:

        • Playwright Warren Leight's latest, James and Annie, about an interracial love affair and marriage that begins on the night WWII ends. Mr. Leight was last represented at ETC with Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine.

        James and Annie will be workshopped in September as the first entry in the Theatre of the Mind staged reading series.

        • Triple Espresso, which will bring in a performer from the Magic Castle in Los Angeles as it recounts the 25th anniversary performance of a guy who's spent his life on a coffeehouse stage. “It shows how a small, unsuccessful life can still be a wonderful life,” Ms. Meyers says.

        Espresso, Ms. Meyers adds, “is good for all ages.”

        • A revival of the family show The Frog Princess, by local writers David Kisor and Joe McDonough, in the holiday slot. A return for Princess, says Ms. Meyers, “is our most requested show.”

        • Underneath the Lintel, a one-man show about a librarian driven to flights of literary fancy when a book is returned, 123 years overdue. It is paired with the 30-minute monologue Bed Among the Lentils, recounted by the unhappy wife of an Anglican vicar.

        The final mainstage entry, scheduled to run Jan. 22-Feb. 9, will be announced June 15. Expect a companion piece to Proof (Jan. 12-Feb. 14) at Playhouse in the Park.
       

Painter brushes with greatness
Designs, fabrics change kids' clothes
Riverbend concert season still growing
KNIPPENBERG: Knip's Eye View
'Morimur' project explores Bach's hidden chorales
Ensemble pursues younger actors, audience
Next wave: Law student loves laughs
Spend evening with Ernest J. Gaines
The Early Word
Top 10s
Get to it