The Plays of Season 22
Fat Ham
by James Ijames
Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
South Carolina Premiere
September 2024
The Last Five Years
written & composed by Jason Robert Brown
October – November 2024
The Shark is Broken
by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon
Southeast Regional Premiere
January – February 2025
Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson
Apt. 2b
by Kate Hamill
Southeast Regional Premiere
March 2025
Pleasure Never Lies
book and lyrics by Marshall Hagins
music by Brad Moranz
World Premiere Musical
Developed in the PURE Lab
April – May 2025
FAT HAM
by James IJames
South Carolina Premiere
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
September 2024
“It’s Shakespeare . . . kind of.” When the ghost of his father shows up in the backyard, demanding revenge for his murder, it feels like a familiar story to Juicy, a queer Southern college kid who is well-versed in Hamlet’s woes. Against the backdrop of an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy. Fat Ham is a delectably modern reinvention of a classic recipe, seasoned to perfection.
“HILARIOUS yet PROFOUND” —The New York Times
“DELICIOUS, FUNNY and piercingly MOVING, Fat Ham is a celebration that’s as thoughtful as it is IRREVERENT.” —The Daily Beast
“UPROARIOUS . . . an unalloyed
COMEDY PLEASURE.” —The Wall Street Journal
The Last Five Years
written & Composed by
Jason Robert Brown
Drama Desk Winner for Music & Lyrics
October–November 2024
In The Last Five Years, love, heartache, and the passage of time are woven together with music in a mesmerizing journey—from the meet-cute to the break-up and then somehow right back to the start again. First produced at PURE 15 years ago, this freshly reimagined staging showcases his and hers vocal powerhouses in a passionate and intimate take on one of contemporary theatre’s most beloved musicals that has just the right amount of schmaltz.
“JAW-DROPPING! A gem of a show from Jason Robert Brown” —New York Magazine
“It’s instantly clear . . . that this POIGNANT, richly dramatic and piercingly HONEST two-character show is destined to be A HIT.” —The Chicago-Sun Times
The Shark Is Broken
by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon
SouthEast Regional Premiere
January–February 2025
The open ocean, 1974. Filming is delayed . . . again. The lead actors—theatre veteran Robert Shaw and young Hollywood hotshots Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider—are crammed into a too-small boat, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic . . . if it doesn’t sink them all. Inspired by Robert Shaw’s experience playing Quint on the notorious shoot, The Shark Is Broken celebrates movie history and peeks at the choppy waters behind Hollywood’s first blockbuster.
“LAUGHS APLENTY . . . a WILD RIDE” —Entertainment Weekly
“A MOVING comedy-drama . . . a little pearl of a play . . . tension, humor, depth, silliness and horror coming like waves lapping the boat.” —AP News
Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B
by Kate Hamill
Southeast Regional Premiere
March 2025
Oddball female roommates Sherlock (yes, it’s also a girl’s name—wait, is it a girl’s name? Is it even a name?) Holmes & Joan Watson join forces to emerge from pandemic fog as a deeply codependent, quasi-dysfunctional adventure duo—solving mysteries and kicking butts, until they come face to face with a villain who seems to have all of the answers. An irreverent, darkly comic, modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth and sidekick, this fast-paced romp reexamines the world’s most famous detective story with a bold new feminist lens.
“Hamill’s adaptations of the classics are endlessly INGENIOUS” —The Wall Street Journal
“DELIGHTFUL and ENTERTAINING” —BroadwayWorld
Pleasure Never Lies
Book & Lyrics by Marshall Hagins
Music by Brad Moranz
Story Conceived by Noah Brody
& Marshall hagins
World Premiere
April – May 2025
Dr. Samantha Williams is a brilliant but slightly insecure ornithologist . . . and let’s face it, who wouldn’t be, with radical, slightly feminist ideas about evolution bubbling up in one’s head? Ideas like the pursuit of pleasure (gasp!) is the second great engine of evolution! What if “survival of the fittest” is only half the story? Sam, along with a ragtag group of bird scientists, struggle to prove their theories on love, life, and evolution from deep within the jungles of Papua New Guinea in this quirky and clever world premiere musical from Broadway veterans Marshall Hagins, Noah Brody (Fiasco Theater), and Charleston’s own Brad Moranz.
SEASON 22 FLEX PASS
Your Season 22 Flex Pass includes either 5 flexible tickets to be used in any combination you wish, plus all the benefits of subscribing to PURE, including first access to seats, discounts on additional tickets purchased, ticket flexibility, access to PURE Live events, and membership in our exclusive Dining Benefits program offered in partnership with our friends at Charleston Arts Festival for discounts and special offers at some of Charleston’s finest restaurants.
“PURE Theatre productions
are universally excellent.”
Post & Courier
“There is much that can be said about PURE Theatre’s ongoing success, but this is perhaps the most important: They care deeply about what they do and it shows.”
Charleston City Paper
South Carolina Theatre Association
2020 Theatre of Distinction Award
A backstage look into the process and exploration of theatre creation. From the artists, managers, board, and patrons of the acclaimed small professional theatre in Charleston, South Carolina, join us as we talk character, story, process, and jump into the crossroads where art intersects life. “What’s drama good for anyway?” KEEP IT PURE
Funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional ongoing financial support provided by Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Coastal Community Foundation, The John & Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund, The Joanna Foundation, The Yaschik Foundation, and The Boeing Company.