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8 WHAT'S UP! MARCH 4-10, 2018 Ready For A Closeup APT unveils Season 33 1/3 COVER STORY BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette S ometimes it's not what you know, but who you know. When it comes to selecting and booking the rights to a theater season, Ed McClure, production chairman for Arkansas Public Theatre, knows all the "whats." After all, he's been involved in selecting shows for the nonprofit community organization since the days when stage lighting consisted of "regular bulbs in No. 10 green bean cans." But over the years, McClure has also come to know the "whos." And that — plus the audacity to ask to do shows — is apparent in the season announced Friday evening. He says he's calling it "Season 33 1/3" because APT — which started life as Rogers Little Theatre — is a third of the way to 100. "Who ever imagined that?" he marvels. The coming season includes one world premiere — Oren Safdie's "Things to Do in Munich" — and one show in its first nonprofessional production — Sharr White's "Stupid Kid." McClure explains that the first one came to pass because of a long- term friendship, maintained since APT premiered Safdie's "Checks and Balances" in November 2012. "He and I correspond often, and he let me read this new play of his — and I really, really loved it," McClure says. "So I thought, I'm going to be brave and just tell him I want to direct it. He clearly has had success in New York and elsewhere, so the fact we're getting to debut the first production of it is pretty amazing." McClure calls the story "Kafka- esque, a black comedy that follows the journey of Sheldon Hoffman, a reclusive Jewish accountant in his 40s, as he attempts to fulfill his mother's last wishes by transporting her ashes back to Munich to be reunited with his father where he died in the holocaust." "It's kind of a departure for him. It's a comedy with a point, and it's really funny. It moves quickly, and it's delightful but also poignant." McClure attributes getting the rights to "Stupid Kid" to his Twitter "bromance" with playwright Sharr White. "I just think he is one of the most brilliant writers around," he says. "We did 'The Other Place' and 'Annapurna,' and he's witty, his dialogue is crisp, and there's always a point — usually with a twist. Anyway, I follow him on Twitter, and I've been bugging him for about a year about when 'Stupid Kid' — what a great title! — would be available for amateur production. Finally, I sent him a private message, and we emailed back and forth, and he said he would recommend us to his representative. And here we are, the first nonprofessional production.