The Virginia Stage Company Presents AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, and More this Season

The Virginia Stage Company at the Wells Theater will present four productions between now and April including AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS and A RAISIN IN THE SUN.

Currently, John Gray and Eric Peterson's BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR is playing through February 7. An unlikely champion, Billy Bishop stumbled his way into the Royal Canadian Flying Corps and unexpectedly became its most decorated officer. Credited with more air victories than any British or American pilot, Bishop was a hero, an icon and an enigma. A tour de force of story and song, Billy Bishop takes you from edge-of-your-seat aerial battles to the lunacy, laughter and loss behind the lines. According to the NY Times, BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR is "A high flying ace of a show capturing the humor, the hellfire and the derring-do of an extraordinary career."

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, adopted by Mark Brown from the novel by Jules Verne, will play from February 23-March 14. Phineas Fogg embarks on a frenetic race that will ultimately change his life. Can he truly achieve his outrageous gamble to go around the world in 80 days? This award-winning stage adaptation where five actors portray thirty-nine characters is an exciting family adventure.

From March 30-April 18 Lorraine Hansberry's A RAISIN IN THE SUN will play. This season marks 50 years since Lorraine Hansberry's play premiered on Broadway, a first for a black, female playwright. A story of hope, A Raisin in the Sun is a major American masterpiece that is just as relevant today as when it was written. From their tenement apartment, the Younger family believes an insurance windfall is about to change their lives. When the odds are stacked against them, will the family collapse or will they rise above?

And in April, London's longest running comedy comes to the Wells Theater. THE COMPLETE WORKS OF William Shakespeare (ABRIDGED) includes all 37 Plays in 97 Minutes. The show ran for ten years at the Criterion Theatre. It was praised by the Los Angeles Times as "wildly funny" and by the Montreal Gazette as "the funniest show you are likely to see in your entire lifetime." It will run April 21-25.

For more information on these productions or to purchase tickets, visit online at www.vastage.com or call the box office at (757)-627-1234.