Theater lovers who are already missing the late, lamented Banyan Theater Company’s season of summer plays (following the passing of founder Jerry Finn) have something to look forward to next summer with the opening of Dog Days Theatre.

The 2017 summer season—two plays mounted in the Cook Theatre using professional actors, directors and designers—was announced recently by the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. The summer productions will also utilize the talents of the Conservatory’s graduate students.

The inaugural season opens July 12, 2017, with award-winning British playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy Relatively Speaking, which will run through July 30. That’s followed by a stage adaptation of James M. Cain’s famous Double Indemnity, drawn from the crime novel about a murderous couple that also led to the 1944 film noir starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. This version, by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright, will take to the Cook stage Aug. 9-27.

Greg Leaming, director of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, says the new company was founded “to engage artists and audiences in an edgy and exciting alternative to the reduced theater offerings” during the summer months. “It’s also a perfect way to expand the footprint of the Conservatory in Sarasota and provide even more opportunities for our students.”

Single tickets for Dog Days Theatre’s summer season are $28; a two-play package costs $45. The package is available now; single tickets will be available for donors and subscribers starting tomorrow, Sept. 8, and will go on sale to the public online Oct. 1 and at the box office and by phone Oct. 3. (941) 351-8000, asolorep.org.