A Midsummer Night's Dream
Fences
The Clay Cart
The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler
A View from the Bridge
Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter
Coriolanus
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Othello
Our Town
The Comedy of Errors
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
February 15 – November 2
This play is probably Shakespeare’s most enduringly popular and accessible comedy. Theseus and Hippolyta are in love, and impatiently await their wedding. Hermia loves Lysander. Demetrius loves Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius. Hermia’s father (in our production, mother) wants her to marry Demetrius, and he actually invokes a law that condemns her to death or to a convent if she does not obey him. Hermia and Lysander run away into the forest, followed by Demetrius, followed by Helena. The forest is the realm of the fairies, ruled by Oberon and Titania, who are in love but out of love because of an argument about a changeling boy. Oberon’s lieutenant, Puck, is in love with mischief. Bottom, a would-be actor, is in love with himself. The fairies possess a flower that can change who is in love with whom. The flower gets used and misused until all is sorted out, love conquers all, and peaceful harmony reigns. The fairy kingdom is set in an edgy, neon world inspired by the 1970s discotheque scene including fun and funky music and dance. This is a playfully sexy production focusing on themes of power, love and physical attraction and therefore may not be appropriate for some young playgoers. Recommended for middle school groups and up with a Prologue or an introduction to the characters and plot. (Updated 2/20/08)
Fences by August Wilson
February 16 – July 6
Shortly before his death in 2005, August Wilson completed an epic ten-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience in America, with one play for each decade of the 20th century. Fences is the 1950s installment of this extraordinary cycle. It’s 1957 and Troy Maxson is a garbage collector in Pittsburgh. Troy remembers being quite a good baseball player in his day, but the major leagues hadn’t yet opened up to Jackie Robinson and others when he was young, and he has landed here, where he bitterly recalls being better than Robinson ever was. Troy’s oldest adult son wants to be a jazz musician and finds an excuse to come around every payday and borrow money from his dad. Troy’s youngest son, Cory, is a high school student with good grades and talent as a football player. Cory has the chance at an athletic scholarship to a university, but his father wants him to give up football to keep his after-school job instead. Is Troy being practical, or is he jealous of Cory’s talents and opportunities? This conflict eventually erupts and leads to an ending that is poignant and sad, but not altogether tragic. The dialogue contains images of sexuality and violence and some profanity, so parents and teachers will need to use their discretion. August Wilson’s ten-play cycle is one of the most important theatrical achievements of our time, and the educational and artistic value of this play is enormous. High school and well-prepared, mature middle school groups are encouraged to attend. Prologue recommended.
The Clay Cart by Śūdraka
Translated by J. A. B. van Buitenen
February 17 – November 2
The Clay Cart is a 2,000-year-old classic tale from India of good rewarded and wickedness punished. It is filled with comedy, romance, adventure and intrigue. Cārudatta is a generous and giving citizen of the kingdom of Ujjayinī, whose kindness, open heart and open purse strings have reduced him to poverty. Now that he is poor, most of his friends and hangers-on have deserted him, and while he laments his situation, he is not embittered or any less kind. His friend Maitreya is loyal and true, and he is with Cārudatta one night when the courtesan, Vasantasenā, seeks shelter and protection from the King’s brother-in-law who is chasing Vasantasenā through the town attempting to capture her and forcibly make use of her professional expertise. Vasantasenā has fallen in love with Cārudatta from afar, and ever since has been unwilling to be courtesan to any other man. Now she finds herself in the protection of the man she loves, and before she leaves to make her way back home, Cārudatta agrees to take temporary possession of her jewelry, so she will not be robbed in the streets. Thus begins an epic and far-reaching fable of Shakespearean scope. This play presents a marvelous opportunity to explore and learn about the culture of ancient India, including its music and dance. Recommended for middle school groups and up, with the caveat that some social ideas presented in the play differ from contemporary Western ideas. Prologue or some preparation about the social and cultural traditions of ancient India is recommended.
The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler by Jeff Whitty
April 15 – November 1
Hedda Gabler shoots herself to death with a dueling pistol, leaving her blood spattered corpse lying sprawled on a sofa. That scene is the end of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, and the beginning of Jeff Whitty’s irreverently funny play. Hedda wakes up in the loving care of her husband, Tesman, in a world where fictional characters live forever, or as long as their stories are still remembered on earth. Specifically, Hedda is on the Cul-de-Sac of the Tragic Women, where she is soon joined by her maid, Mammy from Gone with the Wind, and by her friend Medea. Hedda sets out on a journey to try to change her circumstances, and eventually confronts the Source of Creation, which in her case is Henrik Ibsen. The play deals in a humorous way with the relationship between cultural icons and offensive stereotypes: Medea, Mammy, two overtly stereotypical gay men, and several versions of Jesus Christ drawn from various works of art, including a musical comedy Jesus inspired by Godspell. The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler demonstrates how literary figures start out in the forefront of shaping our values and become milestones marking the steps we have taken to get where we are. The play contains occasional strong profanity and is recommended for mature high school students and up. Prologue or an understanding of the derivation of characters from many literary sources is recommended.
A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller
July 23 – November 1
The play is set in the 1950s in a tenement neighborhood inhabited by Italian immigrants who mostly work as longshoremen on the docks of New York City. The story is narrated by Alfieri, a lawyer who moved from Sicily to New York at the age of 25. He introduces us to Eddie, a longshoreman who, along with his wife, Beatrice, has raised his orphaned niece, Catherine, since she was a small child. Catherine is now 17, a high school graduate, and has been offered an office job for a good wage. Beatrice wants her to take it, but Eddie is reluctant for her to grow up and move on. Meanwhile, some new residents are moving into the apartment: Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolpho, illegal immigrants who have just been smuggled over by ship from Italy. Marco plans to send every penny he can make in America back to his wife and family in Italy, but Rodolpho is single and prefers to enjoy his new homeland. His looks, charm and talent as a singer have an instant positive effect on Catherine, which in turn has an instant negative effect on Eddie. A tense and ultimately tragic look at a slice of American life in the 50s, A View from the Bridge deals in a subtle and never overt way with the suppressed (and never acted upon) nature of Eddie’s love for his niece. Arthur Miller is one of 20th century America’s greatest playwrights, and there is both tremendous artistic and historical value in students seeing his work. The immigration issues depicted in the play will resonate with audiences. Some violence. Recommended for well-prepared middle school students and up. Prologue recommended.
Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter by Julie Marie Myatt
February 19 – June 20
Jenny Sutter is a Marine in her mid-thirties. She left her children in Oceanside to fight in Iraq and has just returned to California, having lost one of her legs in combat. Unable to confront her family with this fact, she is persuaded to get on a different bus, and instead of going home winds up in Slab City, an odd but very real community in the southeastern California desert. Slab City is built on the concrete slabs of an old military base, and here several quirky residents, who are all suffering themselves, try to get to know Jenny through all the walls the war and her injury have put up in front of her. The play contains occasional strong profanity. That said, the play is very topical and presents opportunities to discuss the challenges veterans face upon returning home. Funny, touching and ultimately healing, it is suitable for high school groups and up who are prepared to handle the language. (Updated 2/28/08)
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
March 26 – November 2
Coriolanus deals with politics and social structure, with mob mentality and personal pride, with the differences between the qualities that make a person a successful soldier and those that make a person a successful politician. Martius Caius Coriolanus is a decorated soldier and a privileged mama’s boy. Rome is under siege by the warring Volscians, and Martius is just the military man needed to repel the invaders. After succeeding in battle, Martius is hailed as a hero and nominated to be Consul of Rome, the highest office in the land. But the same strong-headed resolve and belief in himself that make him a successful soldier render him cold to the needs of the common people and to the demands and compromise of public life. The expectations of Coriolanus’ family, his own tragic flaws, and the conspiring of enemies eventually pave the way to a spectacular downfall. The play’s look at leadership and political machinations will be especially relevant and accessible during a presidential election year. It contains complex language and some violence; suitable for high school students and up. Prologue recommended.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner by Luis Alfaro
July 1 – November 2
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner deals with the lives and obsessions of two sisters, Alice and Minerva, told in mostly short vignettes. Minerva’s obsession is food; she is obese and getting more so every day. Her loving husband, Al, barely notices through the haze of his obsession with sports. Alice is thin, single and obsessed with sex. Her latest beau is Officer Fernandez, a policeman she sleeps with repeatedly before ever thinking to inquire after his first name. Officer Fernandez enjoys the sex, but is obsessed with his duty to his job, and therefore committed to staying single. The larger Minerva gets, the larger her perspective gets. Not only is she outgrowing her clothing, she’s outgrowing her life – and becoming aware of the distractions that have kept her from seeing the big picture. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner is a surreal comedy about our insatiable appetites, about love in its comfort and possibility, about letting go. For mature high school students and up who are prepared to handle the occasional profanity, sexual content and other mature themes.
Othello by William Shakespeare
June 3 – October 10
Othello is a popular Moorish general in the service of Venice, but he pushes the boundaries of his popularity by eloping with Desdemona, the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. War is brewing in Cyprus and Othello’s talents are needed, so Brabantio’s complaints about his daughter’s marriage are turned aside. Meanwhile, Othello’s aide Iago boils with jealousy because he has been passed over for a promotion, which went instead to a young soldier named Michael Cassio. Iago constructs an ever more elaborate plan to get revenge on Othello, eventually ensnaring Desdemona, Cassio and Othello in a web of lies, deceit and misplaced jealousy. With indelible characters and some of the most beautiful verse ever written, Othello is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. Suitable for well-prepared middle school students and up; contains some violence. Prologue recommended.
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
June 4 – October 11
Thornton Wilder’s classic tale of American life a hundred years ago will be the first 20th century play ever produced on the Elizabethan Stage. In Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, Emily Webb and George Gibbs confront birth, life, love, loss, death and the something in each of us that is immortal. The play is poetic, lyrical, funny and deeply moving. Alcoholism is compassionately confronted in the character of the choir director. The third act takes place in the cemetery after Emily’s death, where we see and hear her and the other residents of the graves reflect on their time on earth and observe the grieving of those still alive. Thornton Wilder is one of a trio of great 20th century American playwrights being presented at the Festival this year, and Our Town is considered by many to be his masterpiece. The play is suitable for all audiences; however, its lyrical tone and eventual seriousness make it best suited to middle school students and up. Prologue recommended.
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
June 5 – October 12
Twenty-three years ago, twin sons were born to Egeon and Aemilia of Syracuse while they were staying at an inn abroad. A poor woman in the same inn gave birth to twins at the same time, and Egeon bought them to be servants to his sons. But alas, as they were sailing home to Syracuse, they were shipwrecked. One son and one servant were saved by Egeon, but Aemilia and the other two babies disappeared. Twenty-three years later, Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio are searching for their lost brothers. In desperation they have come to Ephesus, a country at war with Syracuse. Unbeknownst to them their twin brothers, also named Antipholus and Dromio, live right here in Ephesus. Four acts of mistaken identity and misunderstanding ensue before everything is sorted out happily. The Comedy of Errors is probably Shakespeare’s first comedy, his shortest play, and a great play with which to introduce young playgoers to Shakespeare. The Festival’s 2008 production will include a great deal of music. A delightful, silly and easy to follow romp, it is suitable for all audiences. A Prologue or an introduction to the characters and plot is recommended for younger playgoers.