Welcome to our 2008-2009 season!

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“Matthews canny adaptation is the most invigorating of the season” – USA Today

Henry IV

By William Shakespeare
Adapted by Dakin Matthews
Directed by Stephanie Shine

October 23 – November 16, 2008

Shakespeare’s unparalleled epic wraps the civil unrest of England around a young man’s coming-of-age and features the greatest of all comic stage creations – Falstaff. While Prince Hal drinks and carouses with the rogue Falstaff, his father, the King, grapples with rebel wars plaguing the land. As father and Falstaff battle for his affections the playboy prince struggles to mature from wild youth to the heroic King Henry V.

 

Adaptor Dakin Matthews distills the two separate Henry IV plays into a streamlined drama that packs a wallop of emotional intensity. New York magazine called Henry IV “Shakespeare that even Shakespeare shunners must love.”

A collision course of clowning

The Servant of Two Masters

By Carlo Goldoni
Translated and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and Paolo Emilio Landi
Directed by Dan McCleary

January 8 – February 1, 2009

This wonderful homage to American vaudeville barely contains the bedlam of the wise-cracking servant Truffaldino as he confuses everyone around him while moonlighting for two employers. Irate fathers, thwarted lovers and mistaken identities add to the lunacy of this commedia dell’arte inspired play.

Every performance of The Servant of Two Masters is a joyous leap into the unknown as actors run the razor’s edge of clowning by playing off audience contributions each night. It’s physically daring, miraculously manic, and a hoot and a half of laughs.

A classic and chilling ghost story

The Turn of the Screw

By Jeffrey Hatcher
Adapted from the novel by Henry James
Directed by Rita Giomi

January 13 – 28, 2009*

This provocative tale of suspense and horror tells the haunting story of a young governess who begins seeing apparitions while caring for two children on an isolated English estate. Are the phantoms real, or just her overactive imagination? Told through a series of diary entries, two actors in 90 minutes craft a taut atmosphere of sinister tension that will send shivers down your spine.

 

*Running Sun-Wed in repertory with The Servant of Two Masters

A thrilling drama of passion, cunning, and vengeance

The Merchant of Venice

By William Shakespeare
Directed by John Langs

March 13 – April 5, 2009

At the heart of Shakespeare’s complex tale, pairs of lovers try to overcome the shackles of status and religion in order to be together. In order to help his friend, Antonio foolishly agrees to give up a pound of his own flesh if he fails to repay a loan from the moneylender Shylock. When the income from his ships is lost at sea, Antonio faces the knife from the vengeful Shylock.

 

Antonio must now rely upon the resourceful heiress-turned-lawyer Portia to prevent the deadly disaster. In a thrilling courtroom conclusion, the disguised young woman swings into action in one of Shakespeare’s most popular and controversial plays.

Love is the most potent magic of all

The Tempest

By William Shakespeare

June 4 – 28, 2009

Enter a world of illusion and magic where a wronged sorcerer manipulates both spirits and humans in his quest for revenge. Deposed of his dukedom and sent into exile, Prospero uses his powers to draw his enemies to his enchanted island to wreak vengeance, yet ultimately discovers that love and forgiveness work the most potent magic of all.

 

Often seen as the playwright’s farewell to theatre world, Shakespeare’s The Tempest conjures a world of innocent lovers, bawdy buffoons, mystical beings, and a spectacular storm that transforms everyone in its path.

 

All titles, dates and artists subject to change.