| |
The Merry Wives of Windsor (February 5th-28th)
By William Shakespeare
Often referred to as William Shakespeare's great bourgeois farce, this comedy features the great comic character Sir John Falstaff in the role of protagonist. Falstaff - down and out and penniless - hatches a scheme to reverse his fortunes, attempting to woo Mistress Ford and Mistress Page in an effort to get at their husbands' money. Falstaff, however, has overplayed his hand, and the two wives decide to turn the tables on the fat knight. The only comedy Shakespeare set in his native land, the play is a precursor to the English bourgeois comedy and produced a comedic tradition that reaches all the way to the modern TV sitcom.
A Flea In Her Ear (April 2nd - 25th)
By Georges Feydeau
This classic French farce features all of the elements common to the genre: misunderstandings, mistaken identities, amorous entanglements, breathless chases, and numerous side-splitting complications. Madame Raymonde Chandebise, suspecting that her husband, Victor, is having an affair, sends him an anonymous letter, requesting a romantic rendezvous at a disreputable hotel. When Victor sends his friend, Tournel, a notorious womanizer, in his place, the comedy is off and running. Although written in 1907, the play is still contemporary in theme, character, and the various machinations that love and romance produce in the human race.
The Vast Difference (June 4th - 27th)
By Jeff Daniels
Although best known as an actor in film and on stage, (including a Tony nomination for this year's Broadway smash, "God of Carnage"), Jeff Daniels has also forged an impressive career as a playwright. Here Daniels focuses on the plight and relative insignificance of modern man through the character of George Noonan, a flight attendant, who, as a father of five girls, is in dire need of a vasectomy. An insightfully contemporary comedy, the play features eight actors playing multiple roles, and the quick and fast-paced scenes serve to mirror the frenzy and chaos of twenty-first century life and modern man's struggle to find a place in it.
Laughing Stock (August 6th - 29th)
By Charles Morey
A brilliant send-up of the world of theatre, Charles Morey's play focuses on a small New England summer-stock theater trying its hand at repertory. "Charley's Aunt," "Hamlet," and a new adaptation of "Dracula," written by the protagonist of the play, Gordon Page, complete the trio of plays that the troupe will perform, and the result is pure chaos. From auditions to rehearsals to opening night; through forgotten lines, misplaced cues, and wrong entrances; to ingénues, aging actors, and the technical crew that can make or break a production, Morey captures the egoism, camaraderie and, most importantly, the magic that lies at the heart of the theatrical world.
Art (October 1st - 24th)
By Yasmina Reza
This humorous and insightful Broadway hit by the Parisian-born Reza, explores the intricacies of a long-term friendship between three men, observed through the prism of modern art. When Serge spends an insane amount of money on a painting that is all white with three off-white lines on it, it serves to reveal the fissures that lie at the heart of the men's relationships with each other. Marc thinks that Serge has lost his mind, and when he pulls Yvan into the disagreement, the three friends square off: first theoretically, than personally and, finally, to a confrontation that might end their respective friendships forever.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (November 26th - December 19th)
By Barbara Robinson
This classic holiday play, adapted by Barbara Robinson from her 1972 novel, tells the hilarious story of a small town's efforts to stage the annual church Christmas pageant. When the play's director, Mrs. Armstrong, breaks her leg, Grace and Bob Bradley are forced to step in to carry on the tradition, a task made infinitely more difficult by the casting of the Herdman children: the meanest, nastiest, most inventively awful kids in history. The town soon comes to believe that this pageant will go down in history as the worst ever, but this comedy not only surprises at every turn, but offers a refreshing perspective on the meaning and purpose of Christmas. |
|
