Season Calendar:
HENRY V
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Davis McCallum
Starring Emily Ota
Now – August 21, 2023
“All things are ready, if our minds be so.”
This Shakespearean epic follows a charismatic warrior King and his cohort through the brutality of warfare, as the ragtag band confronts heavy opposition and their own destinies in an aggressive pursuit of the French crown. Henry V is a deeply ambivalent play about leadership, and the power of language and storytelling to shape our collective identity. The play’s central question – What kind of leadership would it take to forge a resilient and unified band of brothers and sisters from a fractious and anxious group of individuals? – resonates with fresh urgency in our contemporary world.
LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Amanda Dehnert
With original music by Amanda Dehnert and Andre Pluess
July 12 – August 27, 2023
“Let us once lose our oaths to find ourselves, Or else we lose ourselves to keep our oaths.”
Four young noblemen absent themselves from society, in order to focus entirely on their studies. They even take a monastic oath: No girls! All books! But when the Princess of France turns up with three young ladies, how long will the men’s resolve hold up? Director Amanda Dehnert (Pride and Prejudice) infuses Shakespeare’s delightful comedy with an original pop/rock score (by Dehnert and Andre Pluess) that gives full voice to the heart-pounding experience of being young and in love.
WORLD PREMIERE: PENELOPE
Music and Lyrics by Alex Bechtel
Book by Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean, and Eva Steinmetz
Directed by Eva Steinmetz
September 2 -17, 2023
“I could wait for you forever, If you told me what forever was for.”
A re-imagining of the story of The Odyssey from the point of view of a character often relegated to the margins of the story, Penelope is a musical love letter to all those who wait: For someone they love. For something they believe in. And hope that the wait will end well. An intimate and explosive music theater piece, Penelope invites the audience to join in a ritual act of storytelling to release the pent-up grief, anger, love and longing that are so familiar after the last three years. Penelope was developed, in part, through the Founders’ Club Residency as part of the Orchard Project (Ari Edelson, Artistic Director.)
