Shakespeare, Austen & More on Tap for CT Rep's 2015-16 Season

By: Jul. 29, 2015
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Connecticut Repertory Theatre under the leadership of Artistic Director Vincent J. Cardinal and Managing Director Matthew J. Pugliese announced the 2015-16 Season. The season features works that have been adapted from another medium. These stories range from contemporary classics, musical comedy and original premieres. Subscriptions are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 860-486-2113. Single tickets go on sale on August 1.

The season begins with Cardinal directing The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theatre Project. In October 1998 Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Five weeks later, members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, and over the course of the next year, conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town. From these interviews they wrote The Laramie Project, a riveting chronicle of the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder.

Infused with the music and jollity of the Christmas season, the second show of the Main Stage Season will be William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night. Viola, the shipwrecked heroine, lands on the shore of Illyria, and disguised as a page, Cesario, searches for her lost brother. Countess Olivia mourns the loss of her own brother. When the lovely Countess meets the handsome young page (Viola in disguise), desire banishes grief in this intoxicating comedy of mistaken identity and contagious laughter.

The first two Main Stage productions of the 2015-16 season will take place in the Nafe Katter Theatre. Following Twelfth Night, CRT will take a break from the Katter Theatre for 18 months as construction begins on a new, state of the art production facility, adjacent to the Katter. The new building will house our scene shop, paint shop, light shop, and costume shop as well as a new public space for gatherings.

In February, a new adaptation of Jane Austen's first published novel, Sense and Sensibility will take the stage. Following their father's untimely death, Sense and Sensibility tells the story of the penniless Dashwood sisters pursue life and love in their own distinctive ways. Elinor is smart and down-to-earth. Marianne is wildly romantic. They each attract suitors whose startling secrets obstruct the path to happily ever after. Full of passion, wit, and soaring emotion, this new adaptation is co-written by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan, the same writing team behind CRT's Pride & Prejudice in 2012.

The season will end in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre with the Tony-Award winning musical adaptation of the classic comic movie, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, in the form of Spamalot: The Musical. The film's plot remains largely intact, but its core songs and comic thrust have been expanded, satirically redirected and updated taking on popular culture, musical theatre clichés, and, well, stage adaptions.

The Studio Show season, which is available as a part of the six play subscription, begins in the fall with Anon(ymous). The show tackles one of the most polarizing political issues in our world today- immigration. Playwright Naomi Iizuka adapts a story whose roots are in the epic tradition of Ancient Greece and Homer's Odyssey. Anon(ymous), challenges to define what "home" is for each of us and imagine what we might do to get there.

The second show of the Studio Season will consist of three new works from UConn's MFA Puppet Arts graduate students. The MFA Puppet Arts students will tell personal stories through the plots and images of well know tales, such as Medea, Macbeth and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in the Studio Theatre production of The MFA Puppet Festival. This production will highlight the work of UConn Puppeteers, as the program begins its 50th year. The students and graduates of the Puppet Arts program have been reinventing the international theatrical landscape by innovating and expanding definitions of puppetry and "object performance."

PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFORMATION

Please call 860-486-2113 for information on subscribing and general ticket information. The CRT Box Office is located at the Nafe Katter Theatre, 820 Bolton Road, on the Storrs campus. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m.

Performances are usually Wednesdays through Sundays. Wed. & Thu. evening performances start at 7:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. evening performances start at 8 p.m., Sat. and Sun. matinee performances start at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $7 to $36, and subscribers receive a discount of up to 24 percent off regular ticket prices.

All plays, dates and times are subject to change.

Children must be at least 4 years old to attend CRT productions. For additional ticket information or to charge tickets by phone, call 860.486.2113. All sales are final; no refunds. Play selections and performance dates are subject to change. Single tickets will go on sale on April 20, 2014.



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