Two River Theater Company Artistic Director John Dias announces the lineup of plays for the theater's 2011-12 Season, the first chosen under his artistic leadership. Subscription packages are available now from www.trtc.org or 732.345.1400. The subscription season will include five productions in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater and two productions in the Marion Huber Theater. In addition, Two River will present Honk! A Musical Tale of The Ugly Duckling as its annual family production during the holiday season.
"This season will include the work of some of the most exceptional artists working in the theater today," says Dias. "We begin with Shakespeare, continuing this theater's tradition of great productions of the classics, and I'm excited to offer Two River's first-ever productions of plays by
August Wilson and
Alan Ayckbourn, and to bring
Nilaja Sun and
Maureen McGovern to our stage. I am also thrilled that two of the plays we have been developing in this season will go on to full productions in the Marion Huber Theater-our first use of this performance space for the subscription season."
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
By
William ShakespeareDirected by
Sam BuntrockSeptember 10 - October 2, 2011
Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater
Two River's season will launch with Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare's great and witty romantic comedy. The production will be directed by Tony Award-nominee
Sam Buntrock and star acclaimed Shakespeare actor
Michael Cumpsty (winner of an Obie for his performance as Hamlet at
Classic Stage Company) as Benedick. Buntrock and Cumpsty have previously collaborated on the recent Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George and Take Flight at
McCarter Theatre.
IN THIS HOUSE
Music by
Mike ReidLyrics by
Sarah SchlesingerBook by
Jonathan Bernstein and
Sarah SchlesingerOctober 15 - November 6, 2011
Marion Huber Theater
An intimate chamber musical, In This House is the fourth collaboration from the team of
Sarah Schlesinger and Grammy Award-winning composer
Mike Reid, a Nashville songwriter. The musical evokes the universal experience of being in love and the challenges and rewards of navigating a relationship, through the accidental meeting of two couples-one at the beginning, the other at the end of their time together.
NO CHILD...
Written and Performed by
Nilaja SunDirected by
Hal BrooksNovember 1 - November 20, 2011
Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater
Nilaja Sun will perform her play No Child..., a multi-award-winning, tour-de-force solo performance based on her experiences as a teaching artist in the New York public schools. Transforming herself into a multitude of characters, Sun captures the voices of students, teachers, parents, janitors and more, and shows-with tenderness, insight, and humor-the transformative power of art.
JITNEY
By
August WilsonDirected by
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
January 31 - February 19, 2012
Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater
Actor, director, and playwright
Ruben Santiago-Hudson directs
August Wilson's Jitney, the eighth in his Pittsburgh Cycle of plays about the African-American experience in the 20th century. Jitney, Wilson's first full-length play, is set in the 1970s, in a station for jitney (or unlicensed cab) drivers. As an actor, Santiago-Hudson's Broadway credits include Wilson's Seven Guitars (for which he won a Tony Award) and Gem of the Ocean; he later directed revivals of those plays for the
Signature Theatre and
McCarter Theatre, respectively.
SEVEN HOMELESS MAMMOTHS WANDER NEW ENGLAND
By
Madeleine GeorgeMarch 3 - March 25, 2012
Marion Huber Theater
Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, a new play by
Madeleine George, is a satirical 'academic sex comedy' about tangled relationships in a New England college town. The recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Princess Grace Playwriting Award, George is a founding member of the Obie Award-winning playwrights' collective 13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc.).
Maureen McGovern in CARRY IT ON
Co-conceived and Written by
Philip Himberg and
Maureen McGovernDirected by
Philip HimbergApril 3 - April 22, 2012
Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater
In a career spanning 40 years, two-time Grammy nominee
Maureen McGovern has been hailed as the "Stradivarius Voice" and acclaimed for her concerts and Oscar-winning/Gold records, as well as her theatrical performances on Broadway. In her powerful musical memoir, Carry It On, she brings her story to life with extraordinary interpretations of the songs of her generation-music by the Beatles,
Carole King,
Joni Mitchell,
James Taylor, and many others.
MY WONDERFUL DAY
By
Alan AyckbournDirected by
Nicholas MartinMay 15 - June 3, 2012
Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater
Nicholas Martin directs
Alan Ayckbourn's acclaimed 2009 comedy about the British middle class, as seen through the eyes of a child. Winnie is an Anglo-Caribbean, nine-year-old girl with a school assignment to write an essay about her day-which, by chance, she is spending in the home of a minor television celebrity, where her mother is a cleaner. As Winnie quietly observes, Ayckbourn captures the foibles, and failed hopes and dreams, of the adults around her in what becomes an increasingly frenetic domestic farce.
Holiday Show:
HONK!
A Musical Tale of The Ugly Duckling
Music by
George StilesBook and Lyrics by
Anthony DreweDirected by Matt Pfeiffer
December 6, 2011 - January 1, 2012
Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater
Based on
Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling," Honk! tells the story of an odd-looking baby duck, Ugly, and his quest to find his mother after he is lured away from his home by a wily cat. Winner of the London's Olivier Award for Best Musical, Honk! will be directed by Matt Pfeiffer, who previously staged Two River's holiday productions of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Charlotte's Web.
Plays, artists, and dates are subject to change. For additional information, visit www.trtc.org.
Subscription packages are on sale now from www.trtc.org or 732.345.1400, ranging in price from $217 to $329 for a seven-play season. Two River Theater also offers three-, four-, five-, and six-play packages and a flexible Two River Pass for the convenience of its patrons.