American Conservatory Theater Announces Portion of 2016-17 Season

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced today four of the seven productions that will comprise the lineup of the company's 50th subscription season, which will open in September 2016 with the 2015 Olivier Award-winning Best New Play, King Charles III, a coproduction with Seattle Repertory Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC; the world-premiere theatrical adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's (The Kite Runner) best-selling novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, featuring a live score by acclaimed musician David Coulter; the acclaimed new play, John, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker; and Battlefield, Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne's intimate new interpretation and staging of Brook's groundbreaking production of The Mahabharata. The additional three productions-along with performances order and run dates-will be announced at a later date.

In addition to announcing four shows from the seven-play subscription season, A.C.T. is happy to welcome back the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol, after its record-breaking run last season. Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and deliciously spooky ghosts, this version of A Christmas Carol, adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff, stays true to the heart of Dickens's timeless story of redemption and brings a playful sensibility to his rich language. A Christmas Carol -now in its 39th year-is a cornerstone of the A.C.T. repertory and has become a holiday tradition for families around the Bay Area.

At this time, only current full-season A.C.T. subscribers can renew their subscriptions for the 2016-17 season. To receive priority notice when packages become available to new subscribers, patrons can email season@act-sf.org or call the A.C.T. Subscriptions Office at 415.749.2250.

Says Perloff: "It is hard to believe that almost 50 years ago, Bill Ball brought his astonishing company to The Geary Theater in San Francisco, taking the city by storm. As we look forward to celebrating our 50th anniversary throughout 2016 and 2017, we have spent the last few months in dialogue with artists from around the world to help us create a season of theater that celebrates the vision that first inspired A.C.T.: a vision of vigorous, challenging repertoire from many cultures, a deep commitment to training and to the highest levels of artistry, and a passion for engaging with community. With stories and characters that span the ages and celebrate the global reach of live theater, the 2016-17 season is one not to be missed. I cannot wait to share this momentous time in A.C.T.'s history where we'll honor our past, and look forward to 'renewing our vows' for the next 50 years!"

Full-season (7-play) subscriptions will soon be available for $91-$679 and offer incredible savings, unparalleled access, exclusive benefits, and personalized customer service. Subscribers save as much as 50% off single-ticket prices. Students and educators are eligible to save up to half-price on subscriptions, and senior discounts are available for certain series. To make subscriptions more affordable, A.C.T. also offers all subscribers an extended payment plan that allows payment in two easy installments. A.C.T.'s competitive subscriber benefits include free ticket exchanges up to the day of your scheduled performance, guaranteed best seating, ticket insurance, access to convenient prepaid parking one block away from the theater, discounts for neighborhood restaurants, and the opportunity to subscribe to Words on Plays, A.C.T.'s in-depth theater guide for each show. To renew a current A.C.T. subscription, please call 415.749.2250 or log on to www.act-sf.org/renew.

KING CHARLES III
by Mike Bartlett
at The Geary Theater
WINNER! 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Play

With its bold, blank-verse storytelling and witty echoes of Shakespearean drama, Mike Bartlett's brilliant contemporary work of speculative history blurs the boundaries of truth and tragedy. Queen Elizabeth is dead. Prince Charles ascends to the throne, but what kind of ruler will he make for this once united kingdom? Flanked by wife Camilla and sons William and Harry, Charles challenges a power-hungry Parliament, but it is his daughter-in-law, ruthless princess Kate, who shows the real ambition for the sceptered isle. Is Charles the man who would be king, or was he born to succeed only in name? Hailed as "fresh, thrilling and fearlessly comic" (Entertainment Weekly), this imaginative glimpse of future history is a theatrical event of crowning achievement.

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini
Adapted by Ursula Rani Sarma
Original music written and performed by David Coulter
Directed by Carey Perloff
at The Geary Theater

A.C.T. is thrilled to announce the world-premiere theatrical adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. The epic story of three generations of Afghan women and their remarkable resilience, A Thousand Splendid Suns is set amid the war-torn streets of modern-day Kabul. Beautiful Laila, unmarried and pregnant, is forced to marry her older neighbor when her family and home are torn apart. Forging an extraordinary and unlikely friendship with Mariam, her husband's first wife, the two women find the hope and strength to raise a new generation. A stunning new production featuring live music from renowned composer and saw player David Coulter, "Hosseini's writing makes our hearts ache, our stomachs clench, and our emotions reel" (USA Today). Hosseini, who resides in the Bay Area, will be intimately involved in the production. A Thousand Splendid Suns has sold over six million copies in the United States alone.

JOHN
by Annie Baker
at The Strand Theater

A ghost story that swept off Broadway by storm, John is the latest hit from American theater's hottest new voice-2014 Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker (The Flick). Jenny and Elias show up at an old bed-and-breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania-he wants to tour the historic battlegrounds, she wants to be left alone. But in the creaking house they find something unsettling. Is it the spirits of the Civil War dead? The smiling dolls that line the rooms? Their curious landlady, Genevieve, who switches their bedroom because "the Jackson Room can be a little temperamental"? Or is it just that their relationship is on the skids and one of them is cheating? A delicious nerve-jangler hailed as "A true masterpiece!" (Slate), this is a visceral ghost story with a millennial twist that will haunt the intimate Strand Theater.

BATTLEFIELD
Based on The Mahabharata and the play by Jean-Claude Carrière ?
Adapted and directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne
at The Geary Theater

Following his remarkable worldwide success with The Suit, which played to standing ovations and sold-out houses at A.C.T. in 2014, legendary director Peter Brook is back. Thirty years after Brook's groundbreaking adaptation of the Indian epic The Mahabharata, the director has created an intimate new interpretation and staging of this timeless tale in perhaps his finest work. A newly crowned king surveys a post-war battlefield-his army has won him the crown, but at what price? Written almost 2,500 years ago, the Mahabharata's magical story of finding tranquility in the midst of war and destruction has striking connections to modern times, and has inspired some of Brook's most beautiful images and most transformative theatrical moments. "Like a Zen master, Peter Brook refines and concentrates his theater ever more. He offers us a play that resembles a perfect and suspended movement, light as a breath" (Le Monde).

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