Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Announces 2017-18 Season

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler announced today the 2017-18 Season, to be presented at the Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College in Wellesley, as well as in downtown Boston.

Mr. Maler explained the themes connecting the season offerings: "William Faulkner said 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.' I keep coming back to this quote as I think about the world we find ourselves in today, as we struggle to make sense of our rapidly changing world. Industries are being disrupted, politics are being disrupted, lives are being disrupted. In this sea of change, where norms are being upturned and the future is murky, I wanted to look at how great writers responded to mercurial times, how they captured the fleeting moments of civic and personal decisions when history was not yet inexorably fixed, when a change of direction was still possible. These plays capture the subtle, and not so subtle, fissures in the daily domestic tapestry as the Nazi's came to power in Germany in Bertolt Brecht's Fear and Misery in the Third Reich; the half-lives of destruction in the wake of a tyrannical military dictatorship in Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden; the power of money, both old and new, in Wendy Wasserstein's Old Money; the chaos and devastation of political instability in Macbeth; and of the destructive rise and fall of one of Shakespeare's most riveting villains in Richard III. It's an intense season for an intense time, a season of plays that we hope provoke deep thought about how we want to be remembered by history."

In addition to the already announced Shakespeare & the Law: Measure for Measure on September 26, specific details of CSC's offerings are below:

Fear and Misery in the Third Reich: A Staged Reading
by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Eric Bentley, directed by Steven Maler;
featuring Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams
Monday, November 13, 2017 at 7:00 P.M.
Carling-Sorenson Theater, Babson College
Tickets: $20-40

Brecht's series of 18 interconnected playlets describe what life was like in German households in the 1930s as the Nazis came to power. Written while Brecht was in exile in Denmark and first performed in Paris in 1938, these poignant stories dramatize the suspicion and anxiety experienced by ordinary people, particularly Jewish citizens, as the power of Hitler grew. The reading features renowned film and theater actors Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams.

Theatre in the Rough is a script-in-hand reading series presented without common theatrical elements like sets or costumes. These pared-down readings uniquely engage the audience by immersing them in the immediacy of the text and the actors' performances, allowing one's own imagination to take creative flight.

General Admission Tickets: $20 (Balcony); $40 Orchestra
CLICK HERE FOR $20-$40 TICKETS

Meet the Cast and Support CSC! A limited number of tickets are available for a post-show reception with the cast. Tickets are $125 each and include priority seating for the performance. All proceeds to benefit CSC's education and outreach programs.
CLICK HERE FOR $125 TICKETS INCLUDING MEET AND GREET

Death and the Maiden
a play by Ariel Dorfman, directed by Steven Maler
January 30-February 11, 2018
Sorenson Black Box, Babson College

After the fall of the totalitarian regime in a South American country, a former political prisoner finds herself face to face with the man she believes was her captor, a sadistic doctor who's face she never saw. Is he guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, or is her paranoia getting the better of her?

Tickets: $40
Babson faculty/staff and non-Babson students $15; Babson students $5

Old Money
by Wendy Wasserstein, directed by Karen McDonald
March 6-18, 2018
Carling-Sorenson Theater, Babson College

A dinner party in a fashionable home offers a rich and witty look at social classes and issues of wealth and privilege - from the Gilded Age of the early 20th century to the present day.

Tickets $25-$60
Babson faculty/staff and non-Babson students $15; Babson students $5

Macbeth
by William Shakespeare, directed by David Gammons
featuring the CSC2 Company of early-career actors
Carling-Sorenson Theater, Babson College
June 1, 2018

Shakespeare's classic tragedy dramatizes the damaging effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.

Tickets $20

Richard III - Free Shakespeare on the Boston Common!
by William Shakespeare, directed by Steven Maler
July - August, 2018

Shakespeare's searing chronicle of a ruthless leader's ascension through betrayals and multiple murders, and the devastation he leaves in his wake as he gains power over the realm.

Friends Section reserved seating available beginning in May 2018 for $60-75 donation.

In addition, CSC presents its annual series, Shakespeare and the Law and Shakespeare and Leadership as follows;

Shakespeare & the Law: Measure for Measure
Directed by Adam Sanders
Tuesday, September 26, 2017 at 6:00 P.M.
Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston

Shakespeare's comedy Measure for Measure is an exploration of the act of judging: its values, its limitations, and the important role played by an independent judiciary in society. CSC's Shakespeare & the Law series features staged readings of a Shakespeare play by state, and national lawyers and judges, followed by a discussion of the legal and societal implications of the work.

Shakespeare and Leadership:Managing through Disruption
Spring 2018
Time & Location: To be announced / Free Admission

Featuring scenes across Shakespeare's works, from Henry V to The Taming
of the Shrew, this program will feature readings followed by a discussion with
CEO's and business leaders discussing the ever changing business landscape
relating to themes in the plays.

For performance times and additional information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.commshakes.org.