TOMMY, BETRAYAL, and More Announced for Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater 2020 Summer Theater Season

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater announces its 2020 Summer Theater Season, featuring five plays performed on the Julie Harris Stage. Performances start June 10 and run through October 18.

The season opens with Harold Pinter's Betrayal. Chronicling the demise of a seven-year relationship, and suggested by Pinter's own infidelity, Betrayal provides an emotionally charged look at the "eternal triangle" of wife, husband, and wife's lover.

In July, The Who's Tommy brings the legendary rock album alive with the story of the deaf, dumb, and blind boy who triumphs over adversity.

The story of a former First Lady with Presidential aspirations takes the stage in August with Lucas Hnath's Hillary and Clinton. While the characters and story may sound familiar, rest assured this is not the story you are thinking of. Hnath's humorous look at marriage and aspiration will ring true regardless of your political persuasion.

On the night before his assassination, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrestles with his legacy and destiny in Katori Hall's The Mountaintop. On stage in September, Hall's dramatic imagining of the final hours of Dr. King's life offers a moving and insightful portrait of the late civil rights leader.

Uncovering the true cost of success is at the center of Tanya Saracho's Fade, on stage in October. The story of a young Latinx writer struggling to fit into a predominately white and male-dominated Hollywood studio, Fade offers a humorous and nuanced look at privilege, race, gender, and ambition in the modern age.

"This season offers a bold and eclectic mix of productions, that are not only timely but represent the best of the contemporary dramatic imagination." says Producing Artistic Director Christopher Ostrom. "We start the season with a new look at two modern classics. Pinter's Betrayal is an incredibly demanding play which requires performers at the top of their game, and will leave audiences breathless. Tommy combines one of the best scores of the last century with a story brimming with humanity to create a unique theatrical experience." "I am especially excited about the trio of plays from young American Playwrights that round out our season. These diverse writers tackle distinctly American topics with a deft hand, and a true mastery of their craft." says Ostrom.

WHAT for Kids! will return this summer with performances in The Larry Phillips Performance Pavilion, and a touring production. Titles and dates will be announced shortly. Flex Passes and Subscriptions are now on sale, with single tickets going on sale May 1.

Betrayal

By Harold Pinter

Directed by Dana Greenfield

Preview Performances: June 10 and 11, 2020

Opening: June 12, 2020; Performances through July 3, 2020

With poetic precision, rich humor and an extraordinary emotional force, Betrayal charts a compelling seven-year romance, thrillingly captured in reverse chronological order. Dealing with the "eternal triangle"-wife, husband and the wife's lover-Pinter, with his customary inventiveness and subtlety, brings new insights to this timeless theme.

The Who's Tommy

Music and Lyrics by Pete Townsend

Book by Des McAnuff and Pete Townsend

Additional Music by John Entwistle and Keith Moon

Directed by RJ Tolan

Preview Performances: July 8 and 9, 2020

Opening: July 10, 2020; Performances through July 31, 2020

Based on the 1969 rock concept album, The Who's Tommy is an exhilarating story of hope, healing and the human spirit. The story of the pinball-playing, deaf, dumb and blind boy who triumphs over his adversities has inspired, amazed and puzzled audiences for more than 40 years as it has evolved from legendary album to iconic film to Broadway sensation.

Hillary and Clinton

By Lucas Hnath

Directed by Daisy Walker

Preview Performances: August 5 and 6, 2020

Opening: August 7, 2020; Performances through August 28, 2020

Behind closed doors in a state called New Hampshire during the early days of 2008, a former First Lady named Hillary is in a desperate bid to save her troubled campaign for President of the United States. Her husband, Bill, sees things one way; her campaign manager, Mark, sees things another. If any of this sounds familiar, don't be fooled; in a universe of infinite possibilities, anything can happen!

The Mountaintop

By Katori Hall

Preview Performances: September 2 and 3, 2020

Opening: September 4, 2020; Performances through September 25, 2020

After delivering one of his most memorable speeches, an exhausted Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. retires to room 306 in Memphis' Lorraine. When a mysterious young woman named Camae delivers room service along with some surprising news, Dr. King is forced to contemplate his legacy and confront his destiny.

Fade

By Tanya Saracho

Directed by Katherine M. Carter

Preview Performances: September 30 and October 1, 2020

Opening: October 2, 2020; Performances through October 18, 2020

When Lucia, a Mexican-born novelist, gets her first TV writing job, she feels a bit out of place on the white male-dominated set. Lucia quickly becomes friends with the only other Latino around, a janitor named Abel. As Abel shares his experiences with Lucia, similar plots begin to find their way into the TV scripts that Lucia writes.