WHAT Sets 2016 Season

Modern conveniences like smart phones and GPS often make us forget that the journey of life is full of the unexpected. For its 2016 theater season, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater celebrates these unexpected moments: the realization of first love; a town bonded by a bullied teenager; a family finding common ground through music; the censorship of a fictional marriage between two rabbits; the beauty behind the darkness of Edgar Allan Poe; love lost then found again.

The WHAT 2016 Theater Season is:

A Midsummer Night's Dream
By William Shakespeare
a co-production with Peregrine Theatre Ensemble
Directed by Jeffry George and Christopher Ostrom
March 17-April 3, 2016; Previews March 17 and 18
Performances Thursday-Saturday at 7:30PM, Sunday at 3:00PM (except April 3)
Sunday, April 3 at 7:30pm

Celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare with the world's favorite pastime: Love! William Shakespeare's most popular comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, portrays the adventures of four young lovers and a troupe of amateur actors in a mythical Athens and enchanted forest. In collaboration with Peregrine Theatre Ensemble, WHAT ushers in the season with a fairy king and queen, a misguided parent, star-crossed lovers, wood sprites, elves and one very handsome donkey.

Girlfriend
Book by Todd Almond; Music and Lyrics by Matthew Sweet
Directed by Christopher Ostrom
May 12- June 11, 2016; Previews May 12 and 13
Performances Thursday - Monday at 8:00PM

Nebraska, the 1990s. Two teenage boys - one a social outcast, the other the quintessential jock - explore a relationship during a summer of self-discovery between high school graduation and the rest of their lives. Set to the irresistible songs from Matthew Sweet's landmark pop album of the same name, this rock musical gives voice to those of us who grew up in small towns, those of us who didn't quite fit in and learned we were somehow different, and anybody who remembers the terror and thrill of first love.

Cock
By Mike Bartlett
Directed by Jeffry George
June 16 - July 10, 2016; Previews June 16 and 17
Performances Thursday-Monday at 8:00PM

"A terrific comedy with an unprintable name." The New York Times
John has been in a stable relationship with his boyfriend for a number of years, but when the two take a break, he unexpectedly falls in love with a woman. Torn between the two, and filled with guilt and conflicting emotions, he doesn't know which way to turn. Both his girlfriend and boyfriend are willing to wait for him to make a decision - and both are prepared to fight. With feathers ruffled, the world's oldest spectator sport commences....

A New York Times Critic's Pick
Three performances only
Absolute Brightness
Written and Performed by James Lecesne
Directed by Tony Speciale
July 15 and 16, 8:00PM
July 17, 3:00PM

"The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey shines with humanity" - LA Times.
Written and performed by James Lecesne, "a pretty darn dazzling beacon of theatrical talent," (New York Times) and based on his 2008 book of the same name, Absolute Brightness tells the story of detective Chuck DeSantis, a small New Jersey town investigator who sets out to solve the disappearance of a flamboyant 14-year-old boy named Leonard Pelkey. Through Leonard's world, DeSantis confronts the horrors of bullying and sees how a community can learn to embrace their differences by having the courage to stay true to their individuality. Director Tony Speciale's credits include productions at Classic Stage Company, Center Theatre Group, The Alliance Theatre, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, and is a Drama Desk and GLAAD Media Award nominee. With original music by Duncan Sheik.

A World Premiere Musical
Produced by Wellfeet Harbor Actors Theater in association with Jim Kierstead
Unexpected Joy
Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell, Music by Janet Hood
Director TBA
July 21 - August 20, 2016; Previews July 21 and 22
Performances Wednesday-Monday at 8:00PM, Sunday at 3:00PM

Unexpected Joy has book and lyrics by Tony nominee Bill Russell (Side Show, Lucky Duck) and music by Janet Hood. It marks the first collaboration between the two since their song cycle Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, which was inspired by the AIDS memorial quilt. Russell is a Tony Award nominee for book and lyrics to Side Show, on which he collaborated with Dreamgirls composer Henry Krieger. Russell has also penned book and lyrics to The Last Smoker in America and Kept. According to the authors, "Unexpected Joy is a new musical about four women - all of them singers, but of various experience and success: Joy, a baby-boomer, her daughter Rachel, Rachel's daughter Tamara, and Lou, the woman Joy is intending to marry. But Joy hasn't told Rachel about her wedding plans and has good reason to be apprehensive. Rachel is married to a successful televangelist and performs regularly on his TV show. And Lou is a self-described lesbian terrorist. When the family comes together for a concert honoring Rachel's father (her mother never married him), the sparks and music fly!"

East Coast Premiere
Alabama Story
By Kenneth Jones
Directed by Jeffry George
August 25 - September 25, 2016; Previews August 25 and 26
Performances Thursday-Monday at 8:00PM

A gentle children's book with an apparent hidden message stirs the passions of a segregationist senator and a no-nonsense state librarian in 1959 Montgomery, just as the civil rights movement is flowering. Inspired by true events,Alabama Story puts political foes, star-crossed childhood friends, and one feisty author on the same page to conjure a Deep South of the imagination.

Alabama Story received its world premiere at the Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City in January 2015. The play was a finalist in the 2014 National Playwrights Conference of the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center.

WHAT for Kids
Title TBA
Written and directed by Stephen Russell
July 11 - August 24, 2016
Performances Monday-Thursday at 7:30PM

It's WHAT for Kids 15th season and we're celebrating our Quinceañera with a brand new tent and a brand new play! WHAT for Kids is family-oriented theater offering layers of thought-provoking comedy for all ages, written and directed by Stephen Russell. This summer we inaugurate a new performance facility complete with framed tent, padded audience seating, and dedicated lighting and sound systems, ensuring that future generations continue to enjoy this unique and authentic Wellfleet tradition.

Edgar Allan Poe's
Nevermore
Music by Matt Connor; Lyrics adapted from Edgar Allan Poe; Book by Grace Barnes
Directed by Christopher Ostrom
October 20 - November 6, 2016; Previews October 20 and 21
Performances Thursday-Saturday at 7:30PM, Sunday at 3:00PM Take a dark and mysterious journey into the life of Edgar Allan Poe. This imaginative musical uses Poe's poetry and short stories as its base and his shifting obsession with the women in his life as its catalyst. With hauntingly beautiful melodies, Nevermore breathes new life into Poe's work and explores a twisted true-life tale that is as bizarre as his classic stories of the macabre.

Flex passes are on sale now.
Subscriptions will be available February 26.
Single Tickets will be available in March.

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater is the award-winning theater company that inspired "a new vigor for theater on the Cape" (New York Times). Now moving into its 32nd year, WHAT continues to be a sounding board for new and bold ideas, presenting "continually adventurous theater" (Boston Globe), and year-round programming. The state-of-the-art Julie Harris Stage is a tribute to the six-time Tony award-winning actress and WHAT's Honorary Chair.