Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Vivienne Benesch Artistic Director and Sarah Clare Corporandy Managing Director, is proud to announce MainStage programming for its 2015 season featuring Thornton Wilder's classic Our Town, directed by Paul Mullins (July 3-12), Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage (July 24-August 2), directed by Vivienne Benesch, and Shakespeare's Henry V (August 14-21), directed by Evan Cabnet.
"Our 2015 MainStage line-up is all about imagination," said Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch. "Can this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France? Indeed! And much more. Whether the curtain rises on the battlefields of Agincourt, the boudoirs and rooming houses of turn of the 20th century New York City or the moonlit hush over Grover's Corners, the Bratton Theater will be home to entertaining, thought provoking and above all, theatrical worlds that ignite the imagination and spotlight the struggles we share no matter what our place in society may be."
Recently announced, playwright Zayd Dohrn is the recipient of the 2015-16 Chautauqua Play Commission. The commission is awarded by CTC in conjunction with the Chautauqua Writers' Center and will see Dohrn in residence for a period this coming season and next. CTC has previously presented two of Dohrn's plays, Sick and Muckrakers, as part of The New Play Workshop.
"I'm thrilled to be the recipient of the Chautauqua 2015/2016 New Play Commission," said Dohrn. "It's an enormous gift for any writer to have the faith and support of such a talented group of theatre artists and the opportunity to share a new work with the intellectually engaged and dedicated audiences I've found at Chautauqua."
"I believe Zayd Dohrn is one of the truly important writers of our time," said Benesch.
"He has his eye and ear on the pulse of our times and is unafraid to reflect it back to us with a strong point of view. His profound curiosity about social, political and cultural trends is matched by an acute attention to interpersonal psychology and great storytelling. We can't wait to see what Zayd will write next, and are proud to offer him a home at Chautauqua to steward its development."
Actors and creative teams for the 2015 season to be announced at a later date.
Single tickets for the 2015 season go on sale in April. Tickets to Our Town, Intimate Apparel and Henry V are $35; tickets to The New Play Workshop are $20. For more information log onto www.ctcompany.org.
Founded in 1983 as the resident theater company on the grounds of the historic Chautauqua Institution, western New York's premier summer arts festival; Chautauqua Theatre Company's season runs for eight weeks from July 3 through August 21.
