The Black Theatre Troupe Reveals 2024-25 Season at theREP

The Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY has announced their 2024/25 season at Capital Repertory Theatre. 

Kicking off the season in the Lauren and Harold Iselin Studio at theREP is “Berta, Berta,” Oct. 17-27, 2024. Set in 1920s Mississippi, “Berta, Berta” tells the story of Leroy, a Black man sent to jail for following a white woman down the street to help her–a supposed crime that never existed. Prison changes him and upon getting out, he finds himself to be a true criminal. Before giving himself back up to the police, he is determined to make amends with his long-lost girlfriend, Berta. The play highlights themes of doomed love, tragic misunderstandings, a flawed and biased prison system and magical realism.

The second show in the season will be on the MainStage at theREP, “Once on This Island,” with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, Feb. 6-16, 2025. “Once on This Island” is a highly original and theatrical Caribbean adaptation of the popular fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” It garnered eight Tony nominations for its Broadway run, including Best Musical, Book and Score. Ti Moune, a peasant girl, rescues a wealthy boy from the other side of the island, Daniel, with whom she falls in love. Unbeknownst to Ti Moune, the pompous gods who preside over the island make a bet with one another over which is stronger, love or death, the stakes being Ti Moune's life.

The last show is “Eclipsed” by Danai Gurira in the Lauren and Harold Iselin Studio at theREP May 29-June 8, 2025. "Eclipsed” tells the story of five Liberian women and their tale of survival near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War. Their lives are set on a nightmarish detour by civil war; the captive wives of a Liberian rebel officer form a hardscrabble sisterhood. With the arrival of a new girl who can read---and the return of an old one who can kill---their possibilities are quickly transformed. Drawing on reserves of wit and compassion, these defiant survivors ask: when the fog of battle lifts, could a different destiny emerge? "Eclipsed” offers a chilling, humanizing and surprisingly funny portrait of transformation and renewal. This gripping play unearths the wreckage of war and celebrates the women who navigate and survive the most hostile of circumstances.