Theater at Monmouth's 47th Season to Include HENRY V, THE ILLUSION & More

?For 2016 Theater at Monmouth invites you to unleash your inner Francophile for their Vive la France season! What do an unproven king, a swordsman with an astonishing nose, four pairs of lovers running amuck, and two meddling fathers with wayward children have in common? They are all part of TAM's 47th Vive la France season featuring plays that simmer, sizzle, and surprise.

The 2016 Summer Repertory includes Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Dawn McAndrews and Henry V, directed by Joseph Discher; Jo Roets' adaptation of Cyrano, directed by Tess Van Horn; Pierre Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville, directed by Matthew Arbour, and Tony Kushner's adaptation of Corneille's The Illusion, directed by Davis Robinson. Opening July 2, the Family Show is an adaptation of the classic fairy tale Puss in Boots directed by Stacey Mancine Koloski. For Fall Play, opening September 15, TAM presents Marc Camoletti's Boeing, Boeing directed by Dawn McAndrews. Since its founding in 1970, TAM has produced more than one hundred of Shakespeare's works and many other classics both during the Summer Repertory Season and on tour throughout Maine.

SUMMER REPERTORY SEASON

Performances take place in Cumston Hall, a 250-seat Victorian opera house designed by Harry Cochrane. Since its founding TAM has rehearsed and performed in rotating repertory, inviting audiences to see the actors in different roles in different shows in one weekend.

Cyrano | June 25 - August 19

by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Jo Roets | directed by Tess Van Horn

Cyrano de Bergerac is a master of swordplay and wordplay, but a "magnificent Mount Everest of a nose" blocks his path to true love. From Parisian balconies to bloody battlefields, tongue-tied Christian borrows Cyrano's words to woo beautiful Roxane-but is she falling for Christian's looks or Cyrano's soul? A cast of three triangulates this classic into a lightning-paced romance of duels, panache, sacrifice, and one enormous schnoz.

"Infused with pure enchantment from start to finish...Roets offers us an inventive, delicious reduction of Rostand's mighty work." - Reviewer (Sonoma County Repertory Theater)

Tess Van Horn is a Portland based director and actor. She holds a BA in theater from Sarah Lawrence College and is founding member of Portland theater company Lorem Ipsum. Notable directing credits include Blood Wedding, Ubu Roi, and the world premiere of Gargantua.. She has performed with various theater companies throughout Maine and New Hampshire. Favorite roles include Rita in Prelude to a Kiss (Good Theater), Olivia in Twelfth Night (Seacoast Rep), and Lisa in Owners (Lorem Ipsum Theater). A native of Freedom, Maine, she was introduced to Shakespeare for the very first time as a young audience member in Cumston Hall.

Love's Labour's Lost | July 7 - August 20

by William Shakespeare | directed by Dawn McAndrews

The King of Navarre and his friends vow to spend three years in serious study--giving up sleep, food, and women. How inconvenient, then, that the Princess of France shows up with her ladies-in-waiting to sway them from their vows. To avoid the temptation, the King orders that they be housed in a nearby field. In typical Shakespearean fashion, letters of love go misdirected and subplots abound-until a twist of fate forces the men (and women) to keep their vows.

"[Love's Labour's Lost] is a festival of language, an exuberant fireworks display in which Shakespeare seems to seek the limits of his verbal resources, and discovers that there are none." - Harold Bloom

Producing Artistic Director Dawn McAndrews directs Love's Labour's Lost in her seventh season with TAM. Dawn has worked as a director, producer, and educator at theatres across the country including Shakespeare Theatre Company, Steppenwolf Theatre, Arena Stage, Portland Stage Company, and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. Directing credits include Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Colby College) The Language Archive (Public Theatre), The Glass Menagerie and Three Days of Rain (1st Stage) Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice (The Orange Girls) and Timberlake Wertenbaker's Antigone (Saint Louis University). TAM credits include The Mousetrap, On the Twentieth Century, Romeo & Juliet, Henry IV Part 1, Of Thee I Sing, Hamlet, The Year of Magical Thinking, This Wonderful Life, The Winter's Tale, and Every Christmas Story Ever Told...(and then some!).

The Barber of Seville | July 14 - August 21

by Pierre Beaumarchais | directed by Matthew Arbour

Count Almaviva has fallen in love with Rosina, but she's been locked in the house by her guardian, who has his own matrimonial plans for her. What's a Count to do? Fortunately, the crafty Figaro is on hand to help sort everything out-or maybe to complicate it further! Lush, lively, and a little bit naughty, Beaumarchais' comic romp is chock full of hilarious misunderstandings, disguises, and sumptuous period costumes.

"Before you know it, these characters have given you an uproarious and useful handbook on white lies, productive deception, and the renewability of love." - Philadelphia Inquirer (The McCarter Theater)

Matthew Arbour returns to TAM where he previously directed Romeo and Juliet, Tartuffe, and The Real Inspector Hound. Regional credits include Pioneer Theater Company, Two River Theater, PlayMakers Repertory, Chautauqua Theater Company, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, New Jersey Repertory, Portland Stage Company, Washington Ensemble Theater, Hangar Theatre, Theater at Monmouth, and Penobscot Theatre Company. Matthew was Associate Artist of the Washington Ensemble Theater in Seattle from 2004-2008, Co-Artistic Director of the Hangar Theatre Lab Company in 2003, and resident dramaturg and literary manager of Portland Stage Company from 1992 to 1998. Matthew is a Usual Suspect of New York Theatre Workshop and a recipient of the prestigious Drama League Directing Fellowship. MFA: University of Washington, Seattle.

Henry V | July 21 - August 20

by William Shakespeare | directed by Joseph Discher

A gifted young English king makes a rash decision to go to war. Against overwhelming odds, Henry V achieves heroic stature, leading his country to victory, conquering France and winning its princess. But there's a terrible cost in human life and ruthless acts of moral ambiguity. In a propulsive, provocative production with contemporary resonances, Shakespeare's rousing history crowns Henry's complicated three-play journey from disaffected prince to legendary king.

"Shakespeare's play has an uncanny ability to reflect the spirit of the times." The Guardian (Royal Shakespeare Theatre)

Joseph Discher has been directing, casting, and producing Shakespeare and classical plays for more than twenty years. As Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey for twelve seasons. he directed Our Town, Henry IV Part One, To Kill A Mockingbird, Arms and the Man, The Grapes of Wrath, The Tempest, Amadeus, The Play's the Thing, Cymbeline, Life of Galileo, Of Mice and Men, The Fantasticks, Twelfth Night, That Scoundrel Scapin, Travels With My Aunt, Much Ado About Nothing, and Brecht's The Visions of Simone Machard. Other regional credits include: Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis), and Macbeth (Stella Adler Conservatory). Discher is a member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers and Actors' Equity Association. He is a professional singer, a classically trained violinist, and a proud alumnus of Drew University and The Delbarton School.

The Illusion | July 28 - August 19

by Pierre Corneille, adapted by Tony Kushner | directed by Davis Robinson

In a story that explores what is reality and what is not, an anxious father seeks to reunite with his estranged son and enlists the services of a powerful sorcerer who conjures up provocative visions of the romantic, adventurous, and perilous life the young man has been living. The Illusion, freely adapted from Pierre Corneille's L'Illusion Comique, is Kushner's most joyfully theatrical play, a wildly entertaining tale of passion and regret, of love, disillusionment, and magic.

"Rapture comes naturally to playwright Tony Kushner, and in The Illusion, he plants a big swoony kiss on the lips of the theater." - Washington Post (Forum Theatre)

Davis Robinson is founder and artistic director of the Beau Jest Moving Theater and professor of theater at Bowdoin College. He is author of A Practical Guide To Ensemble Devising and The Physical Comedy Handbook. He studied in Paris with Jacques Lecoq and in the United States with Tony Montanaro at the Celebration Barn Theater, where he teaches ensemble devising and improvisation. Previous shows for TAM include Our Town, Blithe Spirit, and Arsenic and Old Lace. With Beau Jest he has directed three world-premiere productions of plays by Tennessee Williams for the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival, and can be seen in the original noir/comic fantasy Apt 4D.

FAMILY SHOW

Each summer, TAM presents a play for children of all ages adapted from classic literature. Due to the popularity of Family Shows in the past, the Family Show now runs throughout the season including weekday and weekend performances.

Puss in Boots | July 2 - August 18

adapted by Dawn McAndrews | directed by Stacey Mancine Koloski

A miller's son, homeless and helpless, has his life changed when the smartest cat in all of France, Puss in Boots, comes up with a clever plan to change his fortune. All she needs is a pair of leather boots and his faith in her. The miller's son is taken on the adventure of his life but soon learns that one little white lie can become a giant furball! Just how far will this cunning cat go to live the high life of a palace cat?

FALL PLAY

After a three year commitment to producing Gilbert & Sullivan musicals, TAM is pleased to announce that, due to audience demand, a classic French farce will take the place of its Fall Musical in 2016.

Boeing, Boeing | September 15-25

by Marc Camoletti | directed by Dawn McAndrews

It's the 1960s, and swinging bachelor Bernard couldn't be happier: a flat in Paris and three gorgeous stewardesses all engaged to be married...to him. But his perfect life hits the skids when a new, speedier Boeing jet throws off his careful fiancé scheduling. Soon all three stewardesses are in town simultaneously and catastrophe looms. Fasten your seat belts it's going to be a riotously raucous ride!

"Camoletti's play is admittedly hot (at times) and sexy (at times), but it's also silly, illogical, and patently absurd." - Backstage.com (La Miranda Theatre)

SPECIAL EVENTS

17th Annual Black Fly Follies | July 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Theater at Monmouth's annual variety show returns featuring the talents of our summer company. Following up on last year's successful show, the 17th Annual Variety show will feature French-inspired feats while introducing audiences to the artists and plays of the 2016 season.

MONMOUTH, MAINE

Monmouth is located just off Route 202 in the Winthrop Lakes region of Central Maine. By car, the

Theater is 25 minutes from Augusta, 25 minutes from Lewiston, 45 minutes from the Mid-Coast region, 50 minutes from Portland, and 90 minutes from Bangor. Monmouth and neighboring towns Winthrop, Hallowell, Augusta, and Lewiston offer a variety of attractions suitable for the whole family, including the Monmouth Museum, Cobbossee Colony Golf Course, Mount Pisgah Hiking Trail, Children's Discovery Museum, Maine State Museum, Viles Arboretum, Bates College Museum of Art, Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary, and more. These areas also offer a myriad of dining options including The Sedgley Place, Pepper's Garden & Grill, DaVinci's Eatery, Fish Bones, Gritty McDuff's Brewpub & Restaurant, Joyce's Restaurant, The Liberal Cup, and Slates Restaurant. Visitors can enjoy a stay in Monmouth at one of the several bed and breakfasts or nearby hotels, including A Rise and Shine B&B, The Roost, Maple Hill Farm B&B, the Hilton Garden Inn, and Senator Inn & Spa.

CUMSTON HALL

All performances take place in historic Cumston Hall, which towers dramatically over Monmouth's Main

Street. While Dr. Charles M. Cumston donated the funds for the building to the Town of Monmouth in

1899, it has always been a gift shared with the community at large. A registered National Historic

Building since 1976, the building's architecture is a mix of Romanesque-style asymmetrical columns and towers and varying external textures of the Queen Anne period. The 250-seat opera hall features elaborate plaster carvings, and a fresco mural ceiling.

SUBSCRIPTIONS, SINGLE TICKETS, AND GROUP SALES

A TAM subscription offers savings and exclusive benefits like priority seating and ticket exchanges. Gold, Flex, General, or Senior Passes are available for purchase, so whether you want a ticket for each show or five tickets to one show, there's an option for you. Single tickets for the Summer Repertory and Fall Play are $32 for adults, $28 for senior citizens, and $20 for students (18 and under). Puss in Boots tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children.

Opening Nights are Educator Nights. Educators receive 20% off tickets with a photo ID at the Box Office.

Under 30 Rush Tickets: For patrons under 30, twenty $10 Rush Tickets are available at each performance in the season. Sign up by contacting the Box Office, either by emailing boxoffice@theateratmonmouth.org or calling 207.933.999 the morning of the performance. Tickets will be released to the first 20 people on the list ten minutes before curtain.

To reserve single tickets, subscriptions, or arrange group sales, please visit www.theateratmonmouth.org or call the box office at 207.933.9999.