THE HEIRESS, ON GOLDEN POND & More Set for Jungle Theater's 2014 Season

Artistic Director Bain Boehlke today announced the Jungle's 2014 season, continuing the theater's trademark presentation of timeless classics drawn from a rich theatrical heritage, as well as recent acclaimed works. The diverse line-up features the regional premieres of an imaginative one-woman play as well as the 2013 Obie Award-winning Best New Play, a rare Tony Award-winning American masterpiece from 1947, a reprise of a high-camp, over-the-top farce (back by popular demand!) and a touching multigenerational tale.

Opening the Jungle's 24th season on February 7, 2014, is SHAKESPEARE'S WILL, a 2005 play written by Vern Thiessen, making its Twin Cities debut. Directed by Bain Boehlke and starring Cathy Fuller, this one-woman play reveals dramatic and surprising aspects of the life of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, who spent years with - and without - the great poet.

Also appearing for the first time in the Twin Cities is DETROIT, on stage from April 11-May 25. The 2013 Obie Award-winning Best New American Play by Lisa D'Amour was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2011. Joel Sass designs and directs this powerfully funny hot-topic play, which premiered at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre in 2010.

The Jungle diverges from its usual summer path to present THE HEIRESS directed by Bain Boehlke. Based on one of Henry James' most memorable novels, Washington Square, this 1947 Tony Award-winning play examines the conflict between painfully shy Catherine Sloper and her stern, inflexible father. On stage June 20-August 10, this dramatic and suspenseful story features one of the greatest female roles written for the stage.
The Jungle brings back THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP for its fall offering (August 29-October 19) and the trio that earned it rave reviews in 2010: Director Joel Sass and actors Steven Epp and Bradley Greenwald. In playwright Charles Ludlam's hilarious send-up of Victorian melodrama and gothic romance, a sympathetic werewolf, a vampire and an Egyptian princess (brought to life when her tomb is opened) create an irresistible evening of murder and mayhem.

Closing the Jungle's 2014 season will be the warm and witty American classic, ON GOLDEN POND, designed, directed and starring Bain Boehlke. On stage November 7-December 21, Boehlke will be joined by Wendy Lehr (both Ivey and McKnight Award-winning artists) to portray the Thayers, open-hearted Ethel and irascible Norman, who return to their cottage on Golden Pond for their 48th summer.

All performances are at the Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave. So., Minneapolis. Season tickets are now on sale and are available at (612) 822-7063 or online at www.jungletheater.com.