McCarter Theatre Announces Its 2011-2012 Theater Season

McCarter Theatre announces its 2011-2012 Theater Season, which will feature three bold world premieres, a new romantic musical featuring the music of Rodgers and Hart, and an intellectual high-speed romp by one of the most celebrated dramatists of our time.

Artistic Director Emily Mann will stage the world premiere productions of Phaedra by Marina Carr, one of Ireland's premier contemporary playwrights, and The Convert by Danai Gurira, one of the most sought-after young playwrights in the country. The third world premiere of the season, John Guare's newest play Are You There, McPhee? is a McCarter commission and will be directed by Sam Buntrock. The two other productions will be Travesties, a comedy by legendary British playwright Tom Stoppard, and a new musical, Ten Cents A Dance, conceived and directed by Tony Award-winning director John Doyle.

Emily Mann said that the 2011-2012 season "truly embodies McCarter's mission to present an unparalleled variety of entertaining, diverse, and thought-provoking programming with the most exciting of the world's theater artists."

"McCarter is also committed to commissioning, developing and producing ambitious new works that will become a vital part of the national and international repertoire. This season, for the first time, McCarter will be presenting three world premieres, which I find both challenging and absolutely exhilarating. McCarter was one of the first theaters in this country to present Marina Carr's work dating back to 1996 with The Mai, and it's a privilege to present her newest play, Phaedra, to our audiences."

"Finally," remarkEd Mann, "it is thrilling to present the world premiere of theatrical giant, John Guare, in the same season as America's rising star playwright, Danai Gurira, demonstrating the range of artists we are committed to supporting on our stage."

To kick off the new season, Tony Award-winning director John Doyle will bring his trademark twist to the Rodgers and Hart songbook with Ten Cents A Dance, a stylish new production with a cast that doubles as the orchestra. Rodgers and Hart's jazzy and sophisticated tunes will keep you bewitched, bothered, and bewildered in this inventive song-cycle. A co-production with Williamstown Theatre Festival. September 9 through October 9, 2011 (Berlind Theatre).

The season continues with the world premiere of Phaedra by Marina Carr, directed by Emily Mann. The mythic and the modern collide in a lyrical and fierce new adaptation of the classic Phaedra myth. In a triumphant return to McCarter, Marina Carr, one of Ireland's leading contemporary playwrights, pens a seductive, poetic, and brave work that explores the inexorable pull of fate, the labyrinth of legacy, and the danger of desire. October 18 through November 6, 2011. (Matthews Theatre)

McCarter will welcome the New Year with US-based Zimbabwean actress and playwright Danai Gurira's powerful new play, The Convert, directed by Ms. Mann. Set amid the colonial scramble for southern Africa in 1895, The Convert tells the tale of Jekesai, a young girl who escapes from a forced marriage by becoming the newest convert of a well-meaning black catechist for the Catholic Church. When a civil uprising against coloniAl White rule disrupts their lessons, the girl and her teacher must find their place in a new world order that threatens their heritage, history, and faith. Prodigiously talented playwright Danai Gurira (Eclipsed and In the Continuum) has written an unflinching, startling, and compelling new play, filled with humor and compassion. The Convert is a co-production with The Goodman Theatre (Chicago, IL) and Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles, CA), who also commissioned the work. January 13 through February 12, 2012. (Berlind Theatre)

Next up is Tom Stoppard's classic comedy: Travesties, directed by Sam Buntrock. Take one part Wilde, a touch of Lenin, a dash of Dada, a pinch of Joyce and you've got Tom Stoppard's absurdly hilarious Travesties. This is Stoppard (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Shakespeare in Love) at his best: a dazzling medley of literature, philosophy, politics and history. The wildest revolutionary minds of the 20th century come alive in this romantic and achingly funny modern masterpiece. March 13 through April 1, 2012. (Matthews Theatre)

Rounding out the 2011-2012 Theater Season will be the world premiere of Are You There, McPhee? by master American playwright John Guare (House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation) who takes us on an epic and suspenseful ride in his newest play. Trapped in a house with a mysterious past, Edmund Gowery knows the only way to escape is to change his life-he just doesn't know how. Guare spins a darkly comic and spine-tingling tale in what promises to be an unforgettable theatrical experience. May 4 through June 3, 2012. (Berlind Theatre)

To subscribe to the 2011-2012 Theater Season, call (609) 258-2787 or visit www.mccarter.org. McCarter Theatre is located at 91 University Place in Princeton, NJ.

Tony Award-winning McCarter Theatre Center, located in Princeton, New Jersey, (Emily Mann, Artistic Director; Timothy J. Shields, Managing Director) is recognized as one of the foremost performing arts centers in this country to serve as both a professional producing theater and a major presenter of the performing arts. McCarter achieves this distinction by commissioning, developing and producing ambitious new works that infuse the national and international repertoire with fresh vitality, while also creating provocative and original productions of classic plays and modern masterpieces. Beginning with the world premiere of Thornton Wilder's Our Town in 1938, McCarter Theatre has consistently launched significant productions whose impact is felt long after the closing performance. Ultimately, McCarter strives to create work that engages in the questions of our time, producing stories that resonate across cultural divides and fostering dialogue between world events and the work on our stages.

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