The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Announces 2013 Season

On the heels of its record-breaking 50th Anniversary season, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey today announced the line-up for its 2013 Season. The roster will include six productions on its Main Stage at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison and one summer production on the popular Outdoor Stage - the Greek amphitheater on the campus of The College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township as well as several special events and programs.

The Shakespeare Theatre's 2013 season begins in late May and will continue through December. Advance orders for full season Complete Works discount subscriptions are now available and include tickets to all Main Stage productions as well as the opportunity to add the annual Outdoor Stage production at a significant discount. For information or to purchase a subscription, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

The season will open with Ireland's legendary masterpiece by J.M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World. This famed playwright, poet, and co-founder of The Abbey Theatre has penned a grand adventure, part tall-tale and part tragi-comedy. A young country lad's transformation from beaten-down weakling to celebrated "playboy" captures the poetic heart of the wild Irish spirit in magnificent Gaelic style. The Playboy of the Western World begins performances on May 29th and continues through June 23rd.

"All the world's a stage" and this summer the Shakespeare Theatre's Outdoor Stage will transform into the Forest of Arden. At the beautiful and family-friendly amphitheater on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth, Shakespeare's spirited and pithy comedy As You Like It will delight all ages. The Outdoor Stage production of As You Like It will run June 19th to July 28th.

Next up on the Main Stage is Noël Coward's rarely-produced Fallen Angels. This frothy delight by one of the world's masters of wit features two tour-de-force roles for women and is sure to raise eyebrows and the roof with laughter. This comedy will run from July 3rd to July 28th.

"We were thrilled and honored when The National Endowment for the Arts provided us with a special grant to produce the long-forgotten comedy Tovarich by Jacques Deval, translated by famed American writer Robert E. Sherwood, and we will present it this August," said Bonnie J. Monte. "I am very excited to introduce our audiences to this wonderfully eccentric, improbable romance about an indomitable Russian Grand Duchess and her dashing Prince of a husband hiding out in Paris. The provocative issues of the play are given hilarious life by this master of the American stage." Tovarich will begin performances on August 7th and runs through August 25th.

Next, Tony Award-winner Richard Maltby, Jr. makes his Shakespeare Theatre directorial debut with the world premiere of Cathy Tempelsman's A Most Dangerous Woman which explores the extraordinary life of Mary Ann Evans - better known by her pen name George Eliot - the infamous and groundbreaking author of the Victorian era. A woman of extraordinary passion and intellect, born into a time and society that closed most "doors" to women, Eliot finds a way to unleash her talent despite all odds. A Most Dangerous Woman will run September 18th through October 6th.

Thornton Wilder's Our Town had its very first performance at the McCarter Theatre in 1938 and The Shakespeare Theatre will celebrate the 75th Anniversary of this iconic and beloved American classic with a production in the fall. This Pulitzer Prize-winning play paints the portrait of an ordinary town and its inhabitants and weaves a captivating and timeless tale about life, love, and mortality. Our Town runs October 16th to November 17th and features several school-time matinee performances. Associate Artist Joseph Discher directs.

The 2013 season will close with a fantastical odyssey epic filled with perilous adventures, courageous acts, and a thrilling and climactic rejuvenation. Shakespeare's Pericles is not often produced and director Brian B. Crowe will create a newly-imagined, shimmering vision of this tale that takes audiences across the icy seas in search of new worlds and lost souls. Pericles will begin performances on December 4th and continues through December 29th.

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