Lantern Theater Company Announces Updates on OTHELLO, THE MISANTHROPE, and More

Lantern Theater Company has announced an update on Othello, The Misanthrope, and the upcoming 2020/21 season. Check out their statement below:

"As you know, we suspended Othello performances in mid-March when public health officials required the end of public gatherings to help mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak. It has since become clear that we will not be able to resume normal activities - rehearsals, scenic construction, or performances - at the Lantern this spring. So, with deep regret, we must announce that we are postponing The Misanthrope with the hope of producing it in a future season.

We do this work because we believe that great plays, well performed, make a difference in the lives of the people who see them and enrich our common humanity with empathy and wisdom. Othello remains an important artistic project for the Lantern. Following its single preview performance on March 12 - and a rousing standing ovation and overwhelming feedback from those in attendance - we knew that we must make every possible effort to share this moving production with you. With that in mind, we are thrilled to let you know that we will open the upcoming 2020/21 season with Othello, and we can't wait for you to experience this timeless story of love, pride, jealousy, and betrayal.

Lantern Theater Company will produce a complete 2020/21 season, beginning with Othello in September, followed by Travesties by Tom Stoppard, Novecento by Alessandro Baricco, A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, and Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage. We will also present our beloved original adaption of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with Anthony Lawton in December and our annual production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for middle school and high school audiences in spring 2021.

You play an essential role in our Lantern community. Our mission is to produce plays that investigate and illuminate what is essential in the human spirit and the spirit of the times. In addition to attending productions at the Lantern, we seek your participation in our In Conversation programs through which we hope to engage you in ongoing conversations about artistic and social issues.

We know that you must be as disappointed as we are by this premature end to the 2019/20 season. If you hold tickets to a cancelled performance of Othello or The Misanthrope, there are three options for you: donate the value of your tickets as a tax-deductible contribution, request a ticket voucher, or request a refund. Please know that donating your tickets back to the Lantern represents the most effective way to lend your support during this extraordinary time of need.

Please complete this handy online form to share with us your preferences about the handling of your tickets. You may also call our Box Office at 215.829.0395 during regular business hours: Monday through Friday, 10AM to 5PM. Our Box Office is fully functioning from remote locations, and our staff is standing by to assist you. We ask that you notify us about your ticket preferences by May 31.

The Covid-19 health crisis has hurt all of us across our region and around the world. Theater artists have been particularly affected with virtually all of their professional and artistic employment cancelled this spring and summer. The best way we can support our hard-hit theater community is to put the Lantern in the strongest possible position to provide professional opportunities for them. More than 180 individual theater artists, technicians, house managers, box officers, and other theater professionals are needed to produce our upcoming 2020/21 season. We are fully committed to doing so, and we hope that you will join us in creating a future better than the present.

Your support contributes to the resilience of the performing arts and in the lives of our theater artists. Please support the Lantern now and in the future. If you have not already subscribed to our upcoming 2020/21 season and/or made a tax-deductible donation, we invite you to consider doing so. Your commitment to the Lantern would be the best news we could hope for at this time."

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