RED VELVET, COPENHAGEN and More Set for Lantern Theater Company's 2017-18 Season

Lantern Theater Company announces its upcoming 2017/18 season, which will include an ambitious and eclectic mix of classical, contemporary, and new work for the stage.

The season includes the Philadelphia premiere of Red Velvet, a drama by British playwright Lolita Chakrabarti; the world premiere of The Craftsman by celebrated local playwright Bruce Graham, which was commissioned by the Lantern; Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, perhaps the greatest play ever written about science; William Shakespeare's poetic fable of shipwrecks, love, and magic, The Tempest; and the Philadelphia premiere of Marc Camoletti's delicious French comedy Don't Dress for Dinner.

"Lantern Theater Company's 2017/18 season will bring us stories of great minds striving to expand the human experience through art, science, magic, and fine food," said Lantern Artistic Director Charles McMahon. "From Renaissance Italy to 19th Century London, from Europe during and after the Second World War to modern day France, we will perform a cycle of stories that put the world on stage in all its beauty, mystery, complexity, and wit."

Season subscriptions and flex packages go on sale today starting at $100 and are available online at www.lanterntheater.org or by calling the Lantern Box Office at (215) 829-0395. Single tickets go on sale in August 2017. Lantern Theater Company is located at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th & Ludlow Sts. in Center City Philadelphia.

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Lantern Theater Company's 2017/18 Mainstage Season:

RED VELVET

Philadelphia Premiere

By Lolita Chakrabarti

Directed by Peter DeLaurier

September 7 - October 8, 2017

Press Night: Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at 7 p.m.

London, 1833. There are riots on the streets protesting the Slavery Abolition Act. Inside the Theatre Royal, tragic actor Ira Aldridge is making history. Fresh from dazzling success in the capitals of Europe, he is about to become the first African-American actor to play Othello in London, where the play was created. The conflict inside the theater mirrors that on stage and outside: what price will artists pay for their audacity and who must pay?

THE CRAFTSMAN

World Premiere

By Bruce Graham

Directed by M. Craig Getting

November 9 - December 10, 2017

Press Night: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 7 p.m.

From the ashes of World War II, Dutch patriots discover that one of their own - a rich and reputable art dealer - has sold rare Vermeer paintings to the Nazis. Accused of treason and on trial for his life, he must decide whether to destroy his own reputation or to reveal bigger secrets behind these works that the Dutch consider National Treasures. This world premiere by celebrated Philadelphia playwright Bruce Graham spins a darkly ironic tale of ambition, genius, and deception.

COPENHAGEN

By Michael Frayn

Directed by Kittson O'Neill

January 11 - February 11, 2018

Press Night: Wednesday, January 17, 2018 at 7 p.m.

Copenhagen examines a fascinating mystery: why did German physicist Werner Heisenberg visit his old mentor and Danish counterpart Neils Bohr in 1941 while their countries were at war? Was he looking for clues to atomic secrets, seeking absolution, or simply saying goodbye to an old friend? As the characters wrestle with their memories and motives, what becomes clear is the ultimate unknowability of why we do what we do. Perhaps the greatest play ever written about science, Michael Frayn's drama puts us in the heart of the greatest moral dilemma of the 20th century.

THE TEMPEST

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Charles McMahon

March 8 - April 15, 2018

Press Night: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 7 p.m.

With poetry that brings the roiling sea to heel, The Tempest commands us to examine what happens when one ruler is exiled, his successor washed up on shore, and both must choose between conflict and reconciliation. Can old grievances lead to new hope or are we compelled to repeat our past sins? In the great fable of his artistic maturity, Shakespeare explores how the choices we make lead to unexpected consequences. Power becomes magic. Exile leads to revenge. Love paves a path to reconciliation, and poetry triumphs over all.

DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER

Philadelphia Premiere

By Marc Camoletti

Adapted by Robin Hawdon

Directed by Kathryn MacMillan

May 24 - June 24, 2018

Press Night: Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at 7 p.m.

Bernard wants Suzanne, and his wife Jacqueline wants his best friend Robert. Suzette comes to cook them all dinner, and her husband George might have to set everybody straight in this wickedly funny comedy by French playwright Marc Camoletti. The action spills from the drawing room to the bedroom to the kitchen in this hilarious and fast-moving farce of marriage, lust, and cordon bleu cuisine.

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Founded in 1994, Lantern Theater Company launched its twenty-third season with a record number of subscribers, its largest-ever operating budget at $1.3M, and a growing community of theater artists engaged in its productions and audience enrichment events. Last season, the Lantern launched the Lantern Theater Artist Fair Pay Initiative, a pioneering program to increase the compensation of its contract theater artists by 50% over the prior season. The Lantern seeks to be a vibrant, contributing member of its community, exposing audiences to great theater, inviting participation in dialogue and discussion, engaging audience members on artistic and social issues, and employing theatrical language and techniques to enrich learning in the classroom. Since the inception of the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre in 1995, the Lantern has received 94 nominations and 19 awards, including the 2009 Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service Award for its innovative education program, Illumination. The Lantern's 2016/17 season will conclude with Coriolanus by William Shakespeare and directed by Charles McMahon (March 9 - April 16, 2017) and The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, written by Scott Carter and directed by James Ijames (June 1 - July 2, 2017). More information is online at www.lanterntheater.org.

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