Shakespeare Theatre Company Sets 23/24 Season Featuring EVITA Directed by Sammi Cannold & More

Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced the upcoming 23/24 Season: Greater Wonders.

The 23/24 Season opens with the long-awaited production of EVITA. Directed by Sammi Cannold and based on her New York City Center concert version of the play, this Evita takes a uniquely humanizing approach to the memory of Argentina's most infamous First Lady. "I hope when audiences see this play, they leave the theatre thinking, wondering, wanting to know more about the life of this mythical woman," says Cannold. "She's portrayed in some lights as this manipulative, wicked woman but she was so much more than that. I can't wait to share her story with STC audiences."

STC Associate Director and Obie Award-winner Whitney White (The Amen Corner) returns to D.C. next season in her powerhouse production of MACBETH IN STRIDE. This exhilarating examination of Lady Macbeth's story is fused with music and explores just what it means to be an ambitious Black woman.

STC will also stage the D.C. premiere of THE LEHMAN TRILOGY. "This Tony Award-winning epic is a contemporary classic," says Godwin. The story of an American dream steeped in the hubristic rise and fall of a Greek tragedy, this captivating production follows three generations of the Lehman family as they build one of the largest banks in the country and catalyze the largest financial crisis in U.S. history.

"And, as always, our season is framed around the backbone of the Bard," notes Godwin. First, the acclaimed Bard on the Beach production of AS YOU LIKE IT will bring resounding joy this holiday season. Featuring songs from The Beatles intertwined with Shakespeare's own lyricism, this fab production aims to prove that in times of struggle, all you need is love.

Godwin will direct a dynamic and timely interpretation of MACBETH. "I'm always surprised how Shakespeare's words continue to mirror our contemporary political history," says Godwin. "Where are the lines between passionate enthusiasm and overt zealotry? When does ambition cross the line with greed? Thinking about Macbeth himself in conversation with our modern world, I found myself returning to the old phrase that absolute power corrupts absolutely. I am excited by the concept my team and I are crafting and I can confidently say that this will be a Macbeth you won't want to miss."

The sixth play of the season is still under wraps, with hopes to announce its title this spring.

6-play full-season subscriptions are available now by calling their helpful Box Office at 202.547.1122. Single tickets for most shows will be available for purchase in late summer. Advance access to single tickets will be made available to STC Subscribers and Donors.

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Show Descriptions

An Electrifying Musical Sensation

EVITA

Book & Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Sammi Cannold
Produced in association with American Repertory Theater

Sammi Cannold (Forbes' 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment) helms this groundbreaking revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Tony Award-winning rock opera, which follows the adored and reviled Eva Perón's meteoric rise to First Lady of Argentina before her death at 33. Cannold evolves her acclaimed concert version that was staged at New York City Center in 2019 in a production filled with heart and spectacle.

A Mesmerizing Theatrical Event

MACBETH IN STRIDE

By Whitney White
Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar
In association with Philadelphia Theatre Company

Something wicked this way comes... Created by Obie Award-winning artist Whitney White, Macbeth In Stride uses one of the Bard's most iconic characters to examine just what it means to be an ambitious Black woman. Swathed in a mesmerizing tapestry of pop, rock, gospel, and R&B, the fatalistic arc of Lady Macbeth uplifts contemporary thoughts on Black female power, femininity, rage, and desire. This "spellbinding and strikingly original" (Edge Boston) production bubbles with energy, humor, and swagger, bringing Lady M's herstory into the 21st century.

A Joyful Celebration

AS YOU LIKE IT

By William Shakespeare
Adapted & Directed by Daryl Cloran
Conceived by Daryl Cloran & Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival

It's the 1960s and flower power, peace, and love are in the air. The free-spirited Rosalind is exiled from court and escapes to an alternative community, where everything is possible. Mistaken identities and mixed signals come together, melding the Bard's verse with the beloved music of The Beatles in what Vancouver Presents calls "one of the clearest renderings of As You Like It that you will ever see." This tuneful take on Shakespeare's romantic classic will be "a total blast" (Chicago Tribune) for the holiday season, reminding us that in times of struggle, all you need is love.

A Terrifying Descent

MACBETH

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Simon Godwin

Blood will have blood. Unbridled ambition, supernatural forces, and murderous desires reign supreme in Shakespeare's most poetic examination of evil. When three witches tell Macbeth that he will become King of Scotland, he plots with his wife to attain the title through an assassination; a bloody act that gives him his crown and sends him careening down the path of his own undoing. Artistic Director Simon Godwin directs this thrilling account of how our minds deceive us and how a guilty conscience can undo us all.

An Epic Family Drama

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

By Stefano Massini
Adapted by Ben Powers

Meet the Lehman brothers-immigrants building an American dream that crumbles into a chaotic nightmare for future generations. Utilizing three actors and covering 160 years of family struggles, achievements, and missteps, this winner of the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play is a powerhouse cautionary narrative for our times. Heralded by The New York Times as a "captivating... feat of storytelling" The Lehman Trilogy examines the double-edged sword of capitalism and personal choices that created the largest financial crisis in U.S. history.

TBA

The final show in STC's six-play season will be announced later this spring.

All titles and artists are subject to change.

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About the Artists

Sammi Cannold

Director, Evita
NEW YORK: Broadway (Associate Director): Natasha, Pierre... Off-Broadway: New York City Center: Evita | Lincoln Center: Carmen |New York Theatre Workshop/A.R.T.: Endlings | Radio City Music Hall. REGIONAL: The Kennedy Center: Sunset Boulevard | Syracuse Stage: How to Dance in Ohio | American Repertory Theater: Ragtime on Ellis Island, Violet on a moving bus | La Jolla Playhouse: Allegory. TV: CBS, ABC, Nickelodeon, Paramount+ | Creative Consultant on the 2021 Tony Awards. FILM: The Show Must Go On. AWARDS: Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment (2019). PERSONAL: Sammi has served as an Artistic Fellow at the A.R.T., a member of Cirque du Soleil's Creative Cognoscenti, and a Sundance Institute Fellow. | Sammi currently serves as Chief of Staff for Human First Coalition, an organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. | Training: Stanford University: BA, Harvard University: MA | Instagram: @sammi.cannold | www.sammicannold.com.

Daryl Cloran

Adapter/Director/Conceiver, As You Like It
INTERNATIONAL: Co-Creator/Director: DRUM! | Canada: Arts Club, Theatre Calgary, National Arts Centre, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage, Neptune Theatre. OTHER: Creator of the annual High-Wire Festival at Western Canada Theatre. PERSONAL: Daryl Cloran is the current Artistic Director of Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. | Previously Artistic Director of Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops, B.C. and Artistic Director of Theatrefront in Toronto.

Tyler Dobrowsky

Director, Macbeth In Stride
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: The Public Theater. REGIONAL: American Repertory Theater, Asolo Repertory Theater, The Gamm Theater, Long Wharf Theater, PlayMakers Repertory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company. PERSONAL: Tyler is the Co-Artistic Director of Philadelphia Theatre Company | Previously Artistic Associate Director and Director of New Play Development at Trinity Repertory Company | Previously the Practitioner in Residence at the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University | Teaching: Brown University, New York University, Rhode Island College.

Simon Godwin

Director, Macbeth
Simon Godwin joined Shakespeare Theatre Company as Artistic Director in September 2019. He has served as Associate Director of The National Theatre of London, Royal Court Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, and Royal & Derngate Theatre. STC: Much Ado About Nothing, Timon of Athens. INTERNATIONAL: UK: National Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing (ft. Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan), Romeo and Juliet (ft. Josh O'Connor and Jessie Buckley and filmed for Sky Arts/PBS), Antony and Cleopatra (ft. Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo), Twelfth Night, Sunset at the Villa Thalia, The Beaux' Stratagem, Man and Superman, Strange Interlude | Royal Shakespeare Company: Timon of Athens (ft. Kathryn Hunter and reimagined in 2020 for Theatre for a New Audience and STC), Hamlet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona | Royal Court Theatre: Routes; If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep; NSFW; The Witness; Goodbye to All That; The Acid Test; Wanderlust. JAPAN: Theatre Cocoon: Hamlet. AWARDS: Evening Standard/Burberry Award for an Emerging Director (2012).

Taibi Magar

Director, Macbeth In Stride
NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: Signature Theatre: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Lortel Award for Best Revival) | The Public Theater: Capsule | The Shed: Claudia Rankine's Help | Atlantic Theatre Company: Blue Ridge, The Great Leap | Soho Repertory Theater: Is God Is | The Foundry: Master (NYT Critic's Pick) | Ars Nova: Underground Railroad Game (NYT Critic's Pick). INTERNATIONAL: Hamburg Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Malthouse Theatre (Melbourne), Soho Theatre (London). REGIONAL (selected): Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Alley Theatre, The Guthrie Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater. AWARDS: 2018 Obie Award, 2019 SDC Breakout, Lucille Lortell Nomination, 2022 Stephen Sondheim Fellowship, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Fellowship, The Public Theater Shakespeare Fellowship PERSONAL: Taibi is the Co-Artistic Director of Philadelphia Theatre Company. | Training: Brown University: MFA, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, NYTW Usual Suspect.

Stefano Massini

Playwright, The Lehman Trilogy
Selected Works: Intractable Woman, Ladies Football Club, 7 Minutes. Upcoming: Manhattan Project. AWARDS: Stefano has won numerous Italian awards, including the Premio Vittorio Tondelli and the Premio Ubu. Qualcosa sui Lehman (The Lehman Trilogy) was among the most acclaimed novels published in Italy in recent years and won the Selezione Campiello Prize, the Super Mondello Prize, the De Sica Prize, the Prix Médicis Essai and the Prix Meilleur Livre Stranger. PERSONAL: Served as Artistic Consultant at Piccolo Teatro di Milano-Teatro d'Europa | Contributor to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Arthur Miller

Playwright, The Crucible
Selected Works: The Man Who Had All the Luck, All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, A Memory of Two Mondays, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, The Price, The Creation of the World and Other Business, The Archbishop's Ceiling, The American Clock, Playing for Time, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Last Yankee, Broken Glass, Mr. Peters' Connections, Resurrection Blues. FILM: The Misfits. OTHER: Focus (a novel) | In Russia, In the Country, Chinese Encounters (in collaboration with his wife, photographer Inge Morath) | Numerous short stories and theatrical essays. AWARDS: Avery Hopwood Award for Playwriting, two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, two Emmy Awards, four Tony Awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement), Pulitzer Prize for Drama, John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities (2001). PERSONAL: Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City | He was named the Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities (2001) | Training: University of Michigan.

BEN POWERS

Adapter, The Lehman Trilogy
INTERNATIONAL: London: National Theatre: adaptations of DH Lawrence's Husbands & Sons, Euripides' Medea, Ibsen's Emperor & Galilean | Royal Shakespeare Company: A Tender Thing | Headlong Theatre: adaptations of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, Marlowe's Faustus. TV: The Hollow Crown (BAFTA nominations for Best Single Drama and Best Mini-Series). FILM: Munich: The Edge of War. OTHER: Complicite Theatre Company's A Disappearing Number adapted for radio (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards). PERSONAL: For the last 12 years he has worked at The National Theatre as associate director and deputy artistic director and was responsible for the temporary theatre The Shed. | He was previously Associate Director of Headlong Theatre. | He is currently creating a television series for Working Title, and he is published by Faber & Faber.

Tim Rice

Book & Lyrics, Evita
NEW YORK: Broadway (selected): Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita (with Andrew Lloyd Webber) | Aladdin, King David, Beauty and the Beast (with Alan Menken) | Chess (with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson) |The Lion King, Aida (with Elton John). INTERNATIONAL: London (selected): From Here to Eternity. FILM: The Road to El Dorado (with Elton John), Beauty and the Beast (live-action) (with Alan Menken). AWARDS: Sir Tim Rice is an author and one of 18 artists to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, is a Disney Legend recipient, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. Rice was knighted by Elizabeth II for services to music in 1994. PERSONAL: www.timrice.co.uk.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Music, Evita
NEW YORK: Broadway (selected): Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita (with Andrew Lloyd Webber) | Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, The Woman in White, Love Never Dies, The Wizard of Oz, School of Rock, Bad Cinderella. AWARDS: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of 18 people to have won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. Six Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, one Academy Award, 14 Ivor Novello Awards, seven Olivier Awards, one Golden Globe, one Emmy Award, the 2006 John F. Kennedy Center Honors, and the 2008 Classic Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. PERSONAL: His company, the Really Useful Group, is one of the largest theatre operators in London. | He is the President of the Arts Educational Schools, London, a performing arts school located in Chiswick, West London. | He is involved in a number of charitable activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK, War Child, and, in 1992, he started the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation which supports the arts, culture, and heritage of the UK.

Whitney White

Playwright/Performer, Macbeth In Stride
STC: The Amen Corner. NEW YORK: Off-Broadway: MCC Theater: soft | New York Theatre Workshop: On Sugarland, Semblance | WP Theater/Second Stage: Our Dear Dead Drug Lord | The Public Theater: What to Send Up When it Goes Down. REGIONAL: Steppenwolf Theatre Company: The Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Mia Martha Washington, What is Left Burns | The Bushwick Starr: Definition | Long Wharf Theatre: An Illiad | The Movement Theatre Company/Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company/ American Repertory Theatre: What to Send Up When it Goes Down. OTHER: Finish the Fight by Ming Peiffer (The New York Times). AWARDS: Obie Award, Lily Award, Susan Stroman Directing Award, Jerome Fellowship. PERSONAL: she/her | Whitney was a staff writer on the Boots Riley series I'M A VIRGO for Amazon. | She is part of the Rolex Protegé and Mentorship Arts Initiative, and an Associate Artist at The Roundabout. | Her five-part cycle deconstructing Shakespeare's women and ambition is currently in development with American Repertory Theater. | Training: Brown University: MFA, Northwestern University: BA | whitney-white.com.