The Shakespeare Theatre's 2013 season begins in late May and will continue through December. Full season Complete Works discount subscriptions are now available and include tickets to all six Main Stage productions for as low as $135. Also available are discount choose-your-own 5-play packages starting at $115 and discounted choose-your-own 4-play play packages starting at $94.
Tickets to individual productions are also on sale and range from $35 to $70. Student rush tickets, available one half hour prior to each performance, are $15. For information or to purchase a discount subscription or individual tickets, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.
The season opens 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, part outrageous comedy and part bittersweet parable. A young country lad's transformation from beaten-down weakling to celebrated "playboy" captures the poetic heart of the wild Irish imagination in magnificent, lyrical 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 in Morris Township. Shakespeare's splendid and pithy comedy filled with some of his most colorful and beloved characters will delight all ages. The Outdoor Stage production of As You Like It under-the-stars will run June 19th to July 28th.
Next up on the Main Stage is Noël Coward's rarely-produced Fallen Angels. Britain's master of wit has created tour de force roles for two leading ladies in this delightful comedy about the seven-year itch. The sophisticated "bubbles" of this frothy, vintage Coward are popped throughout by sharp and wickedly-funny barbs about the perils of marital bliss. 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," said Bonnie J. Monte. This long-forgotten and eccentric romance by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Idiot's Delight and Abe Lincoln in Illinois tells the improbable tale of an indomitable Russian Grand Duchess and her dashing Prince of a husband living in exile in Paris. 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 A Most Dangerous Woman. This world premiere explores the extraordinary life of Mary Ann Evans — better known by her pen name George Eliot. An outcast living a socially unconventional life, Evans was forced to write under an assumed name, not only to escape having her work judged by virtue of her gender, but to avoid having it judged by virtue of her scandalous life. Ironically, her success as George Eliot only led her deeper and deeper into a world of secrets and deception. A Most Dangerous Woman will run September 18th through October 6th.
The Shakespeare Theatre will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, the beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning, American classic. The play has become an idyllic symbol of our collective national past -- a time and place where decency, friendship and wholesome values were the norm-- an America untainted by the greed, corruption, pollution and violence that now darken our horizon. The ordinary citizens of the ordinary town of Grover's Corners weave an extraordinary and timeless tale about life, love and mortality. Our Town runs October 16th to November 17th and features several school-time matinee performances.
The 2013 season closes with Shakespeare's Pericles. Pericles, Prince of Tyre, discovers a terrible secret in the court of Antioch, and flees, fearing for his life. Thus begins a long and perilous odyssey, filled with adventure, betrayal, joy, sorrow and ultimately, reunion, redemption and rebirth. A wonderful tale for the holidays, Brian B. Crowe's imagining of Pericles is a shimmering vision of an epic voyage across icy seas in search of new worlds and lost souls. Pericles will begin performances on December 4th and continues through December 29th.
Several special events are also planned for the 2013 Season.
Lend Us Your Ears, the Theatre's acclaimed play reading series, returns for the 2013 season and provides patrons the opportunity to join The Shakespeare Theatre's directors, actors and artistic staff in exploring diverse and exciting plays. These script-in-hand readings feature members of The Shakespeare Theatre's esteemed company of actors as well as prestigious guest artists.
Lend Us Your Ears kicks off with Coriolanus by William Shakespeare.
One of Shakespeare's most astute and complex political plays, the Bard examines the mentality of the masses and the downfall of a noble soldier turned reluctant politician whose unyielding hubris brings about his tragic downfall. The reading will take place on Monday, July 15th, 2013 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15.
Next is The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giradoux. Giradoux's eerily prescient, eccentric, post-war comedy pits the common people of Paris against a conglomerate of financiers determined to destroy the City of Lights in order to profit from the reputed oil fields lying beneath the its streets. The reading will take place on Monday, August 19th, 2013 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15.
The Lend Us Your Ears reading series will conclude with the recently discovered and translated play The Tragedy of Mister Morn by the Russian master Vladimir Nabokov. This reading provides a very special theatrical and literary gift for audiences for it marks the first time the play will be heard in America. The reading of The Tragedy of Mister Morn will take place on Monday, September 30th, 2013 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15.
Back by popular demand are Something Wicked This Way Comes and Something Merry This Way Comes.
Titled from a line in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Something Wicked This Way Comes features esteemed actors from The Shakespeare Theatre company as well as guest artists presenting a 90-minute collage of dramatic readings from the classic canon of the macabre. This one-night-only event will be held on October 28th. Tickets are $33.
Hearkening back to a time when families read to each other, Something Merry This Way Comes is a cornucopia of sparkling and inspiring holiday tales, songs, and poems read by members of The Shakespeare Theatre's company of actors. Something Merry This Way Comes is appropriate for all ages, and provides a simple and pure antidote to the commercial glitz that inundates lives each year at holiday time. Something Merry This Way Comes will be held on December 16th. Tickets are $33
For more information about these special events, visit ShakespeareNJ.org or call the box office at 973-408-5600.
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Main Stage, the 308-seat F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, is conveniently located in Madison at 36 Madison Avenue (Route 124) at Lancaster Road (on the Drew University campus), just minutes from routes 287, 78 and 10. Parking is free. The Outdoor Stage is located on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth in Morris Township. The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre is barrier free with access into the Theatre via a ramp and elevator access to all floors. Wheelchair seating and transfer seating is available. Braille and large print programs are available. Infrared listening devices are available free of charge. Some performances are audio described. Contact the theatre for more information. For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.
The acclaimed Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is an independent, professional theatre company located on the Drew University campus. One of the leading Shakespeare theatres in the nation, serving 100,000 adults and children annually, it is New Jersey's largest professional theatre company dedicated solely to Shakespeare's canon and other world classics. Through its distinguished productions and education programs, the company strives to illuminate the universal and lasting relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences.
