New Rep announces a season of premieres for 2006-2007
March 6, 2006
Contact:
Cory Elizabeth Nelson, Artistic Associate
617.923.7060 x204, corynelson@newrep.org
Following the success of its inaugural season in Watertown, New Repertory Theatre announces its second season as the resident company in the Arsenal Center for the Arts. The upcoming season at New Rep will be comprised mostly of Boston, New England, and world premieres.
“I believe the plays in our upcoming season will find a wonderful home at New Rep and with Boston audiences,” says Rick Lombardo, Producing Artistic Director. “What they all have in common – beyond extraordinary writing – is that each play, in its own way, makes us confront our secrets, our fears, and the fragile quality of our humanity.”
As part of its continuing commitment to bring new work to local and regional audiences, New Rep will present two New England premieres, one Boston premieres, and an NNPN world premiere. In association with the National New Play Network (NNPN), New Rep will engage in a unique collaboration with San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, Tucson’s Borderlands Theatre, and Indianapolis’s Phoenix Theatre, presenting the “rolling world premiere” of David Rambo’s The Ice-Breaker, which will introduce the play to a national audience.
For the 2006-07 season, please note that New Rep’s press nights will return to Friday evenings at 8:00 PM.
The Pillowman, a comedy by Martin McDonagh
Directed by Rick Lombardo
September 6 – October 1, 2006. Press night: September 8, 2006 at 8:00 PM
New England Premiere
For its season opener, New Rep presents last season’s Tony-Award winning hit, The Pillowman. In an unidentified totalitarian state, Katurian - a butcher by day, a writer of haunting fairy tales by night – faces two interrogators from the local police force. As Katurian soon learns, his stories, in which characters meet grisly and macabre fates, have inspired a string of copycat crimes. As the police resort to increasingly absurd and hilariously unconventional methods to crack the case, Katurian’s stories come to life, blurring the line between fact and fiction, truth and storytelling. In The Pillowman, Martin McDonagh celebrates with dark humor the spellbinding power of narrative, while exploring the dark corners of the human imagination and the delicate balance between the freedoms of the individual and the security of the state.
The Ice-Breaker, a drama by David Rambo
Director TBA
Oct. 25 – Nov. 19, 2006. Press night: Friday, Oct. 27 at 8:00 PM
An NNPN world premiere (National New Play Network)
Featuring Will Lyman
New Rep’s production of The Ice-Breaker will be part of a National New Play Network “rolling world premiere,” in conjunction with productions at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, Tucson's Borderlands Theatre, and Indianapolis’s Phoenix Theatre. Written by David Rambo – known nationally for his writing on the hit television series Crime Scene Investigation – The Ice-Breaker depicts the developing relationship between two scientists. Sonia, a brilliant academic completing her thesis on climatology, arrives on the desert of the American Southwest in search of Lawrence, a once-legendary scientist (now living in self-imposed exile), whose research on polar ice inspired Sonia’s work. When the two meet, sexual and intellectual sparks fly, but in the course of one sleepless night, both learn that their romantic attraction is as volatile and mysterious as the potential climate change they fear.
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
Adapted for the stage by Rick Lombardo
December 10 – 24, 2006. Press night: Wednesday, December 13 at 7:00 PM
Following the success of last year’s production, New Rep revives its popular adaptation of Dickens’ classic holiday story, which has all the trimmings of a lavish Victorian Christmas. The production offers a feast for the senses, ranging from a pre-show caroling concert to luxurious period costumes, from singing and dancing – the performers accompany themselves on over a dozen different instruments – to ghosts that fly through the air and evaporate into the London fog. For audience members of all ages, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the perfect holiday celebration.
Silence, a comedy by Moira Buffini
Directed by Rick Lombardo
January 17 – February 11, 2007. Press night: Friday, January 19 at 8:00 PM
New England premiere
The time is the Dark Ages and the place England, as Ymma, a young noblewoman in exile from Normandy, arrives on the shores of Canterbury. Passionate, brilliant, fiery, and beautiful, Ymma quickly offends Ethelred, England's narrow-minded king. As punishment, he commands her to marry Silence, a fourteen-year-old lord who longs to become a warrior. Quickly, the newlyweds conspire to take advantage of their mismatched marriage, reaching an agreement that grants them both their freedom. Ymma and Silence set out on the open road, but as Viking warriors threaten the shores of England, as the new millennium dawns and the faithful wonder if the apocalypse is at hand, the young couple's strength is tested. Smart, sexy, silly, and overflowing with ideas, Silence interweaves youthful adventure with a profound meditation on questions of identity, freedom, religion, nationalism, and the possibilities of faith and tolerance in an uncertain world.
Orson’s Shadow, a comedy by Austin Pendleton
Directed by Adam Zahler
February 21 – March 18, 2007. Press night: Friday, February 23, 2007 at 8:00 PM
Boston area premiere
Movie stars, legendary talent, declining fame, and explosive egos all collide in the off-Broadway hit Orson's Shadow, written by New Rep regular Austin Pendleton and selected by Time Magazine as one of the top plays of 2005. In 1960, film director Orson Welles travels to London, persuaded by Kenneth Tynan - himself a powerful theatre critic - to direct a production of Ionesco's Rhinoceros. The Royal Court Theatre production stars the brilliant Laurence Olivier and his latest flame, Joan Plowright, though their romance is complicated by a visit from Olivier's eccentric wife, Vivien Leigh. Filled with risqué, behind-the-scenes intrigue, Orson's Shadow depicts the fragility and humanity of these titan personalities.
The Wild Party, a musical comedy by Andrew Lippa
Directed by Rick Lombardo
April 25 – May 20, 2007. Press night: Friday, April 27, 2007 at 8:00 PM
Evoking the glamour, sensuality, and decadence of Manhattan in the roaring twenties, The Wild Party chronicles an evening in the life of Queenie and Burrs, lovers and fellow vaudeville performers. To test the limits of their fierce and hot-blooded relationship, Queenie throws the wildest, most hedonistic party New York has ever seen. However, as the reckless and alluring guests arrive - all with stories of their own - seduction gives way to unbridled passion, and what began as an evening of games and titillation ends in violence. The Wild Party, with a driving score by Andrew Lippa, blends contemporary music with the sounds of the Jazz Age.
Subscription information
Subscriptions for New Rep’s 2006-2007 season are on sale now. Information on different membership packages can be obtained by contacting New Rep’s box office at 617.923.8487 or via e-mail at info@newrep.org. Please note that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is not included in any subscription package.
New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience. New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S. New Rep has received Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, direction, and production. Programming at New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with additional support from Bank of America and CN8, the Comcast Network.