Barrington Stage Company’s 25th anniversary season will kick off June 19 on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage with the previously reported presentation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods. Directed by Joe Calarco, the production will officially open June 22 for a limited run through July 13.
Darren R. Cohen serves as musical director; casting will be announced at a later date.
The upcoming season will also feature four world premieres: a new musical from BSC’s Musical Theatre Lab, Fall Springs, by Niko Tsakalakos and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb; America v. 2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of The American Negro by Stacey Rose; American Underground by Brent Askari—recently named the inaugural winner of the Bonnie and Terry Burman New Play Award; and Ragtag Theatre’s Hansel and Gretel, commissioned by BSC. The latter, penned by Lewis Flinn and Sam LaFrage, is the 2019 Youth Theatre production, set to run July 25-August 10.
Gertrude and Claudius, a new play from Mark St. Germain based on John Updike's Shakespearean-inspired novel, will follow Into the Woods on the Mainstage, beginning previews July 18 prior to an official opening July 21. Directed by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, performances of the Hamlet prequel will continue through August 3.
The new musical Fall Springs—with music and lyrics by Tsakalakos and book and lyrics by Nachtrieb—will be seen on the Mainstage August 9–31. Stephen Brackett directs, with musical direction by Vadim Feichtner. The musical comedy is set in the title town of Fall Springs, which is cash-strapped but sits directly on top of America’s largest reserve of cosmetic essential oils. With new fracking techniques being recklessly implemented, the ground beneath Fall Springs is crumbling.
Askari’s American Underground, directed by Boyd, will play the Mainstage October 2–20. The thriller focuses on an interracial couple, who are enjoying a visit from their college-aged son when a young Muslim woman arrives at their back door looking for safe passage via a new Underground Railroad.
The 2019 St. Germain Stage productions include Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths (May 22–June 8), about an unsung American hero, Gordon Hirabayashi, who fought passionately for the Constitution against an unexpected adversary, his own country; Rose's America v. 2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of The American Negro (directed by Logan Vaughn, June 14–30), a day in the life of a troupe of Black actors who are charged with “re-enacting the revised history of the once-thriving American Negro”; David Ives’ Time Flies and Other Comedies (July 5–27), an evening of comedic short plays; and Steven Levenson’s If I Forget (directed by Jennifer Chambers, August 1–31), about three siblings in a Jewish-American family who reunite to celebrate their father’s 75th birthday.
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“For our 25th season, we are celebrating some of the brilliant undiscovered playwrights whose work is on the pulse of what's happening in America today,” said Artistic Director Boyd. “These writers have created stories that could not have been written 10 or 20 years ago—we celebrate their bravery and vision of the world as they see it today.”
For complete season details and ticket information, visit BarringtonStageCo.org.
