There will also be daytime performances of Twelfth Night, re-imagined for younger audiences ages six and over.
Artistic director Timothy Sheader will open the season by directing All My Sons, beginning performances May 15, 2014, prior to an official opening May 20 for a run through June 7. Sheader previously directed Miller's The Crucible in the 2010 season at the theatre.
Hobson’s Choice will follow, beginning performances June 12 prior to an official opening June 17, for a run through July 12, in a production directed by Nadia Fall (whose credits include Doctor's Dilemma and Home, both at the National Theatre, and the U.K. premiere of Disgraced at the Bush Theatre). Harold Brighouse’s unlikely love story combines comedy with romance as it follows the lives and loves of boot-maker Henry Horatio Hobson and his three daughters.
Twelfth Night will run alongside Hobson's Choice, staging daytime performances June 21-July 12. Produced specifically for audiences ages six and over, it uses Shakespeare's original text. It will be directed by Max Webster, and follows Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre's previous productions of Pericles, Macbeth, The Tempest and The Winter's Tale, especially created for younger audiences.
Timothy Sheader will then direct the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, beginning performances July 17, prior to an official opening July 28, for a run through Aug. 23. With its book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and a musical score adapted by Diedre L. Murray, it tells a powerful story of love and betrayal, as it follows Porgy, a beggar, and his devotion to taming wild Bess to save her from a life of ruin. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, in an adaptation for the stage by Christopher Sergel, returns to the theatre with previews from Aug. 28 prior to an official opening Aug. 30, for a run through Sept. 13, prior to a U.K. tour. It is directed again by Timothy Sheader.
Full cast and creative teams for all productions will be announced in due course.
Tickets for To Kill a Mockingbird are on sale now, with tickets for the new productions going on sale in early December. Full on-sale and scheduling information will be available at www.openairtheatre.com.
