The Rep launches the season with Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It and closes it with the regional premiere of Melinda Lopez's Sonia Flew.

The season will include the U.S. premiere of British playwright Joe Penhall's Landscape with Weapon, "a riveting examination of the intersection of morality and technology."

A Christmas Story, a Conor McPherson play and the Fats Waller revue Ain't Misbehavin' are all part of the mix.

Here's the 2009-10 San Jose Rep season:

As You Like It
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by artistic director Rick Lombardo
Aug. 29–Sept. 27
"In order to teach the man she desires how to love a woman, Rosalind must first disguise herself, and in the end she changes the entire world around her. Lombardo's inaugural production will emphasize the transformative power of romantic love and nature’s force to heal the scars of political and technological oppression." Landscape with Weapon
U.S. Premiere
Written by Joe Penhall
Directed by Kirsten Brandt
Oct. 10-Nov. 8
"The creative mind behind the brilliant comedy Blue/Orange ventures into the murky terrain of military technology. Kirsten Brandt, who has directed This Wonderful Life, Rabbit Hole and Splitting Infinity for the Rep, helms this production. Ned is the genius behind an advanced weapons technology system so sophisticated it promises to revolutionize warfare. Working with the British government, he has created a hi-tech platform for self-navigating, flying drones intended for military surveillance. Landscape with Weapon provides an explosive exploration of moral conflict and public responsibility arising from the creation of modern warfare, begging the question: do scientists have a moral responsibility for their inventions?"

A Christmas Story
Adapted by Philip Grecian, based on the movie written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark
Nov. 21-Dec. 20
"Back by popular demand is this modern day holiday tradition. Christmas is a time of great expectations, especially through the eyes of a child. For nine-year-old Ralphie Parker that great expectation is a genuine Red Ryder 200 Shot Carbine Action Air Rifle."

The Weir
Written by Conor McPherson
Directed by Rick Lombardo
Jan. 23-Feb. 21, 2010
"The beautiful and haunting play that won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. The Weir is a riveting story of love, loss and loneliness. A rural Irish pub is the gathering place for lonely souls, an establishment where locals seek refuge from the bluster of the outside world by telling stories to break the silence of their isolation. Valerie is a newcomer to the area when she is brought to the pub by her real estate agent, Finbar. When the men learn that she has just moved into a house considered 'haunted,' the tales of the supernatural begin. Small mysteries evolve into eerie astonishments as the ghostly storytelling soars into liberating confessions. Half-hidden wounds are revealed throughout an evening of drink and testosterone-laden rivalry for Valerie's attention, bringing these drinking buddies together in unexpected and deeply felt ways, and finally compelling Valerie to reveal a personal and chilling tale of her own."

Ain't Misbehavin'
A co-production with Arizona Theatre Company and Cleveland Playhouse
Music by Thomas "Fats" Waller
Based on an idea by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr.
March 20-April 18, 2010
"The joint will be jumpin' to the music of Thomas 'Fats' Waller in this Tony Award-winning musical revue [featuring] five phenomenal artists and a jumpin' jazz band take you through the pain and triumphs of the African-American experience during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 30s…[when] snappy swing music, snazzy jazz and the stride piano infused the energy of the country."

Sonia Flew
Regional Premiere
Written by Melinda Lopez
May 8-June 6, 2010
"Sonia Flew questions parental sacrifice, familial responsibility and patriotism in times when worlds collide. Sonia's parents sent her to the United States during the Cuban revolution and she never saw them again. Thirty years later and living in the Midwest, Sonia, a fiercely devoted mother of two, has created a home that embraces her own cultural traditions along with her husband's Jewish religion. Three months after 9/11, their son announces he is quitting college to join the army. Sonia combats grief and terrifying abandonment through political forces that once again threaten to shatter her family. Can she come to terms with her secret past, her parents' decision, her children’s choices and her duty to her adopted country?"

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