As previously reported by Playbill.com, the new season will kick off with A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lisa Peterson (Public LAB's Poor Itch) will stage the romantic comedy that follows four would-be lovers into an Athenian forest who soon find themselves caught up in the magical world of the Fairy Kingdom. With entangled subplots and mismatched couples, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies; it will run Aug. 28-Oct. 5.
A co-production with Arena Stage, Obie Award winner Daniel Beaty's Resurrection will arrive at Hartford Stage following its Arena Run. Ressurection is an original work that blends music, poetry, dance, comedy and drama to tell the story of six interconnected black men, who experience a life-changing phenomenon on the same night. Oz Scott stages the production running Oct. 16-Nov. 16.
Newly added is Shinn's Dying City. Hartford describes the play as such: "Peter shows up unannounced at the apartment of Kelly, his twin brother Craig's wife, meeting for the first time since Craig was killed in Iraq. A quiet, penetrating tale of loss and grief set in the shadow of post-9/11 New York." Dying City, a 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist, will run Jan. 8-Feb. 8, 2009.
Harper Lee's beloved novel To Kill a Mockingbird will follow. "Mockingbird is a tender portrait of a southern town, brimming with powerful lessons of tolerance, justice and quiet heroism." Performance dates are Feb. 19-April 5, 2009.
Noises Off – the madcap comedy from Michael Frayn "that follows a motley and disorganized theatre company as they rehearse, perform and, well, just try to make it through Nothing On," runs April 16-May 17, 2009. The final offering of the season will be Gee's Bend by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, running May 28-June 28, 2009. "Meet the women of Gee's Bend, Alabama," press notes state, "who sing hauntingly beautiful gospel melodies as they create magnificent handmade quilts."
Hartford Stage will also present its annual staging of A Christmas Carol—A Ghost Story of Christmas, Nov. 28-Dec. 28.
Upcoming SummerStage offerings include Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, June 24-29; Ella, starring Tina Fabrique as the late Fitzgerald, July 8-27; and actress and writer Carrie Fisher in her latest solo work, Wishful Drinking, Aug. 6-17.
Hartford Stage is located at 50 Church Street in downtown Hartford, CT. Tickets for current shows are available by calling (860) 527-5151. For more information visit www.hartfordstage.org.
