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2017 Season June 27–August 20 a Note from the Artistic Director

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2017 Season June 27–August 20 a Note from the Artistic Director 2017 SEASON JUNE 27–AUGUST 20 A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Recently, a playwright and I planned to catch up over coffee. The meeting began by me asking him what he was working on and then a long, nearly eternal silence. He closed his eyes and seemed to travel far away. Awkward, as the kids say. I stirred my coffee…I checked my phone...stirred Feiffer and Anna Ziegler are the living playwrights again. The epic silence was broken when he and composers who answer these questions with launched into a seemingly spontaneous, almost the work on our stages. hysterical monologue about the difficulty of writing, right now… “How can anyone write anything? Through humor and song, conflict and language, How do you write in response to this political style and substance, nuance and theatricality, moment? Do you attack it, dead-on? Do you write these artists bravely dramatize a diverse range in allegory? Do you avoid it and hope that what of the human experience right now. And, as comes out deals with the political landscape in they probe and explore, craft and create, they some accidental way? Or, do you just leave it to lay bare who we are and who we might become audiences to make sense of what you’ve written? as people, as families, as citizens, as a society. And, regardless of what you write, how do you even Before, during and after times of political think about an audience? Do they want to confront upheaval, the theatre has been a place that what is happening around them? Do they want to brings people together to listen, to feel, to think run from it? Do they want to laugh? Would it just be and to be changed. better to give them permission to cry? Can a play mean anything right now? Can it reach audiences? Whether you come to make sense of the moment Can it transform them? Are we having any impact we are living in, to confront it, to escape from by making theatre? Does any of this even matter?” it, to laugh or to cry, together — alongside our directors, actors, designers, technicians, Ok, not the relaxing, casual coffee date I’d hoped craftspeople, interns, Non-Equity actors and for, certainly. My response was simple: come to apprentices — we have the power to transform Williamstown Theatre Festival. and shape the world ahead of us. Jen Silverman, Sarah Ruhl, Timothy Prager, Geoff Thank you for making Williamstown Theatre Morrow, Jason Kim, Harrison David Rivers, Halley Festival vital, right now. It’s what we all need. SINCERELY, MANDY GREENFIELD ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Marisa Tomei, The Rose Tattoo, photo by Daniel Rader WTFESTIVAL.ORG 2 JANE KACZMAREK S. EPATHA MERKERSON HIRAM DELGADO JONGHOON HAN LAILA ROBINS MICAH STOCK THE ROOMMATE A NEW PLAY THE MODEL AMERICAN WORLD PREMIERE by JEN SILVERMAN Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner S. Epatha Merkerson and Golden by JASON KIM In 2017, what does it take for an immigrant to achieve the American Dream? Globe and Emmy Award nominee Jane Kaczmarek star in this absorbing With humor and humanity, playwright Jason Kim (HBO’s “Girls”) explores this directed by MIKE DONAHUE comedy about self-discovery. Empty-nested and alone in her Midwestern home, directed by DANNY SHARRON question in his timely world premiere play directed by Danny Sharron. Young, Sharon (Merkerson) takes on a roommate, Robyn (Kaczmarek), who has just Latino, gay, and unapologetically ambitious, Gabriel (Hiram Delgado) arrives arrived from New York City. Before she has even unpacked, Robyn challenges in New York seeking work, friendship, love, and mentorship. But, before he JUN 27–JUL 16 everything about Sharon’s way of life. Book clubs, 80s pop music, and the JUN 28–JUL 9 can move forward, he must honestly determine if he is running toward success occasional shared toke complicate their unlikely but enduring relationship, or away from what he left behind. Developed at WTF under the auspices of MAIN STAGE $68 even as they venture into dangerous territory. Mike Donahue directs Jen NIKOS STAGE $58 the Bill Foeller Fellowship Program in 2016, The Model American asks: what Silverman’s new play which celebrates unexpected re-invention later in life. is the price we are willing to pay for a new life? 3 WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL See calendar on pages 17–20 for specific show dates and times See calendar on pages 17–20 for specific show dates and times WTFESTIVAL.ORG 4 JONIECE ABBOTT-PRATT JOSHUA BOONE CHRISTOPHER LIVINGSTON LEROY MCCLAIN MYRA LUCRETIA TAYLOR JAYNE ATKINSON COTE DE PABLO JESSICA HECHT PRISCILLA LOPEZ BERNARD WHITE WHERE STORMS WORLD PREMIERE THE CLEAN HOUSE 2005 PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST Mourning the loss of her elder son Myles (LeRoy McClain), Bethea (Myra by SARAH RUHL Two-time Tony Award® nominee Jayne Atkinson and Tony Award nominee ARE BORN Lucretia Taylor) tries to help her younger son Gideon (Christopher Livingston) Jessica Hecht star in this heartfelt comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalistSarah Ruhl. by HARRISON DAVID RIVERS through his grief. But as revelations surrounding Myles’ incarceration and directed by REBECCA TAICHMAN Lane (Atkinson), an accomplished physician, discovers that her sister Virginia directed by SAHEEM ALI death emerge, both mother and son must decide whether to fight or let go. (Hecht) — not her Brazilian housekeeper Matilde (Cote de Pablo) — has been With wit and empathy, this play reminds us of the courage and resilience it cleaning her home every day. Though never close, suddenly the sisters find takes to chart a better way forward for the ones we love. Saheem Ali directs JUL 19–29 themselves enmeshed in each other’s lives and in Matilde’s great passion JUL 12–23 this world premiere play by 2016 WTF Playwright-in-Residence Harrison for Portuguese jokes. Rebecca Taichman directs this expressive and lyrical David Rivers. MAIN STAGE $68 comedy about learning to live with life’s mess. NIKOS STAGE $58 5 WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL See calendar on pages 17–20 for specific show dates and times See calendar on pages 17–20 for specific show dates and times WTFESTIVAL.ORG 6 REBECCA HENDERSON GENE JONES CRISTIN MILIOTI THOMAS SADOSKI JEANINE SERRALLES RYAN SPAHN MICAH STOCK GEOFF MORROW TIMOTHY PRAGER LONNY PRICE MOSCOW MOSCOW WORLD PREMIERE A LEGENDARY A NEW MUSICAL You’ve known Olga, Masha, and Irina for nearly 117 years. But this summer, they Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Lonny Price directs an intimate MOSCOW MOSCOW are, like, unhappy for reals. Obie Award winner and Drama Desk nominee Trip ROMANCE new musical by composer/lyricist Geoff Morrow and book writer Timothy MOSCOW MOSCOW Cullman directs Outer Critics Circle Circle Award nominee and Theatre World music and lyrics by GEOFF MORROW Prager that delivers us to the intersection of loyalty, love, and ambition. Back Award Winner Halley Feiffer’s world premiere: a contemporary adaptation of book by TIMOTHY PRAGER in 1950, film producer Joseph Lindy was on top of the world, making hit by HALLEY FEIFFER Chekhov’s Three Sisters. As our heroes search for meaning in their work and after hit with the love of his life and leading lady, Billie Hathaway. Nearly four directed by TRIP CULLMAN love lives — all the while dreaming of their dear Moscow — we are invited to directed by LONNY PRICE decades later, retired and forgotten, he must approve for release a version examine our own existential longings and unrequited yearnings. Feiffer’s bold, of his abandoned, cinematic masterpiece — an autobiographical film now unapologetically millennial, and bitingly comedic spin on this Russian classic altered irrevocably by a young producer. Haunted by the choices he made JUL 26–AUG 6 newly reacquaints us with the emotional contours of the beleaguered and AUG 3–20 years ago, Joseph’s story hangs in the balance as he reconstructs the film, his NIKOS STAGE $58 beloved Prozorov family. You totes don’t want to miss it! MAIN STAGE $68 memory, and, ultimately, his legacy. 7 WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL See calendar on pages 17–20 for specific show dates and times See calendar on pages 17–20 for specific show dates and times WTFESTIVAL.ORG 8 , photo by Daniel Rader COMMUNITY WORKS Orpheus in the Berkshires Cast of COMMUNITY WORKS is WTF’s initiative that brings together local residents and professional theatre artists to make plays for and about the Berkshires. In the fall, winter, and spring, WTF conducts acting and playwriting workshops in Western Massachusetts. In the summer, more than eighty Berkshire area residents are featured onstage alongside professional actors in a free, family-friendly world premiere play. To get involved, e-mail [email protected]. JOSHUA BOONE ALEXANDRA SOCHA ONCE UPON A TIME FREE AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY! ACTUALLY CO-WORLD PREMIERE WITH GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE IN THE BERKSHIRES In Once Upon a Time in the Berkshires, three kids ask their grandmother to by ANNA ZIEGLER Amber (Alexandra Socha) and Tom (Joshua Boone) are freshmen at Princeton by LUCY THURBER tell them about a time long ago. She speaks of a world made of water, of University, where their experiences so far have only two things in common: star-crossed lovers, and of banshees. The stories come to life — warriors and directed by LILEANA BLAIN-CRUZ drunken parties and a desire to fit in. But when they meet, their common directed by LAURA SAVIA magical creatures flood the stage as the tales unfold with original music and experience becomes anything but, and their moral mettle is put to the test. floor-pounding dance. Directed by WTF Associate Artistic Director Laura Lileana Blain-Cruz directs Anna Ziegler’s deeply felt and relevant world Savia, this world premiere play by Obie Award winner Lucy Thurber asks what AUG 9–20 premiere play about intimacy and responsibility, power and provocation, AUG 13–16 it really means to be a hero.
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