The Huntington Theatre Company has unveiled
its 2007-2008 Season, which includes two world premieres by local playwrights,
the final work by award-winning writer Wendy Wasserstein,
a play that landed on all the major Top Ten lists of 2006, the American
premiere of a West End London smash on its way to Broadway, and a Bock
and Harnick classic musical.
This also marks the final season to be programmed by Huntington
Artistic Director Nicholas Martin, who in June 2008 becomes
Artist Emeritus for two years. Martin will also direct the season-closing
musical.
The schedule, in chronological order, includes:
John Buchan's “The 39 Steps”
Sept. 14 - Oct. 14, 2007
Boston University Theatre
Pre-Broadway American premiere
Mix an Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy
novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have “The 39 Steps,”
a whodunit, part espionage thriller and part slapstick comedy, adapted
for the stage from the famous film and novel.
Shots ring out across a crowded theatre
and Richard Hannay is lured into a world of intrigue by a mysterious
woman claiming to be a spy. When she winds up dead in his flat,
he flees London with the police and a secret organization – The
39 Steps – hot on his trail. A runaway hit in London and
the winner of the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best
New Comedy, this tongue-in-cheek thriller features four actors taking
on more than 150 roles.
Hitchcock’s 1935 classic film “The 39 Steps,” based
on the best-selling 1915 novel by John Buchan, is considered
to be one of the most popular British films of all time. Adaptor
Patrick Barlow is an English actor, comedian, playwright and
founder of the comedic National Theatre of Brent. His
collaborator, the highly regarded British actress Maria Aitken
(who helmed the London production) will direct the show. After
its American premiere at the Huntington, “The 39 Steps”
will be produced on Broadway by Bob Boyett.
“Brendan”
By Ronan Noone
Oct. 12 - Nov. 11, 2007
Calderwood Pavilion
A recent Irish Immigrant, Brendan now calls Boston home. He misses
his family but he's working hard to fit into his adopted country, earn
his American citizenship and find both love and meaning in his new life
in this funny premiere by acclaimed writer Ronan Noone.
Born and raised in Ireland, Huntington Playwriting Fellow Ronan Noone
is quickly becoming one of America’s top young playwrights. His
recent play “The Atheist” was part of the
Huntington’s 2006 Breaking Ground Festival, and premiered in both
New York and London. His other works include the acclaimed trilogy
“The Lepers of Baile Baiste” (National
Playwriting Award), “The Blowin of Baile Gall”
(Elliot Norton Award for Best New Play) and “The Gigolo
Confessions of Baile Breag.” "Brendan"
was developed as part of the Huntington’s 2005 Breaking Ground
Festival and received a student production by the Boston University
School of Theatre Arts earlier this season.
“Streamers”
By David Rabe
Nov. 9 - Dec. 9, 2007
Boston University Theatre
In this powerful American masterpiece, four young soldiers fresh from
boot camp anxiously await orders in 1965 Virginia, watching the Vietnam
conflict escalate. As they struggle to make sense of their new
life in the army, tensions rise over race, sexuality and class, culminating
in an explosive act that changes them forever. “Streamers”
is an unflinching exploration of the turmoil and confusion facing young
men threatened by forces beyond their control.
David Rabe is the Tony Award-winning author of “In
the Boom Boom Room” and “Hurlyburly,”
and screenplays for “The Firm,” “Casualties
of War” and “I’m Dancing As Fast
as I Can.” Director Scott Ellis
has received nine Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and helmed the
current Broadway hit “Curtains” starring
David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk, as well
as “Twelve Angry Men” (Broadway and national
tour), “1776,” “Steel Pier,” “The
Little Dog Laughed” and many more. The New
York Times called “Streamers” “absolutely a knockout!”
“Third”
By Wendy Wasserstein
January 4 - February 3, 2008
Boston University Theatre
Laurie Jameson is a revered, 54-year-old English professor at an elite
New England college. A pioneer in her field, Laurie’s seemingly
well-ordered life and career slowly become unhinged when she meets Woodson
Bull III (whose friends call him “Third”), a conservative,
wrestler-jock student. Laurie and Third face off in a series of
confrontations over politics, ethics and Shakespeare, forcing her to
reevaluate many of her long-held beliefs.
“Third” is the final play from celebrated playwright Wendy
Wasserstein, who drew upon her own life as inspiration for
many of her works. She received the Pulitzer Prize,
as well as Tony, Outer Critics Circle and Drama
Desk Awards for her 1989 play “The Heidi Chronicles.” Her
other credits include “An American Daughter,” “Uncommon
Women and Others” and “The Sisters Rosensweig,”
which Nicholas Martin directed in 2005. Wasserstein died
last winter shortly after “Third” premiered at New York’s
Lincoln Center Theatre.
“Shining
City”
By Conor McPherson
March 7 - April 6, 2008
Boston University Theatre
"Shining City” is set in Dublin, where a guilt-ridden man
reaches out to a therapist after seeing the ghost of his recently deceased
wife. At the same time, the therapist’s own relationship
teeters on the brink. Originally produced in London to critical
acclaim, “Shining City” transferred to Broadway in 2006
and landed on nearly all major critics’ Top Ten lists.
“Shining City” was nominated for three 2006 Tony Awards
including Best Play. Conor McPherson’s other
plays include “The Weir,” “Rum and Vodka”
and “Dublin Carol” while his many awards
include the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
and the London Critics’ Circle Award.
“The Cry of the Reed”
By Sinan Unel
March 28 - May 4, 2008
Calderwood Pavilion
In this world premiere production, a journalist and her colleague find
themselves unexpectedly detained by a band of insurgents as bombs rain
down on a war-torn landscape. Her captors offer one telephone
call – a chance to reconnect with the mother she hasn’t
spoken to in ten years, who now lives in Turkey and is preparing for
a festival celebrating the great Sufi poet Rumi. History and religion
collide in this powerful, ripped-from-the-headlines portrait of a world
at war.
Playwright Sinan Unel’s works have been produced
in New York, Boston, New Haven, Los Angeles, London, Germany and Australia.
A former Huntington Playwriting Fellow, he is the winner of the
John Gassner Memorial Award, the Daryl Roth Creative
Spirit Award and the Lark Theater’s New Play
Award. His other plays include “Pera Palas,”
“Tolstoy’s Den,” “Thalassa My Heart” and
“The Three of Cups.”
"She
Loves Me”
Directed by Nicholas Martin
May 16 – June 15, 2008
Boston University Theatre
The warm and funny musical “She Loves Me” is often touted
as having one of the most beautiful scores in the American theatre. Music
and lyrics are by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry
Bock with a book by Joe Masteroff. "She
Loves Me” is the first major musical produced by the Huntington
in six years, and will be the final directing assignment for Nicholas
Martin in his role as Artistic Director.
Acclaimed since its 1963 premiere and rediscovered
in a hit 1993 Broadway revival, “She Loves Me” is the romantic
story of two lovesick, anonymous pen pals who work together during the
day, blissfully unaware they are writing to each other at night.
Centering on these unlikely sweethearts and the eccentric colleagues
who aid and abet them, “She Loves Me” is based on
“Parfumerie,” the play that also inspired the Jimmy
Stewart film “The Shop Around the Corner,”
and the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film “You've Got Mail.”
Bock and Harnick's credits include the
Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning
“Fiorello!,” "Fiddler on the Roof," “The
Apple Tree,” “Tenderloin,” “The Rothchilds,”
and “Cyrano - The Musical.” Joe Masteroff
also wrote the book for the Kander and Ebb musicals “Cabaret”
and “70, Girls, 70.”
Subscriptions Available Now
The Huntington has added flexiblity to subscription choices for the
2007-2008 season, offering packages in 4, 5, 6, or 7 play increments.
Subscription prices at all levels have been reduced for the new season,
with packages that start as low as $100.
For subscription information, contact the Huntington box office at 617-266-0800.
Logo Credits:
"Streamers" -- Lincoln Center production
"Shining City" -- Broadway production
"She Loves Me" -- Broadway revival
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OnStage Boston
04/19/07
