2011-2012 Season At New Rep

New Repertory Theatre's 28th Season will feature seven plays, opening with Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-wining musical "Rent" followed by "ART," "In The Wake," "Collected Stories," "Long Day’s Journey Into Night," "Bakersfield Mist" and "Little Shop of Horrors." New Repertory Theatre is in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts located at 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown.

Kate Warner, New Rep’s Artistic Director, commented, “In planning our 28th Season, I sought out works that speak to the concept of legacy. Some plays will embrace the idea of mentorship and training. Others will examine moving family legacies. But all of the plays in our 2011-2012 Season will invite audience members to reflect upon what they value and how their ideals and choices impact future generations, while promising to engage and entertain us.”

New Repertory Theatre’s 2011-2012 Season:

"Rent"
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
September 4 - 25, 2011
Charles Mosesian Theater
Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-wining musical tells the story of a group of struggling bohemian artists living in New York City’s Lower East Side. The ground-breaking and powerful rock opera, based on Puccini’s "La Boheme," explores the necessity of love and friendship, and the repercussions of living with AIDS in modern day society. The score includes “La Vie Boheme,” “What You Own,” and “Seasons of Love.”

"In The Wake"
A New England Premiere
By Lisa Kron
October 9 - October 30, 2011
Charles Mosesian Theater
Award-winning playwright Lisa Kron cleverly interweaves the tumultuous years of the Bush era --from the 2000 ballot recount, to the devastating attacks on 9/11, to the results of the 2004 election -- in her new critically acclaimed play. Through these contentious political events, audiences watch Ellen, a freelance writer and political activist, reflect upon the wake our actions leave and how we can easily get lost in the fervor of a movement. This poignant, funny, and moving drama cautions of the danger of losing perspective on what is truly important when we forget to check our own “blind spots.”

"Collected Stories"
By Donald Margulies
Featuring Bobbie Steinbach as Ruth Steiner
November 27 - December 18, 2011
Black Box Theater
Ruth Steiner, a critically acclaimed, seasoned author, takes her student, Lisa, under her wing. What begins as a mentorship flourishes into a deeper maternal friendship. When Lisa becomes a much-admired published writer and uses Ruth’s secretive life story for her own novel, the balance of power shifts and the boundaries of their relationship is called into question. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies challenges audiences to answer the questions: Does your story belong to you? Does someone else have the right to tell your story?

"ART"
By Yasmina Reza
January 15 - February 5, 2012
Charles Mosesian Theater
This intelligent and witty Tony Award-winning play by Yasmina Reza asks the question, “What does our taste in art say about who we are as individuals?” When Serge, a novice art collector, asks his two friends to view his newly acquired work of art, this “priceless” piece tests their fifteen-year friendship and causes them to validate their self worth.

"Bakersfield Mist"
A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere
By Stephen Sachs
A Co-Production with Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater
February 26 - March 18, 2012
Black Box Theater
Maude Gutman has bought the ugliest thrift store painting she could get her hands on as a gag gift. After the painting is rejected, Maude tries to offload it at a yard sale where she learns it might be much more than junk – it just might be the “find of the century,” an undiscovered Jackson Pollock painting. When Lionel Percy, a renowned art expert, arrives at Maude’s trailer to investigate the painting’s potential, the two embark on a fiery debate over class, truth, and what we personally perceive as valuable. Inspired by a true story, this National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere asks, "What makes something truly authentic?"

"Long Day’s Journey Into Night"
By Eugene O’Neill
Featuring Will Lyman and Karen MacDonald
April 1 - April 22, 2012
Charles Mosesian Theater
New Rep explores this 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning classic by one of America’s most renowned playwrights. The semi-autobiographical masterpiece intimately examines the addictions, regrets, and deceits of the tormented Tyrone family. Through the course of a heart-wrenching day, the members of the family confront one another as their blame, resentment, and animosity explodes.

"Little Shop Of Horrors"
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics and Book by Howard Ashman
April 29 - May 20, 2012
Charles Mosesian Theater
Against the melodious styles of 1960’s rock and roll, doo-wop, and early Motown, a hapless florist shop worker, Seymour, finds a mysterious plant. As the plant begins to flourish and thrive, so does the flower shop’s business. Seymour quickly develops the confidence needed to successfully court the woman he desires, and together they begin to pursue their dreams. However, it soon appears Seymour is just a pawn in the paranormal plant’s diabolical scheme.

For information and tickets, call the box office at 617-923-8487 or visit www.newrep.org.