MADISON, N.J.: The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has announced its 2015 season, which will offer a new adaptation, classic plays, a reading series and some special events.
The season opens with The Royal Family (May 27–June 21) by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Loosely based on the real-life Barrymore acting dynasty, this 1927 comedy chronicles the daily life of three generations as they struggle to balance familial responsibilities and their artistic calling. Artistic director Bonnie J. Monte will direct.
Next is Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost (June 17–July 26), which will be staged outdoors under the stars.
Following will be artistic director Monte’s new adaptation of Ferenc Molnár’s The Guardsman (July 8–July 26), which tells the story of a beleaguered leading man and his strong-willed lady in Budapest. Translation for this production is by Gábor Lukin, and Monte will direct.
The Lend Us Your Ears Play Reading Series will feature The Lover (July 20) by Harold Pinter, which examines the cruel and provocative relationship of a husband and wife.
Next is Shaw’s Misalliance (Aug.5–30), about a patriarch who struggles to maintain control of his family, friends and some unexpected visitors to the family estate. The comedy will be directed Stephen Brown-Fried.
Following will be the New Jersey premiere of Bill Cain’s Equivocation (Sept. 16–Oct. 14), a fictional imagining of the intrigue behind the original conception and staging of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
The Lend Us Your Ears Play Reading Series continues next with The White Devil (Sept. 21) by John Webster, a cautionary tale loosely based on the 1585 murder of an Italian noblewoman.
Next is Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank (Oct. 14–Nov. 21) by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Joseph Discher will direct.
For a Halloween, a “Something Wicked This Way Comes” event returns with a staged reading of Bram Stoker’s thriller Dracula (Oct. 26).
Then comes Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (Dec. 2–27), a bawdy comedy about clever wives who enjoy high jinks and pranks. Monte will direct.
Ending the season will be Something Merry This Way Comes (Dec.14), a special holiday event featuring songs, poems and stories by actors and guest artists of the theatre.
