PRINCETON, N.J.: McCarter Theatre Center has announced its 2016–17 season, which will include world premieres from Nilo Cruz and Ken Ludwig, as well as two productions from Bedlam Theatre Company.
“This season is an ambitious lineup, marked by the quality and variety that defines all we do,” said artistic director Emily Mann in a statement. “We are featuring some of the finest playwrights in contemporary American theatre, three of whom are Pulitzer Prize winners, one of whom is an Olivier Award winner, and all of whom call McCarter an artistic home. We take great pride in creating a theatre series that offers a rich diversity of stories and styles, bringing you plays that are in conversation with each other and which encourage discussion on- and offstage. I invite you to join in the conversation.”
The season will open with the world premiere of Nilo Cruz’s Bathing in Moonlight, directed by Mann (Sept. 9–Oct. 9). The play is about the friendship between a priest and a struggling Cuban-American family.
Next will be Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced (Oct. 11–30), directed by Marcela Lorca. Produced in association with the Guthrie Theater and Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the play takes place during a contentious dinner party between a Muslim-American lawyer, his white wife, and their friends.
For the holidays, McCarter will present a reimagined version of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol from David Thompson (Dec. 9–31). Adam Immerwahr will direct.
Bedlam Theatre Company will then present two shows in rotating repertory: Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw (Jan. 13–Feb. 12, 2017). Four actors will reinterpret the classic works, with direction from Bedlam artistic director Eric Tucker.
Following that will be the world premiere production of Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (March 14–April 2, 2017). Mann will direct.
Closing the season will be Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, directed by Jade King Carroll (May 5–June 4, 2017). The play takes place in 1905 and follows an African-American seamstress who makes a living creating lingerie for wealthy Manhattan women.
McCarter Theatre Center is located on the campus of Princeton University; it was founded in 1930. It presents a mix of new plays and classics.
