WASHINGTON, D.C.: Studio Theatre has announced its 2016–17 season, featuring a mainstage series and a second stage series for new works.
The mainstage season will start with Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9, an exploration of sexual politics and power that bends time, gender, and genre. Michael Kahn will direct.
Next up will be Whorl Inside a Loop, by Sherie Rene Scott and Dick Scanlan, about an actress teaching writing workshops to inmates at a high-security prison. Additional material for the play is by Andre Kelley, Marvin Lewis, Felix Machado, Richard Norat, and Jeffrey Rivera.
Following will be Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem, about a young psychology researcher grappling with the definition of consciousness. Matt Torney will direct.
The season will continue with Chekov’s Three Sisters, about three sisters in the country longing for a better life in Moscow. Jackson Gay will direct.
A final play for the mainstage season is yet to be announced.
Also part of the programming will be the Studio X season, which will start with Motherstruck, written and performed by Staceyann Chin. The play follows a lesbian performance poet in Brooklyn who wants a child.
Next will be Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men, about three adult sons who return home to their father for Chirstmas.
The Studio X season will conclude with the world premiere of Aaron Posner’s No Sisters, running in repertory with Three Sisters, exploring the psyche of the lovelorn and weary characters of Chekov’s play. The production will be presented in association with the New Neighborhood, and it was commissioned as a part of Studio R&D, Studio Theatre’s new works initiative. Posner will direct.
Studio Theatre, founded in 1978, develops new work and produces contemporary plays.