PASADENA, CALIF.: A Noise Within has announced its 2017-18 season, which is themed “Entertaining Courage.”
“Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, we’re certainly living in challenging, unprecedented times,” said co-artistic director Geoff Elliott in a statement. “It seems like many people are trying to figure out what the path forward looks like. While we certainly don’t have answers, we thought we’d face that national angst and fear head on by embracing courage and hope.”
“In addition to being very entertaining theatrical works, our plays examine courage from a variety of points of view, intimate and global, low-stakes and high-stakes,” added co-artistic director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott in a statement.
The season will open with the U.S. premiere of Mike Poulton’s adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities (Sept. 3-Nov. 19), by Charles Dickens. The story is set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. Elliott and Rodriguez-Elliot will co-direct.
Next up will be Jean Giraudoux’s The Madwoman of Chaillot (Sept. 17-Nov. 11), translated by Maurice Valency. The poetic satire follows Countess Aurelia and her eccentric friends in Paris as they struggle against authority figures. Stephanie Shroyer will direct.
The following show will be George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Oct. 8-Nov. 18), about a former prostitute-turned-madam and her disapproving daughter. Michael Michetti will direct.
For the holidays, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (Dec. 1-23), adapted by Elliott, will return to the stage. The show follows the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as he learns the true meaning of the holiday season. Elliott and Rodriguez-Elliott will co-direct.
The first show of the new year will be Shakespeare’s Henry V (Feb. 4-April 6, 2018). Elliott and Rodriguez-Elliott will direct.
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (Feb. 25-April 8, 2018) will be next. The play follows the Younger family as they try to seek out a different life for themselves in Chicago. Gregg Daniels will direct.
The final show of the season will be Michael Frayn’s Noises Off (April 21-May 20, 2018), last performed at A Noise Within in 2011; this marks the fourth time the show has been on the theatre’s stage. The backstage farce explores the hijinks that happen when an under-rehearsed cast and crew open and tour a show. Rodriguez-Elliott will direct.
Founded in 1991, A Noise Within produces classic plays, featuring its resident company in a rotating repertory model.
