MILL VALLEY, CALIF.: Marin Theatre Company has announced the lineup for its 2019-20 season. The season will include one world premiere and five West Coast premieres.
“I cannot be more proud of the urgent, ambitious roster of plays we have lined up for the 2019-20 season,” artistic director Jasson Minadakis said in a statement. “Five remarkable, unique American playwrights—all fiercely talented women—are joined by one fabulous Canadian to span the globe and the ages through their work; exploring where we are today as Americans and global citizens. It’s an epic season of challenging, entertaining art that I hope will transform the way we see and participate in our world.”
The season will launch with Sovereignty (Sept. 26-Oct. 20), a new play by Mary Kathryn Nagle. Sovereignty follows Sarah Ridge Polson, a young Cherokee lawyer
fighting to restore her Nation’s jurisdiction as she confronts the ever-present ghosts of her grandfathers. Jasson Minadakis will direct.
Mother of the Maid (Nov. 14-Dec. 8), Jane Anderson’s reimagining of Joan of Arc’s epic tale, will follow. Mother of the Maid shifts perspective to Joan’s mother, who follows the baffling journey of her odd and extraordinary daughter with a mother’s loving persistence—facing her own upended fears and faith along the way. Jasson Minadakis will direct.
Next up will be Heather Raffo’s intimate family drama Noura (Jan. 9-Feb. 2, 2020), presented in association with Golden Thread Productions. A response to Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the titular character of Noura is an Arab American woman forced to confront the cost of her family’s choices and retrace the past they left behind in Iraq.
The season will continue with the world premiere of Love (March 5-29) by Kate Cortesi. A new play in which a woman reexamines a past love affair when her former partner—and boss—is accused of harassment, Love explores what accountability looks like when an abuser of power is one of our favorite men.
Following will be Lynn Nottage’s Mlima’s Tale (April 23-May 17). Beginning when Mlima, one of the last great tusker elephants in Kenya, is killed by poachers and following Mlima’s subsequent travels around the world, Nottage’s mystical ballad gives voice to the objects we consume, and reminds us that they often come at a deadly price.
Botticelli in the Fire (June 18-July 12) by Jordan Tannahill will close the season. Tannahill’s new play centers on 15th century painter Sandro Botticelli, whose devotion to beauty, sensuality, and pleasure is compromised by the arrival of a conservative priest in Florence.
Founded in 1966, Marin Theatre Company aims to produce intimate, powerful, and emotional theatrical works that engage audiences to discuss new ideas and adopt a broader world view.
