LONG BEACH, CALIF.: California Repertory Company, at California State University Long Beach (CSULB), has announced its 2019-20 season.
“Cal Rep’s 31st season highlights stories of survival; survival as a team, a woman, a new college student, a pair of star-crossed lovers, a Chicano Angeleno; all told by CSULB students, faculty, and guest artists,” stated a press release from the company.
The season will open with Mud (Sept. 12-29) by María Irene Fornés, about a young woman living in poverty who must escape the men who depend on her. BJ Dodge will direct.
Next up will be Lauren Yee’s Hookman (Sept. 26-Oct. 6). Lisa Sanaye Dring will direct the dark comedy about a girl beginning college while trying to make sense of what happened to her late best friend.
Playing next will be Romeo & Juliet: Hard Way Home, The Musical (Nov. 7-16), a reimagining of the Shakespeare classic featuring music from Brandi Carlile’s album “Bear Creek.” Beth Lopes will direct.
The season will continue with Move: The History of a Hand (Nov. 21-Dec. 8), devised by the Cal Rep ensemble. The piece explores the cultural, scientific, and personal histories of hands. The production is part of Cal Rep’s four-year “Devising Democracy” project. CSULB’s head of movement, Ezra LeBank, will direct.
Following will be In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks (Feb. 13-23, 2020), an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter that follows a homeless mother of five living in the inner city.
Bruce A. Lemon Jr. will direct the next production, (March 5-14, 2020,) which will be announced at a later date.
Next up will be The Wolves (March 19-27, 2020) by Sarah DeLappe, a coming-of-age piece about a high school girl’s soccer team. Jessica Hanna will direct.
The season will finish with Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit (April 30-May 10, 2020), which tells the story of Henry Reyna and the 38th Street Gang, who were tried for the Sleepy Lagoon murder in Los Angeles during WWII. Jonathan Muñoz Proulx will direct.
Founded in 1989, California Repertory Company is an educational theatre company operating out of California State University, Long Beach.
