LOS ANGELES: Geffen Playhouse has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring nine productions. It’s the first season selected by new artistic director Matt Shakman.
“I’m thrilled to help bring to life both new work and re-envisioned classics from some of the greatest theatre artists working today,” said Shakman in a statement. “From a new take on Antigone to a wondrous world premiere by José Rivera to the incomparable Brian Dennehy, this season celebrates the power of unique voices in American theatre.”
The season will start with the world premiere of José Rivera’s The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona (Sept. 4-Oct. 7). Inspired by Dante’s Inferno, the play follows a woman looking to communicate to her twin sister through a service that connects the living with the dead, but is put in touch with a man who is dying instead.
The season will continue with Bekah Brunstetter’s The Cake (Sept. 10-Oct. 21), about a devout Christian tasked with baking a wedding cake for her best friend’s daughter, who is marrying a woman. The cast will feature Joe Hart, Morrison Keddie, Shannon Lucio, Carolyn Ratteray, and Debra Jo Rupp. Jennifer Chambers will direct.
Just in time for the holidays will be Jefferson Mays’s world premiere adaptation of A Christmas Carol (Oct. 30-Dec. 2), by Charles Dickens, a retelling of the classic tale as a one-man show starring Mays.
Following will be Eugene O’Neill’s Hughie (Nov. 5-Dec. 16), about a high-rolling gambler who loses his confidant and befriends a new hotel night clerk in hopes of regaining his winning streak. Brian Dennehy will star, and Steven Robman will direct.
Running in repertory will be Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, about a man celebrating his birthday who stumbles upon a recording of a tender memory that causes him to question whether his present lives up to his past. The cast will feature Dennehy, and Robman will direct.
Next up will be Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (Feb. 5-March 10, 2019), by Patricia McGregor and Colman Domingo, about Nat King Cole’s final Christmastime broadcast of his variety show. Dulé Hill and Daniel J. Watts will star, and McGregor will direct.
The season will continue with the world premiere of Inda Craig-Galván’s Black Super Hero Magic (March 5-April 14, 2019), about a mother forced into the spotlight after her 14-year-old son dies in a police shooting, who retreats inside the fantasy world of superheroes to avoid the media attention.
Following will be a new adaptation of Sophocles’s Antigone (April 9-May 12, 2019), a modern retelling of the tragedy. Kate Whoriskey will adapt and direct.
Next will be the world premiere of Invisible Tango (May 7-June 16, 2019), written and performed by Helder Guimarães, a one-man show that explores the nature of secrets and how far we are willing to go to discover them in the age of information and over sharing. Frank Marshall will direct.
The season will conclude with the world premiere of Michael Mitnick’s Mysterious Circumstances (June 11-July 14, 2019). The play, commissioned by Geffen Playhouse, was inspired by David Grann’s The New Yorker article about the mysterious death of Sherlock Holmes. Shakman will direct.
Founded in 1995, Geffen Playhouse is committed to producing classic plays and contemporary works.
