MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.: TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has announced that it will postpone the opening of its 51st mainstage season to March 2021. The delayed season will include eight plays, to be presented through May 2022.
“The safety and well-being of our community is of paramount importance, and if the need arises we will continue to adjust our schedule accordingly,” said artistic director Tim Bond in a statement. “While our audiences can’t be together in person, TheatreWorks will continue to adapt, create, inspire, and celebrate the human spirit.”
During this time of pause, TheatreWorks will continue to present virtual programming and special events, including a livestream of Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone on Sept. 13. In addition, TheatreWorks will launch a new initiative focused on racial justice and getting out the vote. The company’s annual new works festival will be rescheduled to 2021, with dates to be announced.
The 51st season will begin with Hershey Felder as Monsieur Chopin (March 17–April 18, 2021), a solo show starring Felder as Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Joel Zwick will direct.
Next up will be Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years (June 2-27, 2021), adapted by Emily Mann from Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany’s memoir. The play follows two centenarian sisters sharing the lessons they’ve learned over their century of life. Bond will direct.
Following will be the world premiere of Jessica Dickey’s Nan and the Lower Body (July 14– Aug. 8, 2021), about the inventor of the Pap smear and his discovery of his assistant’s hidden secret. The play, which was developed as part of TheaatreWorks’ 2019 New Works Festival, will be directed by artistic associate and director of New Works Giovanna Sardelli.
The season will continue with August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (Oct. 6-31, 2021), a lyrical epic about police violence and rioting in the Pittsburgh Hill District in 1904. Bond will direct.
Just in time for the holidays will be It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Dec. 1-26, 2021), adapted by Joe Landry from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Jo Swerling,. The holiday production will be presented as a radio play with live foley-style sound effects. Sardelli will direct.
The new year will start with the regional premiere of Sense and Sensibility (Jan. 19-Feb. 13, 2022), a musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel with book, music, and lyrics by Paul Gordon. The story follows three sisters through their change in fortune and search for marriage after the untimely death of their father. Founding artistic director Robert Kelley will direct.
Following will be Madhuri Shekar’s Queen (March 2-27, 2022), about two Ph.D. candidates on the brink of publishing groundbreaking research about the rapid global honeybee demise, when one of them discovers a mistake in their findings. Jeffrey Lo will direct.
The season will conclude with Ragtime (April 13–May 8, 2022), with book by Terrence McNally, and score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. The musical is based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel about families pursuing the American dream at the start of the 20th century. Kelley will direct.
Founded in 1970, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley develops and produces new musicals and plays. The company was the 2019 recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award.
