From Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company:
Their 2014-2015 Season:
Let Them Eat Cake!, a season of revolutionary ideas and radical theatre
The apocryphal quip by Marie Antoinette—“Let them eat cake!”—sparks a deliciously decadent Season 35, but also one in which we skewer our leaders and walk the widening divide between the haves and the have-nots. The cast of characters include queens and presidents, boomers and hustlers, the living and the living dead, and all of the works explore societies and individuals under attack from outside and inside forces, breaking down, breaking out, and groping toward new solutions.
Season 35 begins and ends with two plays about governments under siege: Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi and Zombie: The American, a World Premiere, and Woolly’s first “Free the Beast!” commission by Andrew W. Mellon Playwright in Residence Robert O’ Hara. Both show conflicted and complicated leaders attempting to keep the hordes at bay, even as rebellion is inevitable.
But if the above present the world from the point of view of those with power, the four works between them present stories of societal attack and change by everyday individuals who struggle to rise up and take down the established order.
The Russians Are Coming! A Festival of Radical New Theatre from Moscow showcases new work by four innovative companies using revolutionary and inventive theatrical approaches to investigate the urgent concerns of contemporary Russia, questioning authority, and shattering the old rules.
Canada’s Old Trout Puppet Workshop comes to Woolly in December with Famous Puppet Death Scenesabout a hapless parade of characters who are captivating, goofy, and helpless against the power of the ultimate overlord—death. Cherokee by Lisa D’Amour—a companion piece of sorts to last year’s hit play Detroit—presents two couples whose break from society finds them scrabbling toward a whole new way of life.
And the three underdogs in Lights Rise on Grace by Chad Beckim have no choice but to go their own way—societal transgressors due to who they are, who they love, and where they’ve been.
“This landmark season is a culmination of our thinking over the last few years about what it means to make theatre,” says Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. “With the expansion of our Company of Artists to include directors, designers, and playwrights, we have been using new processes for production development that harness meaningful and early collaborations among all the artists involved in a production. With our focus on Connectivity, we are asking more probing questions about the relevance of our work in our community. And with scripts like Bootycandy, Mr. Burns, and Stupid Fucking Bird, we have continued to seek out writers who are re-inventing the traditional idea of a play. These three threads have been the biggest influences on my thinking about the direction of Woolly They have seamlessly combined in Season 35 for our boldest season to date, one which will engage and challenge our audience in new ways.”
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MARIE ANTOINETTE
By David Adjmi
Directed by Yury Urnov
September 15–October 12, 2014
On the surface, Marie Antoinette is the famous story of the rise and fall (mostly fall) of the iconic and controversial Queen of France. But was Marie just a shallow, rich party girl, or a tragic figure constructed by a culture of luxury and celebrity?
“Through David Adjmi’s incisive contemporary lens, history’s most notorious queen becomes a full-blooded, complex, and tragic heroine who realizes too late that there’s an unstoppable revolution brewing outside her window,” says Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. “This is a Marie Antoinette for today: a potent symbol of all the things that keep us from seeing the real forces bearing down on us: our cult of celebrity, our fatuous politics, and a pace of change we can hardly fathom. I am thrilled to welcome David back to Woolly, along with visionary director Yury Urnov and Woolly Company Member Kimberly Gilbert as Marie.”
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THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!
A FESTIVAL OF RADICAL NEW THEATRE FROM MOSCOW
October 25–November 9, 2014
Created and performed by artists from The Meyerhold Centre, Dmitry Krymov Laboratory, Gogol Center, and Praktika Theatre. Presented in partnership with Philip Arnoult’s Center for International Theatre Development.
Over 75 Russian artists will descend on Woolly Mammoth to present four new works from distinct companies representing the cutting edge of Moscow’s theatre scene. The pieces will include works by famous international directors—Dmitry Krymov and Kirill Serebrennikov—and young upstarts—Svetlana Zemlyakova and Yury Muravitsky—who are galvanizing audiences in astonishing new ways.
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FAMOUS PUPPET DEATH SCENES
Created and Performed by Old Trout Puppet Workshop
December 9, 2014–January 4, 2015
Famous Puppet Death Scenes is a collection of twenty-two scenes of famous puppet deaths, spanning an array of theatrical styles and genres. Narrated by puppet Nathan Tweak, this unusual holiday show is in equal parts, hilarious and macabre, and uniquely reminds us of our own mortality.
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CHEROKEE
By Lisa D’Amour
Directed by John Vreeke
February 9–March 8, 2015
Two couples from Houston go camping in Cherokee, North Carolina to get away from it all. But their lives are upended when Mike mysteriously disappears and is seemingly replaced by Josh, a young American Indian from the area.
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LIGHTS RISE ON GRACE (World premiere)
By Chad Beckim
Directed by Michael John Garcés
March 30–April 26, 2015
Lights Rise on Grace is a hot-blooded stage event that has been exposed to its theatrical bones: an examination of race, sexuality, and family as unconventional as the relationships it depicts. Three actors bring to life the interwoven stories of a triangle of outsiders whose search for love takes them to places—and people—they didn’t expect.
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ZOMBIE: THE AMERICAN A “Free the Beast!” Commission and World Premiere
By Robert O’ Hara
Directed by Howard Shalwitz
May 25–June 21, 2015
It’s 2063, and as Thom Valentine—the first openly gay President of the United States—finishes a long reelection campaign, he is faced with an imminent Civil War, the threat of an African invasion, an adulterous First Gentleman, and Zombies in the basement of the White House. Amidst this chaos, Valentine must decide which institutions he cares most about saving, and at what cost.
Subscriptions for Season 35 will be available in the coming weeks and may be purchased online, or by calling the Box Office at (202) 393-3939, or by purchasing them at the theatre at 641 D Street, NW, in Washington, DC.
Season Tickets will become available in the next couple of weeks.
Single tickets will go on sale July 1.
LINKS
Arena Stage announces its 2014-2015 Season.
Shakespeare Theatre Company announces its 2014-2015 Season.
