Constellation Theatre Company, led by Founding Artistic Director Allison Arkell Stockman and Managing Director A.J. Guban, is thrilled to announce its thirteenth season of epic, larger-than-life theatre, featuring three spectacular stories of music, mystery, and mayhem. Season 13 offers a sci-fi rock musical, a film-inspired farce, and an ethereal drama, all brought to life in Constellation’s signature style of powerful ensemble storytelling and arresting visual design in the intimate space at Source.
Little Shop of Horrors
Starting in October, musical comedy is in full bloom with the Hollywood and Broadway smash hit Little Shop of Horrors. This science-fiction horror musical about a hapless floral assistant who unwittingly adopts a bloodthirsty plant originally premiered in 1982 at the Workshop of the Players’ Art Theatre, an Off-Off-Broadway venue not unlike Constellation’s. With its dark humor and hummable score, Little Shop is the perfect vehicle with which to continue the company’s reputation as a “musical powerhouse” (The Washington City Paper). Constellation Artistic Associate Nick Martin, nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction for last season’s Melancholy Play: A Contemporary Farce, takes the reins of this delectably outrageous show.
The 39 Steps
Next, buckle in for nonstop laughs in February 2020 with the two-time Tony- and Drama Desk Award-winning comedy The 39 Steps. Based on the iconic spy movie by Alfred Hitchcock, this farcical adventure is stuffed to the gills with witty dialogue, good old-fashioned romance, and a death-defying finale. Nick Olcott directs four talented actors who portray multiple characters (often in the same scene), pursue a murder suspect on a moving train, and even crash a plane onstage – all with minimal set and props, leaving the magic to the machinations of the ensemble and the imaginations of the audience.The 39 Steps is a love letter not only to the cinema of film noir but also to the special brand of ingenious stagecraft that has captivated Constellation audiences for over a decade.
Eurydice
Finally, Constellation returns to its mythological roots in May 2020 with Eurydice, a luminous reimagining of the ancient Greek legend from the brilliant mind of Sarah Ruhl (Melancholy Play). Cara Gabriel directs this poignant take on the familiar story of love and loss, told afresh from the oft-ignored perspective of its heroine. Eurydice’s trip to the Underworld is portrayed as an Alice in Wonderland-esque journey imbued with whimsical visual imagery and piercing emotional clarity. Much like Constellation’s groundbreaking 2012 production of Metamorphoses, Eurydice breathes contemporary life into a myth that has enchanted the hearts and minds of mankind for centuries.
Founding Artistic Director Allison Arkell Stockman expresses her excitement for the upcoming season, saying, “Season 13 wholeheartedly embraces the kind of magical theatricality that Constellation excels in – from alien plant puppets to actors transforming themselves into different characters before your very eyes to the realization of worlds beyond our human experience.”
SEASON 13 PRODUCTIONS
Little Shop of Horrors
October 17 – November 24, 2019
Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman
Music by Alan Menken
Directed by Nick Martin
Deep in the run-down neighborhood of Skid Row, timid floral assistant Seymour Krelborn is skyrocketed to fame when he discovers a strange and unusual plant that he names “Audrey II” after his sweet but self-sacrificing coworker.Soon, Seymour has it all – cash, glory, and the girl of his dreams – but his good fortune takes a deadly turn when the rapidly growing Audrey II develops an appetite for human blood. With a charming Motown-flavored score by Grammy and Academy Award-winning songwriting duo Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (Disney’sBeauty and the Beast), Little Shop of Horrors will satisfy your craving for tongue-in-cheek humor, toe-tapping songs, and murderous hijinks.
The 39 Steps
February 6 – March 8, 2020
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock
Directed by Nick Olcott
A cast of four actors embodies over 150 characters in this fast-paced and riotously funny remix of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller film. In 1930s London, the dashing Richard Hannay starts his evening at the theatre and ends it mistakenly accused of murder. Caught in a maze of espionage, near-death escapes, and flirtatious entanglements, our hero careens across Britain in search of a plausible alibi and the true identity of the killer. A can’t-miss feat of nonstop laughs, The 39 Stepsspoofs the familiar tropes of film noir in a manner both utterly ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining.
Eurydice
May 7 – June 7, 2020
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Cara Gabriel
On her wedding day, Eurydice falls victim to a tragic accident that sends her hurtling into the Underworld, erasing her memory and reuniting her with her long-dead father. Orpheus journeys to retrieve his bride, but Eurydice is torn between her desire to rejoin him in the real world and the tender relationship she has rediscovered with her father in the afterlife. Brimming with lyrical beauty, original music, and Sarah Ruhl’s trademark wit, Eurydice is a surrealist meditation on love worth grieving for.
ABOUT CONSTELLATION THEATRE COMPANY
Constellation Theatre Company tells big, powerful stories in an intimate space. Constellation sparks the curiosity and imagination of the people of greater Washington, DC with world-class entertainment that features visual spectacle, dynamic movement, live music, and passionate acting ensembles. Drawing from the genres of fantasy, farce, and epic adventure, Constellation transports audiences to new and exciting worlds where the action is larger than life.
