Albee, Wilson, Shakespeare Plays on Tap Next Season at Yale

Yale Repertory Theatre has announced the 2010-2011 season.

On tap are:
World Premiere Musical
WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE
Book and Lyrics by Adam Bock and Music and Lyrics by Todd Almond
Directed by Anne Kauffman

Sept. 17-Oct. 9, 2010
University Theatre (222 York St.)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a haunting, lyrical, and darkly humorous new musical based on the 1962 novel by Shirley Jackson, author of The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House. Acquitted of a horrible crime six years ago, Constance Blackwood lives with her devoted younger sister Merricat and their uncle Julian in what was once the home of the richest—and most envied—family in a small New England town. Constance tends to the house and garden while Merricat invents magical charms to protect the surviving Blackwoods from the townspeople’s prying eyes and vicious gossip. But talismans may not be powerful enough to keep the sisters together when their handsome cousin Charles comes to visit. Composer Todd Almond’s recent projects include this season’s Girlfriend at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and On the Levee at Lincoln Center Theater.


Edward Albee's
A DELICATE BALANCE
Directed by James Bundy

Oct. 22-Nov. 13, 2010
Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel St.)

Edward Albee, the four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Three Tall Women, makes his Yale Rep debut with a new production of A Delicate Balance.

Friday night in the suburbs. Agnes and Tobias are a well-off, long-married couple who share their home with Agnes' older sister, Claire, a self-proclaimed “drunk.” The delicate balance of their lives has already begun to teeter when their best friends arrive unexpectedly, asking if they can stay indefinitely. The next day, their grown daughter shows up, expecting to move home again after the collapse of her fourth marriage. Agnes and Tobias soon realize they must make some difficult choices about what to do next. Artistic Director James Bundy (2009’s Death of a Salesman) stages this social comedy about the fragile nature of marriages, families, and friendships.


World Premiere
BOSSA NOVA
By Kirsten Greenidge

Nov. 26-Dec. 18, 2010
Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Rep presents the world premiere of Bossa Nova, a poignant and powerful new play by Kirsten Greenidge, who has been praised for her “imaginative reach and affinity for rich dialogue” (The Boston Globe).

Dee Paradis has never fit in. Raised on the gentle swing of bossa nova and educated at elite, predominately white schools, she has led a life meticulously designed by her elegant and strong-willed mother, Lady. In the split second when she locks eyes with Lady in the mirror before a dinner party, Dee—now 30 years old and still torn between her mother's expectations and a former lover’s ideals of authenticity—comes face to face with a choice that will determine her future.

August Wilson’s
THE PIANO LESSON
Directed by Liesl Tommy
Jan. 28-Feb. 19, 2011
Yale Repertory Theatre

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson returns to Yale Rep, where it had its world premiere in 1987.

Pittsburgh, 1936. An ornately carved upright piano sits in the home of Berniece Charles, who plans to pass it along to her daughter. But her brother, Boy Willie, has another plan for the prized, hard-won heirloom: to sell it for the hard cash to buy the same Mississippi land that their family once worked as slaves. The Piano Lesson is the intimate story of a brother and sister and their struggle to embrace or deny their epic inheritance.The Piano Lesson was one of six plays in August Wilson’s 10-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience in the 20th century to premiere at Yale Rep. Director Liesl Tommy made her Yale Rep debut with the critically-acclaimed production of Eclipsed in 2009.


William Shakespeare’s
ROMEO AND JULIET
Directed by Shana Cooper
March 11-April 2, 2011
University Theatre

Bounding between festive celebrations and bloody duels to the death, battles of wit and soaring romanticism, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the world’s greatest and most enduring love story. From their first shy glances to their last heartbreaking kiss, the star-crossed teenagers choose each other in spite of their feuding families’ ancient grudge, as their love races towards a final confrontation with fate. This bold new production of Shakespeare’s timeless romance introduces Yale Rep audiences to director Shana Cooper, a co-founder of the New Theater House, whose work also includes productions at the Oregon, California, and Washington Shakespeare Festivals. This is Yale Rep’s 2010-2011 WILL POWER! production. The run includes four 10:30 am performances available only to middle and high school student groups. For information on WILL POWER! performances, please contact Ruth M. Feldman at 203-432-8425 or rm.feldman@yale.edu.


U.S. Premiere
AUTUMN SONATA
By Ingmar Bergman
Directed by Robert Woodruff

April 15-May 7, 2011
Yale Repertory Theatre
Director Robert Woodruff, whose Yale Rep productions include 2009’s Notes from Underground and this season’s Battle of Black and Dogs, returns with the US premiere stage adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata. Charlotte, a celebrated classical pianist who has forged a successful career at the expense of her family, attempts to reconcile with her daughter Eva, whom she has not seen in seven years. Over the course of one evening, they confront their darkest feelings and resentments. A tightly-wound psychological study of the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters, Autumn Sonata reveals that living and loving—like mastering notes on a piano—are skills that must be practiced every day.
Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Ingmar Bergman wrote and directed such landmark films as The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and Scenes from a Marriage.

Yale Repertory Theatre offers a variety of subscription packages for audiences to enjoy the entire season, starting at less than $30 per ticket.

Subscriptions are available at http://www.yalerep.org/, by phone 203-432-1234, and in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel St.) during regular business hours (Monday through Friday 10 am to 5 pm Saturday noon to 5 pm and until 8 pm on all performance evenings).

Group Sales are available beginning Aug. 2 by calling (203) 432-1572. Individual tickets for the entire season will go on sale on Aug. 30.