Huntington & Coolidge Corner Theatre's 'Stage & Screen' Series to Kick Off 9/3

Stage & Screen, a collaboration between Coolidge Corner Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company that explores shared themes in Huntington productions and acclaimed films, announces four upcoming film screenings and post-screening conversations with Huntington artists and experts. Tickets to each screening are $12 ($9 for Coolidge members with member ID and Huntington Theatre Company subscribers with promo code) and may be purchased online at coolidge.org or at the Coolidge box office, located at 290 Harvard Street, Brookline.

The full line-up for the 2015-2016 Stage & Screen series includes:

SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT in conjunction with A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 7pm

After 15 films that received mostly local acclaim, the 1955 comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) at last ushered in an international audience for Ingmar Bergman. In turn-of-the-century Sweden, four men and four women attempt to navigate the laws of attraction. During a weekend in the country, the women collude to force the men's hands in matters of the heart, exposing their pretensions and insecurities along the way. Chock-full of flirtatious propositions and sharp witticisms delivered by Swedish screen legends Gunnar Björnstrand and Harriet Andersson, Smiles of a Summer Night is one of cinema's great erotic comedies and inspired the creation of A Little Night Music. 108 minutes. - Criterion Collection

In a post-screening conversation, A Little Night Music choreographer Daniel Pelzig will discuss how Bergman's film influenced Stephen Sondheim's most romantic and popular work.

Tickets to the Huntington's production of A Little Night Music (September 11 - October 11, 2015 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre) are available at huntingtontheatre.org.

DOWN BY LAW in conjunction with A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES

Monday, November 16, 2015 at 7pm

Director Jim Jarmusch followed up his breakout film Stranger Than Paradise with another, equally beloved portrait of loners and misfits in the American landscape. When fate brings together three hapless men - an unemployed disc jockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), and a strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto Benigni) - in a Louisiana prison, a singular adventure ensues. Described by Jarmusch as a "neo-Beat noir comedy," Down by Law is part nightmare and part fairy tale, featuring sterling performances and crisp black-and-white cinematography by the esteemed Robby Müller. 107 minutes. - Criterion Collection

After the film, guests from the Huntington's production of A Confederacy of Dunces will discuss the overlapping themes between the movie and the play. In A Confederacy of Dunces, Nick Offerman ("Parks & Recreation") stars as larger-than-life character Ignatius J. Reilly, the Don Quixote of the French Quarter. He's overweight, arrogant, eccentric, and still living in his mother's New Orleans basement in the 1960s. Adapted from the cult classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Confederacy of Dunces is a hilarious wild ride, filled with colorful characters and comic misadventures.

Tickets to the Huntington's production of A Confederacy of Dunces (November 11 - December 13, 2015 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre) are available at huntingtontheatre.org.

THE NAMESAKE in conjunction with DISGRACED

Monday, January 11, 2016 at 7pm

Based on the bestselling novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake is the story of the Ganguli family, whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act of acclimating to a new world without forgetting the old. Ashoke and Ashima (Irrfan Khanand Tabu) long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, but take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children. Directed by Mira Nair. 122 minutes.

After the film, guests from the Huntington's production of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced will discuss the overlapping themes between the movie and the play. In Disgraced, high-powered New York lawyer Amir has climbed the corporate ladder while distancing himself from his Muslim roots. When he and his wife host a dinner party, what starts as a friendly conversation escalates, shattering their views on race, religion, and each other. This electric and riveting drama is directed by Long Wharf Theatre Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.

Tickets to the Huntington's production of Disgraced (January 8 - February 7, 2016 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre) are available at huntingtontheatre.org.

KILLER OF SHEEP in conjunction with August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED
Monday, March 14, 2016 at 7pm

Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.

Frustrated by money problems, Stan finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, and holding his daughter.

Killer of Sheep was shot on location in Watts in a series of weekends on a budget of less than $10,000, most of which was grant money. Finished in 1977 and shown sporadically, its reputation grew until it won a prize at the 1981 Berlin International Film Festival. Since then, the Library of Congress selected Killer of Sheep for presentation in the United States National Film Registry and the National Society of Film Critics selected it as one of the 100 Essential Films. 83 minutes. - Milestone Films

In a post-screening conversation, guests from the Huntington's production of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson's How I Learned What I Learned will discuss these two iconic representations of the African-American experience in the 20th century.

In August Wilson's How I Learned What I Learned, Wilson shares stories about his first few jobs, a stint in jail, his lifelong friends, and his encounters with racism, music, and love as a young poet in Pittsburgh's Hill District. Directed by Todd Kreidler and featuring Eugene Lee, both longtime Wilson collaborators, this theatrical memoir charts one man's journey of self-discovery through adversity and what it means to be a black artist in America.

Tickets to the Huntington's production of August Wilson's How I Learned What I Learned (March 5 - April 3, 2016 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre) are available at huntingtontheatre.org.

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