Huntington Returns to Live Performances With HURRICANE DIANE

The Huntington announces the cast and creative team of its first production of its 40th anniversary season, Hurricane Diane by Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George and directed by Jenny Koons, running from August 27 to September 26, 2021 at The Huntington's Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

The first performance of Hurricane Diane on August 27 will mark The Huntington's return to live, in-person performances, 538 days since audiences were last welcomed to a Huntington performance.

In the suburbs of the Garden State, the Greek god Dionysus returns from the heavens in the guise of a lesbian landscaper named Diane who is described as a "butch charm factory." Hell-bent on reversing climate change and restoring earthly balance and order, Diane plots to seduce four suburban women into letting their passions, as well as their well-manicured lawns, run wild.

Called "an astonishing new play" and a Critics' Pick by The New York Times, "hilarious, shattering, and full of keen observation" by New York Magazine's Vulture, and "an enjoyably bonkers comedy" by San Diego Union Tribune, this Obie Award-winning, brainy comedy about gardening and global warming was first commissioned and produced by Two River Theatre in Red Bank, NJ in 2017 and then performed Off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2019 and at The Old Globe in 2020.

"Hurricane Diane is at once like a sitcom and a Greek tragedy," says playwright Madeleine George. "And Diane is at once a lesbian separatist landscape gardener from Vermont and the god Dionysus in disguise. She's on a mission to try to save the world from the wages of climate change through human stupidity and self-protection - and she's trying to do it one desperate housewife at a time."

"Hurricane Diane is a raucous, hilarious story about how we as humans relate to the world around us and how we relate to change," says director Jenny Koons. "And it feels like this story is perfect for the moment we're in."

The cast of Hurricane Diane features (in alphabetical order) Esme Allen (Much Ado About Nothing, The Cherry Orchard with Actors' Shakespeare Project) as hard-edged and proper Carol Fleischer, Huntington regular Marianna Bassham (Sweat, Romeo and Juliet at The Huntington) as poor Beth Wann whose husband recently up and left, Jennifer Bubriski (To Kill a Mockingbird at Umbrella Center for the Arts) as boisterous dynamo Pam Annunziata who loves animal prints, Rami Margron (Hurricane Diane at The Old Globe, Love's Labour's Lost Off Broadway) as the eponymous, force-of-nature Diane, and Kris Sidberry (All American Girls Off Broadway, The Cake and Intimate Apparel at the Lyric Stage) as Renee Shapiro-Epps, an ambitious executive at HGTV Magazine.

The action takes place around the identical kitchens of the friends and neighbors in the cul-de-sac as they gather over coffee or wine for gossip and camaraderie. The design team of Hurricane Diane will each make their Huntington debut with this production: scenic design is by Stephanie Osin Cohen (This American Wife at New York Theatre Workshop, Men on Boats at Baltimore Center Stage), costume design is by Hahnji Jang (Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Men on Boats at Baltimore Center Stage), lighting design is by Jen Schriever (Grand Horizons, What the Constitution Means to Me on Broadway), and sound design is by Ben Scheff (Cirque du Soleil, Red Roses, Green Gold Off Broadway). The production stage manager is Emily F. McMullen and the assistant stage manager is Jamie Carty.

Learn more at huntingtontheatre.org.

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