Provincetown Theater Sets 2016 Season

Provincetown Theater's new Executive Artistic Director, Tristan DiVincenzo has announced the theater's extensive 2016 season. The year will explore a highly adventurous mix of theatre styles including: Shakespearean comedy; the side splitting farce of Oscar Wilde; the ground breaking dramatic work of Eugene O'Neill; the absurdism of Samuel Beckett and a completely re-imagined "A Christmas Carol".

Balancing out these classics, the season will feature cult fringe favorites such as: "The Rocky Horror Show" and "Souvenir - A Fantasia Based on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins". Eight of the events will be produced, directed and performed by the Provincetown Theater's core artistic staff and cast members. These six productions are the heart of The Provincetown Theater Community Project (PTCP) and will include: "Happy Days", "The Dresser", "The Tempest", "The Importance of Being Earnest", "The Hairy Ape", "Red, Hot and Blue Cabaret (100 years of Cole Porter Remixed)", "A Christmas Carol" and the Second Annual New Year's Gala.

In 2016 The Provincetown Theater will also host collaborative productions with other Cape Cod performing arts companies such as: Peregrine Theatre Ensemble; The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival; and Cotuit Center for the Arts.

Guest artist Holly Erin McCarthy opens the PTCP season in March with Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days". Beckett's absurdist play has been described as a "haunting allegory about the human condition". The play's main character is buried to her waist in a mound, into which she fully sinks by the play's end.

In April, Ronald Harwood's "The Dresser" takes center stage for PTCP. The New York Times described the play as being full of "perfectly observed, devilishly entertaining backstage lore". "The Dresser" chronicles the end times of England's once grand touring companies, revealing the shabby egos behind the glamour of the stage. The singular dedication of the company's dresser holds the show together despite its senile leading actor (who struggles to bring King Lear to the stage) and amidst the wartime bombings of London. Anthony Jackman will direct.

William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" follows in late April for PTCP. Fantasy, romance and comedy drive this classic, traditionally set on an enchanted island and involving shipwrecks, mistaken dukedoms, magical wizards and the misshapen son of a witch. This fantastic new multimedia production gives the tale a Surrealist Futuristic spin.

In May, Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" will be presented by PTCP. One of Wilde's most beloved works, the play takes a satirical look at Victorian London. Wilde's madcap farce continues to delight audiences with its eccentric characters and rapid-fire wit, involving plot lines of mistaken identities and lovers' entanglements. David Drake will direct.

2016 is a landmark year for The Provincetown Theater and the town's association with American playwright Eugene O'Neill, who arrived in Provincetown in 1916. To mark the 100th year anniversary of this event, PTCP will present a fresh and unusual staging of O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape", to take place in June.

PTCP's "Red, Hot and Blue Cabaret" will debut in July. Celebrating 100 years of the 20th century's greatest popular songwriter, Cole Porter. Porter is well known for his cosmopolitan and clever lyrics and music. He was a prolific writer and composer producing over 800 songs in his lifetime. His stage and movie musicals include "High Society", "Kiss Me, Kate", and "Silk Stockings", to name only a few. This post-show cabaret will take place in the theater's intimate cocktail bar setting.

PTCP will showcase Charles Dickens' classic work "A Christmas Carol", during the holiday season, running November through December. Audiences never lose affection for this Yuletide classic, as they follow the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, leading Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of redemption. Scrooge's transformation from miserable miser to generous soul speaks to all ages.

PTCP wraps up its 2016 season with The 2nd Annual New Year's Gala. The 2015 inaugural gala ("The Rat Pack Lounge") was a sold-out fundraiser benefitting The Provincetown Theater Foundation. In addition to its own PTCP season, The Provincetown Theater is proud to host a full slate of collaborative and independent productions. The complete calendar follows.

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