ATC Announces 2021 Summer Season In Schiller Park

Actors' Theatre of Columbus (ATC) is excited to announce its return to Schiller Park and its upcoming 2021 performance series of plays of the unexpected, "Changes."

ATC's summer season kicks off with two plays of Shakespearean proportions including Much Ado About Nothing (May 27 - June 20) and Carlyle Brown's The African Company Presents Richard III (June 24 - July 18), plus Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice (July 22 - August 8), and Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden (August 12 - September 5), a first-ever collaboration with Columbus Children's Theatre to conclude the season.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by William Shakespeare

Directed and Adapted by Philip J. Hickman and Cat McAlpine

Too much time and too much wine finds a group of friends and an unlucky housekeeper trying to pass the time at an 1800s lake house. An ad hoc performance of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing keeps the estate lively as a summer evening grows dark. Together they discover love, laughs, and timing as the product of their boredom becomes a moving performance that reminds us all: the heart wants what it wants.

THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III by Carlyle Brown

Directed by David J. Glover

While based on events prior to emancipation, The African Company Presents Richard III manages to evoke the dichotomy of Black Americans' experiences throughout history: the constant battle to improve Black experience and culture while also battling for acceptance in a white-dominated power structure. A funny, bold portrayal of a group of people trying to escape in the poetry of a theatrical giant, The African Company also shows us how universal Shakespeare's work is, and how it can inspire those who engage with it. This play is for anyone who fights for - no, demands the right to be seen; who understands that "classic" does not always mean white; who understands that smart, creative Black people will always overcome when pushed to the brink.

EURYDICE by Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Beth Josephsen

While the classical Greek myth at the root of this play focuses on Orpheus, and his attempts to retrieve his bride from Hades after tragedy befalls on their wedding day, this modern retelling examines events from the female perspective. A look at familial, romantic, and forbidden love in the afterlife, when the lines of reality and fantasy are blurred, what does it take to have one last look at the one you love?

THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Adapted for the stage by Neil Duffield

Directed by Philip J. Hickman

An orphan girl is sent away from the only home she's ever known into a world that seems to be decaying in front of her eyes. A boy who has been hidden away and believes himself to be incapable of a real life is challenged to grow in ways he never expected. A long-neglected sanctuary is rediscovered, sowing seeds of life and hope that blossom from the weeds and wreck of everything the children had once expected.

"The plays we are presenting this season reflect on the importance of those unexpected moments that lead to romance, to grief, or to defiant new freedom in the face of oppression," shared Artistic Director Philip J. Hickman. "Life is full of the unexpected. The plans we make are often disrupted by chance meetings, by tragedy, by fickle fate, and even by love. The common theme is the revelation of hope that is found when people find their way through the end of what they expected, into the new beginning of what has come after. Peace can be found after loss, and triumph after tragedy. There can be hope even when we don't know what comes next."

We are looking forward to this summer with anticipation, tempered with the understanding that reopening will be a new experience. We're exploring what it means to have a socially-distanced audience. We will be emphasizing digital donations over cash. Our cast sizes will be small, and our rehearsal spaced out and well ventilated. There will be other changes as well, not just to act within public health guidelines, but to ensure the health and well-being of all those who are involved in and come to view our productions.

Outdoor summer shows are free and open to the public, though donations are encouraged and vital to the continued success of Actors' Theatre. Memberships with Actors' Theatre are also available by visiting www.theactorstheatre.org/membership/.

Support for Actors' Theatre is made possible by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, The Reinberger Foundation, The Columbus Foundation, Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, the German Village Society, and WCBE 90.5 FM.

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