Yale Rep Announces 2011-2012 Season; Features THREE SISTERS, BELLEVILLE

Yale Repertory Theatre (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) is pleased to announce its 2011-2012 Season, which will include the world premieres of Belleville by Amy Herzog and The Realistic Joneses by Will Eno; Sarah Ruhl's new version of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, Three Sisters; Molière's A Doctor in Spite of Himself, adapted by Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp; and William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. A third world premiere play will be announced soon.

ABOUT THE 2011-2012 SEASON

THREE SISTERS
By Anton Chekhov
A New Version by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Les Waters
A co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre

September 16-October 8, 2011
Opening Night: September 22
University Theatre (222 York Street)

Discover the humor and heartbreak of one of the world's greatest plays, revealed through the lyricism of two leading voices in Contemporary Theatre: two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl and director Les Waters, whose acclaimed collaborations include Eurydice at Yale Rep and the Tony Award-nominated In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) on Broadway.

Transplanted from their beloved Moscow to a provincial Russian town, three sisters-school teacher Olga, unhappily married Masha, idealistic Irina-yearn for the city of their childhood, where they imagine their lives will be transformed and fulfilled. Three Sisters is the portrait of a family grappling with the bittersweet distance between reality and dreams.

World Premiere
BELLEVILLE
By Amy Herzog
Directed by Anne Kauffman

October 21-November 12, 2011
Opening Night: October 27
Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street)

Amy Herzog, author of After the Revolution-heralded by The New York Times as "engrossing and incisive" and one of the Ten Best New Plays of 2010-makes her Yale Rep debut with Belleville. The world premiere will be directed by OBIE Award winner Anne Kauffman, who recently staged We Have Always Lived in the Castle at Yale Rep.

Young Americans Zack and Abby have the perfect ex-pat life in Paris: a funky bohemian apartment in up-and-coming Belleville; a stable marriage; and Zack's noble mission to fight pediatric AIDS. But when Abby finds Zack at home one afternoon when he's supposed to be at work, the questions and answers that follow shake the foundation of their seemingly beautiful life.

A DOCTOR IN SPITE OF HIMSELF
By Molière
Adapted by Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp
Directed by Christopher Bayes

November 25-December 17, 2011
Opening Night: December 1
Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street)

"Playing doctor" takes on a whole new meaning as a marital squabble escalates into comic pandemonium. The spiritEd Martine exacts revenge on her scoundrel of a husband, Sganarelle, by convincing the town that he's the best doctor around and that he can cure any ailment. But the trickster turns the tables on his wife-and everyone else-with his own definition of "in sickness and in health."

Bursting with slapstick physical comedy, naughty innuendo, and irreverent hijinks, A Doctor in Spite of Himself marks the return to Yale Rep of Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp, whose The Servant of Two Masters had audiences and critics alike in stitches-including The New York Times, which rejoiced, "Now that's theatre!"

A NEW PLAY TO BE ANNOUNCED

February 3-25, 2012
Opening Night: February 9
Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street)

There's one more world premiere to come in our 2011-2012 season, continuing our exciting tradition of introducing brand new work to the American stage! Yale Rep audiences have been the first to experience vibrant new plays by vital voices in contemporary drama-including Athol Fugard, Suzan-Lori Parks, Christopher Durang, Marcus Gardley, David Adjmi, Sarah Ruhl, and August Wilson-before they reach wider audiences around the world. We will be thrilled to share information about this project with you later this spring!

THE WINTER'S TALE
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Liz Diamond

March 16-April 7, 2012
Opening Night: March 22
University Theatre (222 York Street)

Suspicious that his wife Hermione has been unfaithful, King Leontes of Sicilia imprisons the queen, orders the death of her suspected lover, and banishes his own newborn daughter. But callous hearts are redeemed-and broken ones mended-when the abandoned orphan falls in love with a Bohemian

prince. The Winter's Tale leaps from darkest tragedy to lighthearted romance and a truly magical conclusion.

OBIE Award-winning Resident Director Liz Diamond, whose recent productions at Yale Rep include the acclaimed American premiere of Happy Now? by Lucinda Coxon, delves deep into a trunk of old-fashioned stagecraft to bring to life the Bard's surprising tale of blinding jealousy and forgiveness.

Please note: The Winter's Tale is Yale Rep's 2011-2012 Will Power! production. The run includes three 10:30AM 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.

World Premiere
THE REALISTIC JONESES
By Will Eno
Directed by Sam Gold

April 20-May 12, 2012
Opening Night: April 26
Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street)

Meet Bob and Jennifer, and their new neighbors John and Sally, two suburban couples who have more in common than their identical homes and the same last name on their mailboxes.

Two electrifying artists team up at Yale Rep for the world premiere of The Realistic Joneses. Dubbed "a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation" by The New York Times, playwright Will Eno burst onto the scene in 2005-picking up a Pulitzer Prize nomination along the way-for his play Thom Pain (based on nothing). His recent Middletown was hailed as "totally engrossing" (Associated Press) and "utterly spellbinding!" (Time Out New York). Director Sam Gold's recent New York premieres of Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens, and Tigers Be Still have secured his place as one of the most insightful and sought-after directors of his generation.

ABOUT Yale Repertory Theatre

Yale Repertory Theatre is dedicated to the production of new plays and bold interpretations of classics and has produced well over 100 premieres-including two Pulitzer Prize winners and four other nominated finalists-by emerging and established playwrights. Eleven Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering more than 40 Tony Award nominations and eight Tony Awards. Yale Rep is also the recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Established in 2008, the Yale Center for New Theatre is an integrated, artist-driven initiative that devotes major resources to the commissioning, development, and production of new plays and musicals at Yale Repertory Theatre and across the country. Professional assignments at Yale Repertory Theatre are integral components of the program at Yale School of Drama, the nation's leading graduate theatre training conservatory.

2011-2012 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Yale Repertory Theatre offers a variety of subscription packages for audiences to enjoy the entire season, starting at $30 per ticket for the general public, and $10 for students.

Subscriptions are available beginning March 10 online at www.yalerep.org, by phone (203) 432-1234, and in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel Street) during regular business hours (Monday through Friday 10AM-5PM, Saturday 12-5PM, and until 8PM on all performance evenings).

2011-2012 Group Sales will be available beginning August 1 by calling (203) 432-1572.

Individual tickets for the entire season will go on sale on August 29.

 

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