Classical Theatre Company Announces 2017-2018 10th Anniversary Mainstage Season

A winner of the prestigious National Theatre Company Grant Award by the American Theatre Wing, Classical Theatre Company (CTC) is proud to announce the lineup for its 2017-2018 Mainstage Season. As the only professional theatre company in the State of Texas that solely produces classical drama on a year-round basis, CTC only produces plays that are 100 or more years old.

CTC will be celebrating its tenth anniversary with a trio of plays that directly reflect the time in which they will be produced. "The classics can always be topical," says Executive Artistic Director John Johnston. "We wouldn't put on plays that don't resonate with our audiences. But in this landmark tenth season, I felt that it was more important than ever to use our art to reach out to our audiences, and as Hamlet so keenly noted, hold 'the mirror up to nature.'"

Mrs. Warren's Profession

By George Bernard Shaw

Directed by Julia Traber

October 4 - October 22, 2017

Classical Theatre Company returns to the great George Bernard Shaw for this first time since producing the smash hit Candida back in 2011. Regarded by many to be the second finest author in the English language, Shaw is well known for his wordsmithing and wit. His keen ear and ability to recreate the voices of those he encountered and brought to life on the page are without peer.

First performed in 1902, Mrs. Warren's Profession shows us the life of a middle-aged woman, Mrs. Kitty Warren, a former prostitute and current brothel madam, as she becomes acquainted with her grown daughter, Vivie, for the first time in her life. Vivie, a recent University of Cambridge graduate is horrified to learn what her mother does for her profession, and the audience sees how this realization changes the dynamic of their relationship and brings to light the role of professional women in the Western world.

"Shaw is a master when it comes to making us laugh while skewering the social conundrums that surrounded him - and still surround us to this day," says CTC Executive Artistic Director John Johnston. "This fabulously witty play discusses everything from the limited economic opportunities for women, to the roles women play in society, to the place of men in relation to women. All of these ideas are still at the forefront of the sociopolitical discussions today."

Groundbreaking in its day, this play will be directed by veteran Classical Theatre Company Resident Artistic Company member, Julia Traber - whose other directorial work for CTC includes Candida, The Triumph of Love, Miss Julie, and Henry V.

An Enemy of the People

By Henrik Ibsen

Directed by John Johnston

February 7 - February 25, 2018

Following the success of its two previous forays into the Norwegian master, Henrik Ibsen's, plays - 2010's Ghosts and 2016's A Doll's House - Classical Theatre Company will again produce one of the great playwright's works: An Enemy of the People. Ibsen, known for his intense dramas, pulls no punches in this 1882 examination of the media and government corruption.

"It's no secret to anyone that government corruption has been a prevalent topic in recent years, having reached a fever pitch in 2017," says director John Johnston. "That, coupled with the role the media has in shaping public opinion, and questioning their responsibility in doing so has achieved new heights since the last presidential election here in the United States. These topics and more - including industry's impact on the environment - are broKen Down and dissected in this terrific play. I'm so excited to chip away at the societal walls we've constructed over the last decade and help to begin a discourse."

Ibsen was unsure whether to call it a comedy or a drama - An Enemy of the People is arguably the funniest of his plays, though by today's standards, it would definitely fall into the "drama' category. The play follows Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a notable and respected doctor in his small Norwegian town, as he discovers that the local baths - a source of great pride and income for the village - have become contaminated by local industry and are now poisonous. He struggles with his brother, the town's mayor, in trying to get his findings published in the local paper. A play, at its heart, about personal responsibility and the rights and roles of whistleblowers, An Enemy of the People could be ripped right from today's headlines.

An Enemy of the People will be directed by award-winning CTC Executive Artistic Director, John Johnston, and star CTC veteran and Resident Artistic Company member, Thomas Prior as Dr. Thomas Stockmann.

The Government Inspector

By Nikolai Gogol

Directed by Philip Hays

April 11 - April 29, 2018

The Government Inspector is considered by some to be one of the finest plays from the Russian canon. Often overshadowed by Anton Chekhov, The Government Inspector's playwright, Nikolai Gogol, penned a magnificent and scathing satire about the corruption that was running rampant in the Russian government in 1836.

"Having just come out of an intense drama about government corruption in An Enemy of the People, we thought we'd turn that around and produce one of the funniest plays ever written about the same topic," says CTC artistic chief, John Johnston. "The Government Inspector was made popular over the last century through several notable stage productions and a couple popular film versions as well - most recognizably 1949's Inspector-General starring Danny Kaye. We're thrilled to produce this riotous comedy."

A farce in the truest sense of the word, The Government Inspector follows the exploits of a small-town mayor and his cronies as they get word that an inspector sent from the state would be examining their town incognito. Terrified that their massive corruption would be discovered, the mayor and his gang of officials mistake a low-level bureaucrat staying at a local inn as the inspector. Hilarity ensues as they try to bribe and dupe him in this case of mistaken identity.

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