Theater at Monmouth Maine's Classic Theater Releases 2020 Schedule

This summer, take a break from the hustle and bustle and journey to the lakes region of Central Maine to experience Theater at Monmouth's (R)evolutionary Season. 2020 is a big year! It's Maine's Bicentennial, it's the 100th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage, and it's an election year. So many revolutionary and evolutionary things to celebrate we've rolled them all into one big ball for a 51st Season of EPIC proportions.

The 2020 Summer Repertory includes Shakespeare's Cymbeline directed by Charlie Marie McGrath and Julius Caesar directed by Bill Van Horn; the Maine premiere of Mat Smart's The Agitators directed by Josiah Davis; a World Premier of Callie Kimball's Sofonisba directed by Dawn McAndrews; Edward Albee's Seascape directed by Kate Bergstrom. The Family Show is Aesop's Guide to Friendship adapted by Dawn McAndrews and directed by Ian Kramer. For the Fall Show, opening September 16, TAM presents A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman; music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak; directed by Adam P. Blais

WHAT CRITICS AND AUDIENCES SAY ABOUT THEATER AT MONMOUTH

"Playwright Lynn Nottage wrote Intimate Apparel to fill a void in her own family history. Set in lower Manhattan in 1905, it is the story of an African-American seamstress who makes lacy lingerie for society women and whores. But the production, beautifully mounted by Theatre at Monmouth, is so much more than that. It is a tale of love, friendship, hopes, dreams, and the reality that women and men of color faced at the dawn of the 20th century."-Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News

"Maine's Theater at Monmouth appropriately celebrates its 50th season by mounting a spare, strong, intense, and updated production of the play often thought of as the pinnacle of Shakespeare's achievement: Hamlet. Set in 1958 in Chicago and loosely inspired by Mad Men and the African-American publishing giant John H. Johnson, this attractive, elegant, and intimate take on this quintessential domestic drama scores many poignant and powerful moments."-Carla Maria Verdino-Sullwold, Broadway World

"Local gem! This is our third year having seasons tickets and each year, the plays are better. This season for us ended with Hamlet and a NY production could not have been more moving or entertaining. I have never had tears in my eyes when Hamlet dies! Fantastic plays are produced in this gem of a building set in rural Maine. A treat for everyone! -sbasgall, Bath, ME. Tripadvisor review

"Great summer theater. Not much going on in the evenings in south central Maine in July but the Theater at Monmouth is a special treat. We have been coming up to Wayne, Maine for the last 5 years and each year we see 2 plays at TAM. Some are Shakespeare, some are comedy and some are drama but the acting is always excellent (very enthusiastic) and we really enjoy coming here. Highly recommend TAM if you are looking for an evening event--good for adults and families."-maplest151, Brooklyn, NY, Tripadvisor review

SUMMER REPERTORY SEASON

Performances take place in Cumston Hall, a 250-seat Victorian opera house designed by Harry Cochrane. Since its founding TAM has rehearsed and performed in rotating repertory, inviting audiences to see the actors in different roles in different shows in one weekend.

The Agitators | June 27 - August 21 MAINE PREMIERE

by Mat Smart | directed by Josiah Davis

Brimming with modern urgency and relevance, The Agitators examines the friendship and rivalry between Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. It's 1849 and two young activists, full of optimism and ideals, steel themselves for the battles to come. Over the next 45 years, they journey from allies to adversaries and back. Theirs is a story of defiance, of rebellion, of revolution. They agitated the nation. They agitated each other. They changed the course of history.

Josiah Davis is a recent graduate from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television pursuing an MFA at Brown/Trinity Rep. A member of the On the Verge Theatre Company in Santa Barbara, he was nominated by Broadway World for his direction of Sweet Child by Roxie Perkins, From White Plains by Michael Perlman, and his role of Joseph in Darlene Craviotto's Footprints at Laetoli. He has appeared on Glee (Fox), Idiotsitter, (Comedy Central), Killer Kids (Lifetime), and several Buzzfeed videos.

Cymbeline | July 9 - August 23

by William Shakespeare | directed by Charlie Marie McGrath

When Imogen's father banishes her soul-mate, the princess embarks on a quest to prove her fidelity, escape her stepmother's dastardly plot, and reclaim her love. Cymbeline is brimming with forbidden romance, mistaken identities, jealousy, vile trickery, poison, disguises, and epic swordfights. A theatrical feast that defies genre, Cymbeline blends tragedy, comedy, and romance into an enchanting and unforgettable Shakespearean fairytale.

Charlie Marie McGrath is Producing Artistic Director at Redtwist Theatre in Chicago and Associate Artistic Director of the Beating of Wings Collective in LA. She is an alumnus of Directors Lab North, Northwestern University, AMDA (NY), and was a Directing Fellow at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Her directing credits include: Birmingham Children's Theatre: The Jungle Book, Charlotte's Web; Shakespeare Theatre Company: God Is Dead and April Is Getting Married; Island Shakespeare Festival: Sense and Sensibility; Pointless Theatre: Imogen (Washington Post Critics' Pick); Redtwist Theatre: The Pride.

Julius Caesar | July 16 - August 20

by William Shakespeare | directed by Bill Van Horn

As swift and enthralling as a political thriller, Julius Caesar portrays the life-and-death struggle for power in Rome. Fearing that Caesar's growing strength and constitutional ambitions threaten the Republic, a faction of politicians plots to assassinate him. But when Caesar is killed, chaos engulfs the state. Alive with stunning rhetoric, Julius Caesar investigates the intoxicating effects of power and the dangers of idealism.

Bill Van Horn directed Walnut Street Theatre's Philadelphia premieres of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Peter and the Starcatcher. Bill has been an actor for 45 years. In between acting assignments, he has directed over 75 productions around the country, including Walnut Street Theatre, Theater at Monmouth, Dicapo Opera Theatre, Media Theater, and Hunter College. A successful playwright, screenwriter, and librettist, Bill's script for the award-winning documentary Workshop for Peace appeared on PBS stations throughout the country and is seen by thousands of visitors each day at the United Nations.

Sofonisba | July 23 - August 22 WORLD PREMIERE

by Callie Kimball | directed by Dawn McAndrews

Michelangelo's 27-year-old apprentice, Sofonisba Anguissola, boards a ship from Italy to become the first female court painter for King Philip II. Her 20 years at the Spanish Court are one long chess match, played for and against the expectations of king, bishop, fool, knight, and 14-year-old queen. The negotiations and sacrifices she makes in service to her art and her heart reveal the dangerous waters of court politics for an unmarried, headstrong woman. A play about the hunger for creation--of birth and art--and the very real cost of both.

Callie Kimball plays have been produced and developed in theaters across the country including the Kennedy Center, Portland Stage, Lark Play Development Center, Halcyon Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Echo Theatre, The Brick Theater, Project Y Theatre, Washington Shakespeare Company, Everyman Repertory Theatre, Absolute Theatre, Mad Horse Theatre, The Drama League, and many colleges and festivals across the country. She won a Ludwig Vogelstein grant to research Sofonisba, which won the Clauder Gold Prize, was a finalist for the O'Neill, a semifinalist for the Princess Grace Award, and was on The Kilroys' 2016 List.

Dawn McAndrews has worked at theatres across the country including Shakespeare Theatre Company, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Portland Stage Company, and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. Directing credits: The Pajama Game (UMO); Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Colby); The Language Archive (Public Theatre); Richard III, The Winter's Tale, Peter & the Starcatcher, The Mousetrap, Of Thee I Sing (TAM); The Glass Menagerie, Holiday, and Three Days of Rain (1st Stage); Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice (The Orange Girls), Timberlake Wertenbaker's Antigone (St. Louis University), as well as adapting and directing A Christmas Carol at Portland Stage.

Seascape | July 30 - August 22

by Edward Albee | directed by Kate Bergstrom

On a deserted stretch of beach, a middle-aged couple relaxes after a picnic lunch and converse idly about home, family, and their life together. She sketches; he naps. Then, suddenly, they are joined by two sea creatures, a pair of lizards from the depths of the ocean, with whom they engage in a fascinating dialogue. The emotional and intellectual reverberations of the bizarre conversation in Albee's second Pulitzer Prize-winning play, will linger in the heart and the mind long after the curtain falls-or the last page is turned.

Kate is Artistic Director of On the Verge Summer Repertory Company in Santa Barbara, California, has worked as director, devisor, producer and educator in theatres and schools throughout the West Coast. She received her MFA in directing at Brown/Trinity Rep. Directing credits: The Children's Hour (Granoff Center for the Arts), The Taming of the Shrew, A Map of Virtue, and Neva (Brown/Trinity), Footprints at Laetoli & Caylee's First Big Show! (OTV), These Walls (OTV), Woyeck (UCLA), and Wholed (Redcat). Kate previously directed Three Days of Rain and Enchanted April at TAM.

FAMILY SHOW

Aesop's Guide to Friendship | July 4 - August 20

Written by Dawn McAndrews | directed by Ian Kramer

Aesop's delightful fables full of wit and wisdom let the animals do the talking; dispensing lessons on perseverance, kindness, and friendship along the way. Aesop's Guide to Friendship explores age-old stereotypes and mannerisms in his fables such as "tortoise are slow," "hares are quick," "foxes are clever" to help young and old alike appreciate our similarities and differences.

Ian Kramer, graduates from the Brown/Trinity MFA Acting program in spring 2019 and returns to TAM where he previously directed the spring tour of The Velveteen Rabbit. Other directing credits include: Gruesome Playground Injuries (Brown/Trinity), a devised adaptation of Typewriter Rodeo (B/T Lab), and assistant directing Macbeth (Trinity Rep). Along with visiting all 50 states, he has worked as an actor around the country: Trinity Rep, Hangar Theatre, Kingsmen Shakespeare, Texas Shakespeare, Kentucky Shakespeare, Orlando Shakespeare, Theater at Monmouth, and The National Players. www.iankramer.actor

FALL SHOW

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder | September 12-22

Book & Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman; Music & Lyrics by Steven Lutvak | Directed by Adam P. Blais

When the low-born Monty Navarro finds out that he's eighth in line for an earldom in the lofty D'Ysquith family, he figures his chances of outliving his predecessors are slight and sets off down a far more ghoulish path. Can he knock off his unsuspecting relatives without being caught and become the ninth Earl of Highhurst? And what of love? Because murder isn't the only thing on Monty's mind....

Adam P. Blais has been directing musicals and plays throughout Maine since receiving his BA in Theatre from the University of Maine. He's been involved with TAM's Fall Musical since 2013 choreographing such productions as Of Thee I Sing, Patience, The Sorcerer, and Ruddigore, and, in summer 2019, directing Murder for Two. He's worked at The Public Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, and Waterville Opera House, among others. During the day, Adam is Education and Development Director at The Public Theater in Lewiston and Drama Director at Mt. Ararat High and Middle School.

Monmouth is located just off Route 202 in the Winthrop Lakes Region of central Maine. By car, the Theater is 20 minutes from Augusta, 20 minutes from Lewiston, 45 minutes from the Mid-Coast region, 45 minutes from Portland, and 90 minutes from Bangor. Monmouth and neighboring towns Winthrop, Hallowell, Augusta, and Lewiston offer a variety of attractions suitable for the whole family, including the Monmouth Museum, Cobbossee Colony Golf Course, Mount Pisgah Hiking Trail, Children's Discovery Museum, Maine State Museum, Viles Arboretum, Bates College Museum of Art, Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary, and more. These areas also offer a myriad of dining options including The Sedgley Place, Pepper's Garden & Grill, DaVinci's Eatery, Fish Bones, Gritty McDuff's Brewpub & Restaurant, Joyce's Restaurant, The Liberal Cup, and Slates Restaurant. Visitors can enjoy a stay in Monmouth at one of the several bed and breakfasts or nearby hotels, including A Rise and Shine B&B, The Roost, Hilton Garden Inn, and Senator Inn & Spa.

All performances take place in historic Cumston Hall, which towers dramatically over Monmouth's Main Street. While Dr. Charles M. Cumston donated the funds for the building to the Town of Monmouth in 1899, it has always been a gift shared with the community at large. A registered National Historic Building since 1976, the building's architecture is a mix of Romanesque-style asymmetrical columns and towers and varying external textures of the Queen Anne period. The 250-seat opera hall features elaborate plaster carvings, and a fresco mural ceiling.

A TAM subscription offers savings and exclusive benefits like priority seating and ticket exchanges. Gold, Flex, General, or Senior Passes are available for purchase, so whether you want a ticket for each show or five tickets to one show, there's an option for you. Single tickets for the Summer Repertory and Fall Play are $36 for adults, $31 for senior citizens, and $22 for students (18 and under). Family Show tickets are $17 for adults, $12 for children.

Opening Nights are Educator Nights. Educators receive 20% off tickets with a photo ID at the Box Office.

Under 30 Rush Tickets: For patrons under 30, twenty $10 Rush Tickets are available at each performance in the season. Sign up by contacting the Box Office, either by emailing boxoffice@theateratmonmouth.org or calling 207.933.999 the morning of the performance. Tickets can be picked up 30 minutes before curtain.

To reserve single tickets, subscriptions, or arrange group sales, please visit www.theateratmonmouth.org or call the box office at 207.933.9999.

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