Modern Verse Translation of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS & More Set for The Acting Company's 24-25 Season
The season will feature August Wilson's Two Trains Running, and more.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz May. 24, 2024
The Acting Company has revealed its 2024-2025 Season of programming.
“I am proud to announce The Acting Company's historic 2024-25 season's Repertory tour of August Wilson's TWO TRAINS RUNNING and Christina Anderson's modern verse translation of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS,” said Artistic Director Kent Gash. “Both plays are thrilling and entertaining works about identity as they explore every individual's quest for their rightful place in the world. August Wilson is one of the great American Playwrights, and it is an honor to bring this electrifyingly intimate work to audiences throughout the country for the first time. TWO TRAINS RUNNING is presented in repertory with a delightful contemporary update of Shakespeare's classic comedy of mistaken identity! In this bold repertory, the new meets classic, and classic becomes new in the hands of extraordinary actors.
The Company's national tour will feature a repertory celebrating the irrepressible human spirit in the face of challenges both serious and ridiculous in a pair of plays by two of the most passionate iconoclasts of the Western Canon. The Acting Company's productions will explore the stresses of economic and social turmoil, revealing how family and community can rise above the struggles to survive to find joy in the middle of the storm. These contrasting productions are hilarious and moving, filled with both social commentary and light-hearted laughter:
Two Trains Running
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown
From the author of “The Piano Lesson” and “Fences” comes the story of Memphis Lee, a diner owner in a historically black neighborhood in Pittsburgh at the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, who must decide if he should allow the government to take over his building or sell the property to a ruthless businessman. Full of vivid characters, joy, hope, love, and perseverance, this Tony-nominated play celebrates the spirit, laughter, heart, and resilience of the people who make our country great even when faced with overwhelming odds.
The Comedy of Errors
Written by William Shakespeare
In a modern verse translation by Christina Anderson
Directed by Producing Director Devin Brain
Commissioned by Play On Shakespeare
Shakespeare's quintessential comedy, this farcical tale of separated families and mistaken identities delights audiences young and old. Antipholus and his servant, Dromio, travel in search of a long-lost family member, only to get mixed up in a madcap race against the clock, love-at-first-double-take, run-ins with local law enforcement, and double trouble – times two. Christina Anderson's translation maintains all we love about Shakespeare's language even as it updates the jokes and wordplay, breathing new life into the double (and triple) entendres. This madcap whirl through bawdy adventures, mad scientists, romance, heartfelt reunions, and even a few happy endings will excite and titillate any audience. Additional support for The Comedy of Errors is provided by the Hitz Foundation and Play On Shakespeare
The Acting Company's 2024-2025 Repertory will premiere at Rubicon Theatre Company (Ventura, CA) on January 15, 2025 as the first stop on a national tour that will span 17 states and 22 cities that will conclude at American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco, CA) from April 15 to May 4, 2025. Casting for the national tour will be announced at a later date. Tickets and subscriptions are now available for performances across the country and may be purchased at each presenter's respective box office.
Concurrent with the National Tour Repertory, The Acting Company will present a series of one-night only readings in New York as part of the annual Louanna O. Carlin & John MacDonald Reading Series. The series will feature a four insightful interpretations of vivid stories about the human condition, featuring the work of acclaimed artists Ntozake Shange (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf), Ann C. James (Broadway's The Heart of Rock and Roll, Lempicka, The Outsiders, Sweeney Todd, Pass Over and Hamilton), Virginia Woolfe (Mrs. Dalloway, A Room of One's Own, To the Lighthouse), Kevin Kuhlke (New York University's Tisch School of the Arts), Ian Belknap (Off-Broadway's X: or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation at The New Victory), Seán O'Casey (Juno and the Paycock, The Plough and the Stars), Anthony Burgess (Broadway's Cyrano de Bergerac, the West End's A Clockwork Orange and Chatsky), and Artistic Director Kent Gash (Off-Broadway's Miss Ever's Boys, Call the Children Home, and Samm-Art William's Home).
The Acting Company's Louanna O. Carlin & John MacDonald 2024-2025 Reading Series includes:
Spell #7
By Ntozake Shange
Directed by Ann C. James
In association with Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre as part of Expand the Canon's 4th Season
October 2024
The Shadow of a Gunman
By Seán O'Casey
Directed by Ian Belknap
November 2024
Orlando and Virginia
Adapted and Directed by Kevin Kuhlke
February 2025
A Clockwork Orange
By Anthony Burgess
Directed by Kent Gash
March 2025
Each season, The Acting Company hosts a series of staged readings. A mixture of new texts, classics of the canon, and forgotten favorites, these readings are a showcase of The Acting Company's alumni and a chance to explore other works by playwrights and directors featured in the company's National Tours.
Venues and Dates for the Louanna O. Carlin & John MacDonald Reading Series' New York performances will be announced at a later date. Reserved and General Admission Series ticket packages will be available to The Acting Company donors on June 15, 2024 and to the general public on July 15, 2024. Seating is subject to availability. Visit theactingcompany.org/reading-series or call 212-258-3111 to learn more and reserve tickets.
For more information, visit www.theactingcompany.org.
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