David Strathairn Will Headline ACT's UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced today two additional productions for the company's 47th subscription season: Glen Berger's acclaimed solo drama, Underneath the Lintel, starring Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn, and Beatrice Basso and Linda Alper's new translation of Eduardo De Filippo's poignant Italian comedy, Napoli!, featuring A.C.T. favorites Marco Barricelli and Stratford Festival star Seana McKenna. These two productions join the previously announced 1776, A Christmas Carol, Major Barbara, Venus in Fur, and The Orphan of Zhao. The final production for the 2013-14 season will be announced at a later date.

The 2013-14 season kicks off with passionate (and patriotic) fireworks as A.C.T. presents the West Coast premiere of Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati's triumphant new staging of the musical 1776 (September 11-October 6, 2013), a vivid musical look at the revolutionary events that shaped our republic more than 230 years ago as our founding fathers wrestled with infighting, held heated debates, and negotiated compromises while drafting our Declaration of Independence. Filled with glorious music and unforgettable characters, this incredible new production comes to us straight from its celebrated run at Asolo Repertory Theater, and will include 15 Bay Area actors new to the production. Hailed by critics as "brilliant," "thrilling," and "utterly riveting," 1776 takes us on a timely, rousing, and suspenseful adventure into the fascinating first chapter of American history. When it premiered on Broadway in 1969, 1776 ran for more than 1,200 performances and was the recipient of three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The New York Times called it "cliff-hanging drama . . . as magical as a fairy tale," and Sarasota Magazine praised Galati's new production as "beautifully staged . . . exciting and suspenseful." As relevant today as it was when this piece was written, this musical telling of our nation's birth features the songs "Sit Down, John," "Mama Look Sharp," and "He Plays the Violin."

In October, Academy Award nominee David Strathairn (Lincoln, Good Night, and Good Luck, Scorched at A.C.T.) returns in a captivating solo drama Underneath the Lintel (October 30-November 24, 2013) by Glen Berger.. In this gripping ghost story an eccentric librarian discovers a weather-beaten book in a return bin-113 years overdue. Sparked by a message left in its margins, he embarks on a magical quest that takes him around the world and 2,000 years into the past. With astonishing twists and turns, Underneath the Lintel draws us into an unforgettable odyssey that is both "powerfully human and ultimately sublime" (Variety), ending with the indelible comment "I was here."

After its record-breaking run last season, A.C.T. is joyously welcoming back the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition, the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol (December 4-28, 2013). Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and those deliciously spooky ghosts, this version of A Christmas Carol, adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff, stays true to the heart of Dickens's timeless story of redemption and brings a playful sensibility to his rich language. A Christmas Carol -now in its 37th year-is a cornerstone of the A.C.T. repertory and has become an annual holiday outing for families around the Bay Area. James Carpenter returns for his eighth year in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Continuing its mission of bringing reimagined classic works to the stage, A.C.T. will present a sumptuous new production of George Bernard Shaw's political comedy Major Barbara (January 8-February 2, 2014). In this intriguing tangle of religion and business, a Salvation Army officer becomes disillusioned when her church accepts money from a whiskey distiller and armaments manufacturer-her own father. If the price of supporting the poor is complicity with the country's most successful gun factory, what is Barbara to do? Exploring the timely themes of business, faith, family, and morality, Major Barbara remains one of Shaw's most topical and richly invigorating works. Coproduced with one of A.C.T.'s favorite Canadian collaborators, Theatre Calgary (who hosted A.C.T.'s production of The Tosca Project during its 2011 tour), this is the first staging of Major Barbara during A.C.T.'s tenure at The Geary Theater. Major Barbara will be directed by Theatre Calgary Artistic Director Dennis Garnhum and will feature an international cast of both Canadian and American actors.

Next, A.C.T. will travel to 1940s Italy with A.C.T. favorite Marco Barricelli (artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz; Vigil at A.C.T.) and Stratford Festival star Seana McKenna (Phèdre at A.C.T.), who return to lead the cast of Napoli! (February 12-March 9, 2014), a vivid new translation of Eduardo De Filippo's poignant Italian comedy. During the chaotic days of World War II in Naples, an enterprising woman sets up a small-time black market business to keep her family afloat. She prospers, but maybe a bit too much-compelling her husband to ask hard questions about morality, civility, and the state of their society. De Filippo's masterful blend of humor and pathos tells the story of an unforgettable and wildly entertaining family determined to survive at any cost. This production celebrates the Year of Italian Culture in San Francisco.

With spring comes the Northern California premiere of the sexy new comedy Venus in Fur (March 19-April 13, 2014), the 2012 Tony Award-nominated play that electrified (and titillated) Broadway audiences. When a young actress auditions for a demanding playwright/director's adaptation of a classic novel that explores sexual domination, their encounter explodes into a playful, witty, and erotic game of cat and mouse, dangerously blurring the lines between fantasy and reality-and seduction and power. Penned by theatrical mastermind David Ives (All in the Timing), Venus in Fur was named one of the "year's best" plays by more than a dozen major publications, and the New York Times called it "seriously smart and very funny . . . a suspense-packed study of the erotics of power."

A.C.T.'s 2013-14 season will culminate with the United States premiere of James Fenton's beautiful reinvention of The Orphan of Zhao (June 4-29, 2014), a classic Chinese legend that has its roots back in the fourth century BCE, directed by Carey Perloff. The inimitable stage and screen star (and San Francisco's own) BD Wong (M. Butterfly, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) will make his A.C.T. debut in this luminous production. In the aftermath of a political coup, an epic story of self-sacrifice and revenge plays out as a young orphan discovers the shattering truth behind his origin. Often described as the Chinese Hamlet, this enduring tale was the first Chinese play to be translated in the West nearly 300 years ago and has inspired countless operas, plays, and movies. The Guardian praised Fenton's adaptation as "haunting . . . [a] drama hewn out of a myth that speaks across the centuries," and The Times of London called it "an emotionally piercing marvel."

At this time, A.C.T. subscribers can renew their subscriptions for the 2013-14 season. To receive priority notice when packages become available for new subscribers, visit www.act-sf.org/priority and fill out the online request form or call the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228. Full-season (7-play) subscriptions will soon be available for $77-$651 and offer incredible savings, unparalleled access, exclusive benefits, and personalized customer service. Subscribers save as much as 50 percent off single-ticket prices. Students and educators are eligible to save up to half-price on subscriptions, and senior discounts are available for certain series. A.C.T. also offers all subscribers an extended payment plan that allows payment in two easy installments. A.C.T.'s competitive subscriber benefits include free ticket exchanges up to the day of scheduled performances; guaranteed best seating; ticket insurance; access to convenient prepaid parking one block away from the theater; discounts for neighborhood restaurants; the opportunity to subscribe to Words on Plays, A.C.T.'s in-depth theater guide for each show. To renew a current A.C.T. subscription, please call 415.749.2250 or log on to www.act-sf.org/renew.

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