Marin Theatre Announces Two U.S. Premieres And More For 2024/25 Season

Artistic Director Lance Gardner has announced Marin Theatre’s 2024/25 season, a dynamic lineup of exciting works to be presented October 2024 through June 2025. The ambitious season of five plays will include two U.S. premieres: a thrilling new noir mystery-meets-fairy tale, and a vivid dramatization of a 1612 trial that gripped Renaissance Rome. Also on the bill is an immersive adventure that turns the audience into welcome guests seated on-stage while actors create decorations, prepare food, and get ready to celebrate a South Indian harvest festival. The season rounds out with a new play about an empathy coach who has her work cut out for her at a debt collection agency, and a rarely seen 1906 politics and sex play that was initially banned due to its shocking topic and will feature the return to the stage of Lance Gardner. Guest directors will include A.C.T. Artistic Director Emerita Carey Perloff, award-winning theatre icon Barbara Damashek, and national director Rebecca Wear, who has helmed world premieres across the country. Four productions will be mounted on the Boyer Main Stage, and one in the Lieberman Black Box Theatre at Marin Theatre, 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley. Flexible subscriptions ($160 - $360) are now available and can be used for a selection of any four plays, or all five plays, or for multiple tickets to the same production; single tickets for each production will be available in the coming months. For information, the public may visit MarinTheatre.org or call 415-388-5208. 

Astute readers will note the disappearance of “Company” – the theatre has recently rebranded as Marin Theatre. Says Gardner, “The removal of ‘company’ from our wordmark is partly to eliminate confusion with the other esteemed MTC (Manhattan Theatre Club), as we expand our presence nationally as creators and exporters of new works. It also reinforces the recognition of our geographic location here in Marin, eliminating the easy acronym by which we have come to be known. As Marin Theatre, we will continue to serve the Greater Bay Area while building the reputation of Marin as an arts hub and increasing our reputation on The National Theatre scene.” 

Marin Theatre’s 2024/25 season will kick off in the fall with the U.S. premiere of award-winning Canadian playwright Kat Sandler’s hit Yaga (October 10 – November 3, 2024). Direct from Toronto where it captured critical raves, Yaga follows a detective who finds himself in a small, isolated town, wondering what the disappearance of the young heir to a yogurt fortune has to do with random lore about an old witch. Joining forces with the local female sheriff, the pair zero in on a cast of curious characters, including a sexy, whip-smart forensic bone expert whose shadowy past includes her healthy appetite for young men. What begins as a classic whodunit veers into the supernatural as the mythic Baba Yaga, rumored to keep a magic hut in the woods where she grinds the bones of the wicked, becomes a character in this crime tale. Yaga premiered at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre where The Globe and Mail called it “triumphantly reclaimed the evil-woman myth. Move over, Wicked and Maleficent, and welcome Yaga to the sisterhood.” Noted theatre director Barbara Damashek, who has helmed local productions at Berkeley Rep, Aurora Theatre, Magic Theatre, as well as the multi-Tony Award-nominated Broadway production of Quilters, will direct. 

Marin Theatre will launch 2025 with a fresh take on a rarely seen century-old political play, Waste (February 6 – March 2, 2025). This compelling work was written in 1906 by Harley Granville-Barker, an English actor, director, playwright, and critic, who came to fame performing and then directing the early works of George Bernard Shaw, eventually authoring The Voysey Inheritance, considered a masterpiece of the Edwardian stage. That highly regarded hit was followed by Waste, which was banned due to its shocking topic of abortion and politics, finally staged for the first time in 1927. In Waste, an ambitious politician’s career is wrecked over his illicit affair with a woman, who has died after a botched abortion. Rather than showing sympathy or outrage for the female victim, the work cynically focuses on the politician and his colleagues, who scramble to salvage his reputation.  In a recent U.K. revival, British Theatre lauded Waste for its “crackling dialogue” calling it “Extraordinary. By some distance the best production to grace a National Theatre stage since Rufus Norris took the reins.” Director, playwright, producer, author, and educator Carey Perloff, artistic director emerita of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, is set to direct, and Marin Theatre Artistic Director Lance Gardner will return to the stage as the politician under fire.  

In the spring, Marin Theatre will invite audiences to take part in Mrs. Krishnan’s Party (March 19 - 30, 2025), an interactive show that turns audience members into welcomed guests. Written by Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis of the New Zealand-based Indian Ink Theatre Company, the work is framed as a sequel to Krishnan’s Dairy, the wildly successful play about an immigrant couple’s corner shop.  Mrs. Krishnan’s Party is set in the back room of Mrs. Krishnan’s convenience store (what Kiwis call a “dairy”), where garlands decorate the ceiling, music flows, and pots bubble on the stove as Mrs. K prepares to celebrate the Southern Indian harvest festival of Onam. The actors juggle cooking, music, and more, in an unfolding drama where audience members become invited guests. Marin Theatre’s Boyer Main Stage will be entirely reconfigured, with the entire audience on stage. Seat choices will include Top Table (which puts a few audience members right in the action  – and might include can-opening and pot-stirring duties), Inner Circle seats close enough to the action to get involved, Wallflower options for those who want a great view of the fun but from a little distance, and Cheeky Seats, described as ‘close, but not too close.’ While dahl simmers on the stove, laughter abounds, and strangers become friends in this celebration of life. The Waikato Times hailed the play as “So different, so original, so creatively fresh, and so much fun no one wanted to go home,” while NZ Herald lauded it for “the show's generous spirit [which] offers a timely reminder that live theatre is a gift which engenders connection, sharing, and celebration of community.” The production will feature actors Kalyani Nagarajan as Mrs. Krishnan, and Justin Rogers as James, a university student aching for a DJ career. 

The season continues with the U.S. premiere of It’s True, It’s True, It’s True (April 16 – May 4, 2025). Written by Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens of U.K.-based Breach Theatre, this wildly original all-women play recreates the riveting 1612 trial in which 17-year-old Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi faces down her rapist in court. Recreated from surviving court transcripts, the play dramatizes the seven-month trial that gripped Renaissance Rome and asks how much has changed in the last four centuries. With three women re-enacting a trial heavily weighted against the victim – who is actually cross-examined by her own attacker – the work blends fact with the mythical and biblical subjects of Gentleschi’s paintings, and contemporary commentary, to tell the story of how a woman took revenge through her art to become one of the most successful painters of her generation. The Guardian called It’s True, It’s True, It’s True “Gripping, tremendous.” This production will be helmed by nationally acclaimed director Rebecca Wear. 

Marin Theatre Will Close its season with the Bay Area premiere of Do You Feel Anger? by award-winning playwright Mara Nelson-Greenberg (June 5 - 29, 2025). An outrageous comedy that highlights the absurdity and danger of a world where some people's feelings are prioritized over others, Sofia is hired as an empathy coach at a debt collection agency, where she finds her work cut out for her. The employees can barely identify what an emotion is, much less practice deep, radical compassion for others, as they stumble towards enlightenment. Do You Feel Anger? premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays at The Actors Theatre of Louisville in March 2018, moving on to an Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre the following year. The New York Times hailed it as “Flat-out hilarious. Ingenious and inspired,” and The New Yorker lauded it as “Disquieting as it is funny. A rare throwback to classic absurdism.” 

In chronological order, the Marin Theatre 2024/25 season is as follows: 

Yaga 

By Kat Sandler 

Directed by Barbara Damashek 

U.S. PREMIERE 

October 10 – November 3, 2024 (opening night: October 15) 

BOYER MAIN STAGE 

Small-town sheriff Detective Carson and big-city private eye Charlie Rapp team up in this thriller, a comedic nightmare fairy-tale in which they search for Henry Kalles, the yogurt empire heir and notorious college heartbreaker who mysteriously disappeared. The plot thickens with Professor Katherine Yazov, a seductive and brilliant forensic expert, topping their suspect list. But this classic whodunit takes a supernatural turn with the emergence of Baba Yaga, the mother of monsters, who weaves her dark magic.  

Kat Sandler is a playwright, director, screenwriter, and the artistic director of Theatre Brouhaha in Toronto. Her innovative plays include a concurrent double bill of The Party and The Candidate, in which the same cast raced back and forth between two theatres to perform two simultaneous plays. Her play Mustard won Toronto’s Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play, with BANG BANG and Yaga also nominated for the same award. 

Barbara Damashek is a director, actress, teacher, and composer, who has helmed plays around the Bay Area, including at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Magic Theatre, and many others. She was the author, lyricist, composer, and director of Quilters, nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Book, Original Score, and Direction. 

Waste 

By Harley Granville-Barker 

Directed by Carey Perloff 

February 6 – March 2, 2025 (opening night: February 11) 

BOYER MAIN STAGE 

Henry Trebell is an ambitious politician with a daring vision to disestablish the Church of England. When his promising political career is subsumed by a scandalous affair that ends in his assignation's death by a botched abortion, his colleagues rush to contain the fallout. Navigating the complexities of scandal and secrecy, they strive to protect Trebell's reputation at any cost. But can they keep the truth buried, especially when his lover's husband holds the key to this fragile cover-up? A.C.T. Artistic Director Emerita Carey Perloff will helm this production, with Marin Theatre Artistic Director Lance Garner returning to the stage in the role of Henry Trebell. 

Harley Granville-Barker was an English dramatist, producer, and critic who profoundly influenced 20th-Century Theatre. Barker began his stage training at 13 years old, appearing on the London stage two years later, often in the early works of George Bernard Shaw. He later produced Shaw and introduced the public to the plays of Henrik Ibsen, Maurice Maeterlinck, and others. As a playwright, he authored many works including The Voysey Inheritance, considered a masterpiece of the Edwardian stage. Written in 1906, Waste was initially banned from production for its shocking content, finally produced 21 years later. 

Carey Perloff is a director, playwright, producer, author, and educator who served as artistic director of Classic Stage Company in New York and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Among Perloff's significant directorial accomplishments was A Thousand Splendid Suns, a world premiere adapted from the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseni. More recently Perloff has directed Ghosts at Seattle Rep, Home? at Z Space, and Private Lives at the Stratford Festival, among others.  

Lance Gardner was appointed artistic director of Marin Theatre in fall of 2023. An award-winning actor, he is well known to Bay Area audiences for his many leading appearances on stage at Marin Theatre, as well as at Berkeley Rep, California Shakespeare Theater, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and others. 

Mrs. Krishnan’s Party 

By Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis 

Directed by Justin Lewis 

March 19 – 30, 2025 (opening night: March 20) 

BOYER MAIN STAGE 

In the vibrant world of Mrs. Krishnan's convenience store, tonight is a celebration of life known as Oman, the Southern Indian harvest festival.  Audiences are invited into the back room of Mrs. K’s shop, where the air is filled with music and the aroma of simmering food. In this heartwarming sequel to Krishnan's Dairy, laughter and joy abound as strangers become friends amidst the festivities in this unique and immersive celebration. For every performance, actors juggle cooking, music, and guests, creating an unforgettable experience where no two performances are exactly alike. 

Jacob Rajan is an award-winning actor, playwright, and co-founder of New Zealand’s Indian Ink Theatre Company. His acclaimed productions include Krishnan’s Diary, The Candlestickmaker, The Guru of Chai, Kiss the Fish, and The Dentist’s Chair. In 2003, Jacob won a Best Actor Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for The Pickle King. On screen, he has starred in Kiwi series such as “Outrageous Fortune,” “Shortland Street,” and television movies “Hilary and Fish Skin Suit.”   

Justin Lewis is a playwright, director, and co-founder of Indian Ink Theatre Company. With Jacob Rajan, their productions have won numerous awards including two Edinburgh Fringe Firsts and three Production of the Year Awards in New Zealand. In his work outside Indian Ink, Lewis has written seven professionally produced plays.  

It’s True, It’s True, It’s True 

By Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens 

Directed by Rebecca Wear 

U.S. PREMIERE 

April 16 – May 4, 2025 (opening night: April 18) 

LIEBERMAN BLACK BOX THEATRE 

The intense seven-month 1612 trial of Agostino Tassi for the rape of then 15-year-old Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi captivated Renaissance Rome. Based on real court transcripts, this all-women production ponders how far society has come in the last four centuries. Blending historical fact with the mythic figures represented in Gentileschi’s stunning works – both pre- and post-trial – this riveting production reveals how one woman sought justice through her art, ultimately emerging as one of her generation's most successful painters. 

Billy Barrett is a director, writer, and co-artistic director of U.K. theatre company Breach, whose productions he directs and co-writes, including It’s True, It’s True, It’s True (Fringe First/The Stage Edinburgh Award), Tank (Fringe First Award), and The Beanfield (Total Theatre Award). Breach is an associate ensemble at London’s New Diorama Theatre, where many of its shows have premiered before touring the U.K. and internationally. His play It’s True, It’s True, It’s True was filmed and broadcast by BBC4. 

Ellice Stevens is a writer, theatre-maker, performer, and co-founder of Breach. As a writer, she has co-written all of Breach’s theatrical shows. Outside of the company, Stevens has worked as a devisor and performer with companies such as The Handlebards and Barrel Organ. She recently worked with the National Gallery as a presenter for its documentary to accompany their Artemisia exhibition. 

Rebecca Wear has directed world premieres in New York (HERE Arts Center), Atlanta (Actor’s Express), Cincinnati (Know Theatre of Cincinnati), and site-specific locations, West Coast premieres in Los Angeles (Artists at Play), Sacramento (B Street Theatre), and more. She has developed work with Roundabout Theatre, Ojai Playwrights Conference, The Playwrights' Realm, Geffen Playhouse, East West Players, and others. She was a 2023 Pfaelzer Award Finalist (NYSAF), a 2019 National Directing Fellow, HERO Theatre Resident Director, holds a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara, and is currently a professor at UC Santa Cruz. 

Do You Feel Anger? 

By Mara Nelson-Greenberg 

Director to be announced 

June 5 – 29, 2025 (opening night: June 10) 

BOYER MAIN STAGE 

In this outrageous comedy, Sophia takes on the role of an empathy coach at a debt collection agency, facing the daunting task of teaching compassion to a group of employees who struggle to even recognize emotions. Embarking on a journey towards enlightenment, the hidden tensions of this carefree workplace bubble to the surface, leading to uproarious and eye-opening revelations. 

Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s work has been developed at Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Dixon Place, among others. Her play Do You Feel Anger? premiered at the 2018 Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, going onto an acclaimed production at New York’s Vineyard Theatre, and her play Hamlet by Mia Fefferman was a finalist for the 2017 Relentless Award. 

ABOUT MARIN THEATRE 

Marin Theatre was founded in 1966, when 35 Mill Valley residents came together under the leadership of Sali Lieberman to create the Mill Valley Center for the Performing Arts (MVCPA). The nonprofit organization brought arts as diverse as film, theatre, poetry, dance and concerts of classical, jazz and folk music to Marin County for a decade. After a number of successful community theatre productions, MVCPA began to exclusively produce and present theatre performances in 1977. The group staged critically acclaimed, award-winning plays in a golf clubhouse, a veterans' auditorium, and several schools and parks. MVCPA changed its name to Marin Theatre Company in 1984, beginning of a period of extraordinary growth. By 1987, MTC had become a professional theatre company, opening its own theatre complex and joining with other local theatres to negotiate the first regional Actors’ Equity contract in the Bay Area. MTC then created a new play program to support emerging American Playwrights, launching a New Works developmental workshop and public reading series in 2004 and establishing two new play prizes in 2007. MTC joined both the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and the National New Play Network (NNPN) in 2008. Now rechristened Marin Theatre, the company is the leading professional theatre in the North Bay and the premier mid-sized theatre in the Bay Area. In the fall of 2023, Lance Gardner was appointed artistic director. Gardner is well known to Bay Area audiences for his many leading appearances on stage at Marin Theatre Company, as well as at Berkeley Rep, California Shakespeare Theater, Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and others. He served as president of the Board of Trustees at Aurora Theatre Company, and was live event producer at KQED, launching a series of public events for the acclaimed public broadcasting company, before assuming this role at Marin Theatre. 

To post a comment, you must register and login.