Oldcastle Theatre Company, the professional theatre company in residence at the Bennington Performing Arts Center has announced their 49th season of professional theatre with presenting sponsor Bennington Tennis Center!
"It's been a challenging year for everyone and we are so excited bring live entertainment back to Southern Vermont," says Artistic Director, Nathan Stith. "There are things that theatre can do better than any other medium, and the shows we've chosen for this season do just that. They are plays which celebrate the human desire to connect, the importance of an indomitable spirit, and the power of imagination," says Stith.
The season will open July 9 with "Visiting Mr. Green" by
Jeff Baron. "It's a play about making connections, and the importance of family and companionship" says Stith who will direct the production. Baron's hilarious and moving play about two men who are forced to spend time together despite the fact that they can't stand each other has been translated into 22 languages and had successful productions around the world. "It's the perfect play to welcome back our audiences, they will laugh, they will be moved, and most importantly, they will connect," says Stith. The production will star longtime Oldcastle favorite, Richard Howe as Mr. Green and will run July 9-18.
The second show, running August 6-15, is "Shakespeare's Will" by Canadian playwright
Vern Thiessen. This beautifully written one-woman play explores the inspiring and complicated life of
Anne Hathaway, the wife of
William Shakespeare. It is the story of a woman who loved her husband and children deeply, made incredible sacrifices, and maintained her strength and spirit throughout life's challenges with-and without-the most famous playwright in history.
Katrina Ferguson, who has been seen on the Oldcastle stage in "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten" will return to Bennington to play Anne. According to Bennington Performing Arts Center executive director,
Jennifer Jasper, "not only is the play both funny and powerful, the life of this mostly unknown woman is incredibly relatable and will resonate with our audiences in unexpected ways."
And finally, we are extremely excited to welcome
Jillian Armenante as director for the final production of the season,
Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of
Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw." As a director, Jillian has received Drama Critics Circle Awards, several Garland, L.A. Ovation and L.A. Weekly Awards. As an actor, she received a Drama Desk nomination for "The Cider House Rules." She is best known nationally for her role as Donna Kozlowski on the CBS series, "Judging Amy." She is excited to return to her theatrical roots. Running September 3-12, this innovative and highly theatrical play about a Victorian era governess, hired to care for two orphaned children, explores the power of the human imagination and asks the audience to decide what is real what is imagined. It also has contemporary relevance. "Like the repression of the Victorian era, this past year of the pandemic has placed such restraints on all of us," says Armenante, "the experience of which lends itself beautifully to this play."
"This truly is a season that has something for everyone and we can't wait to share live theatre with our community again this summer," says Stith. Tickets will go on sale beginning June 1. All seats are $25 this season and can be purchased by phone at 802-447-0564, online, or in person 90 minutes prior to each performance. For more information contact the box office or visit us at
oldcastletheatre.org.
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