Round House Theatre Announces 2022-2023 Season

Artistic Director Ryan Rilette and Managing Director Ed Zakreski have announced the full six-show lineup for Round House Theatre's 45th Season. Following a transformative season of performances-including three regional premieres, the inaugural year of the National Capital New Play Festival, and the world premieres of Tim J. Lord's "We declare you a terrorist..." and Charly Evon Simpson's "it's not a trip it's a journey"-Round House is excited for audiences to return and experience a celebration of live theatre, with a slate of shows designed to remind them of the power, joy, and necessity of this art form.

"Whether through spectacle or through simple direct connection between performer and audience, this is a season that demands to be experienced in person, sharing space and responses with other human beings," Artistic Director Ryan Rilette shares. "The last two years have seen so many transformations, and we are still engaged in valuable conversations about what our post-pandemic world will be. Important changes are needed in theatre and in society as a whole, and Round House hopes that the stories we tell are part of those necessary explorations."

The 2022-2023 Season

The season begins with the US premiere of Nine Night (September 14 - October 9, 2022) by Natasha Gordon, who became the first Black British female playwright on the West End with the play's triumphant 2018 transfer from The National Theatre. Gordon's debut play (named "one of the top 20 plays of the 21st century by The Guardian) centers on the traditional Jamaican funerary celebration of "Nine Nights" as a British-Jamaican family unites to mark the passing of its matriarch. Timothy Douglas will direct this uproarious and touching exploration of family and grief, making its highly anticipated American premiere after postponement in the 2021-2022 season due to COVID-19.

Round House audiences will then experience a version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest (November 23, 2022 - January 15, 2023) unlike any they've seen before. Adapted and directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and Aaron Posner, this literally magical staging reinvigorates one of Shakespeare's most popular plays in a stunning production running through the holiday season, produced in collaboration with Folger Theatre. The blend of magic, music by iconic songwriter Tom Waits, and movement by boundary-defying dance troupe Pilobolus is a theatrical spectacle that demands to be experienced in person and-as experienced by sold-out audiences across the country-is a Tempest like no other.

Round House will continue its commitment to producing compelling new work with the second annual National Capital New Play Festival (see page 3 for additional information), headlined by a pair of world premieres presented in rotating repertory. A Round House Theatre Equal Play Commission, On the Far End (March 28 - May 7, 2023) by Mary Kathryn Nagle showcases a virtuosic solo performance that weaves one woman's life story together with the history of promises the United States has made and broken with our sovereign indigenous neighbors. In the hilarious dark comedy Jennifer, Who Is Leaving (March 30 - May 7, 2023), written and directed by Morgan Gould, we're confronted with the expectations with which we burden women. The two world premieres follow developmental readings at Round House as part of the 2022 National Capital New Play Festival.

Following the festival, Round House is thrilled to continue its longstanding relationship with America's greatest playwright with a production of August Wilson's Radio Golf (June 7 - July 2, 2023), the final play of his American Century Cycle, directed by Reginald Douglas. Following productions of Two Trains Running (2014) and Gem of the Ocean (2018), Round House returns to Pittsburgh's Hill District in 1997, where the play follows a Black businessman and mayoral candidate whose political ambitions are complicated by his family legacy and by his efforts to renew his local neighborhood through real estate development. Radio Golf premiered in 2005, but it still demands conversation on relevant issues 20 years later: police violence, gentrification, the intersection of class and race, and questions of division and solidarity within the Black community.

To close the season, Round House Theatre will engage in the first part of an exhilarating two-year partnership with Olney Theatre Center to produce the Broadway musical Fela! (July 7 - August 13, 2023), the spirited, joyful story of musician, activist, and global superstar Fela Anikulapo Kuti. With music and lyrics by Fela Kuti and book by Bill T. Jones and Tim Lewis, this is the first professional production anywhere in the world since its national tour more than ten years ago. Directed by Lili-Anne Brown, this Tony Award-winning and Grammy-nominated story of rebellion and individualism gives voice to what so many of us need in this moment. Learn more about Round House Theatre and Olney Theatre Center's multi-season collaboration. See page 4 for full season production details.

National Capital New Play Festival

In April 2022, Round House launched the inaugural year of the National Capital New Play Festival, a regional celebration of new plays that will be an annual part of the Theatre's programming. In service of Round House's longstanding investment in diversifying the voices that are amplified through live theatre, the festival seeks to nurture relationships with both established and early-career playwrights while cultivating an interest in new work among audiences in the DC metro area and demystifying the new play development process.

The 2023 festival will feature two world premiere productions (On the Far End and Jennifer, Who Is Leaving) presented in rotating repertory as part of the mainstage season, as well as four plays presented as developmental readings (titles to be announced), and panel discussions. Full schedule and details will be announced at a later date.

The 21st Annual Sarah Metzger Memorial Play

Established by the Metzger family and friends to celebrate the memory of Sarah Metzger, an inspiring and active member of the theatre community who was killed in an automobile accident during her freshman year of college, the "Sarah Play" is the culminating performance of the Teen Performance Company each year. Following a year of training, master classes with artists working in the field, and behind-the-scenes access to Round House productions, the TPC members direct, design, stage manage, and perform a full production on the Round House stage. Next season's Teen Performance Company production is inspired by the work of photographer Justine Kurland. Dani Stoller's Girlhood is a glimpse into the lives of a group of teenage girls as they leave childhood behind and try to figure out what comes next. More details about this world premiere commission will be shared at a later date.

"With two world premieres, an American premiere, a spectacular interpretation of a beloved classic, and an all-too-current revival, this is a season full of new and reimagined stories for a new world," adds Managing Director Ed Zakreski. "While the stories may be different, the power of live performance to connect us and open the doors to new conversations is unchanged. We can't wait to see you at the theatre."

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