Category: Hill Theatre

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American PlayersTheatre Announces Their 2022 Season!

SPRING GREEN, WIS: American Players Theatre (APT) has announced the 2022 season lineup, including five plays originally slated to run in the 2020 season, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The summer season will run June 11 through October 9, 2022.

The lineup in the 1,089-seat, outdoor Hill Theatre includes William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost; Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s comedy of manners The Rivals; Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, adapted by Jessica Swale; and Lorraine Hansberry’s great American classic, A Raisin in the Sun.

And in the 200-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre, the season includes The River Bride by Marisela Treviño Orta; The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney; and The Moors by Jen Silverman. Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones will run in fall of 2022, dates to be announced later.

Artistic Director Brenda DeVita:

“2022 is about moving forward and building on all that we’ve accomplished, not just this year – and let’s be clear, our 2021 season was a huge, amazing accomplishment – but building on the plans that we’ve been making over the last decade. That examination of what makes a classic, and how do we continue to evolve and grow as an organization and a company? And you’ll see that conversation continue in the 2022 plays.”

“We are welcoming back a big, beautiful, quintessential APT season, with two Shakespeares and a restoration comedy, which our company is singularly suited to perform. We are returning to our repertory structure, which we missed more than we ever would have imagined. And we are exploring incredible plays by playwrights that APT has not been able to stage in the past, like Lorraine Hansberry and Tarell Alvin McCraney and Jen Silverman. It’s a season that fits perfectly within our foundation, and with our future plans, and it’s just thrilling to be starting work on what we hope and expect will be a glorious summer.”

Ticket on-sale dates will be released at a later date. The season calendar will be released in early January, 2022. More information at americanplayers.org.

In the meantime, the 2021 season continues in the Touchstone Theatre, with Shana Cooper’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew running through November 14. And on November 26, James DeVita and Josh Schmidt’s original musical The Gift of the Magi directed by Malkia Stampley will return to the Touchstone and will run through December 19, 2021. Tickets for both plays are on sale now at americanplayers.org/tickets.

The 2022 Plays

In the Hill Theatre

The Rivals

By Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Directed by Aaron Posner

Lydia Languish is bound and determined to marry only for love, a situation that she expects (and, oddly, hopes) will land her in the poor house. This causes a conundrum for the wealthy Jack Absolute, who is in love with Lydia, but doesn’t meet the requirement of being destitute. So to woo her, Jack takes on the persona of Ensign Beverly, a poor enlisted man. But Lydia’s aunt, the ridiculous Mrs. Malaprop, can never allow such a love connection, setting the couple and their cohort into a hilarious comedy of manners; the kind that APT hits right in the sweet spot.

Featuring Kelsey Brennan, Phoebe González, David Daniel, Brian Mani & Marcus Truschinski

Jane Austen’s

Sense and Sensibility

Adapted by Jessica Swale

Directed by Marti Lyons

When the well-off Henry Dashwood passes away, his estate, by law, goes to his eldest son, John, leaving Henry’s second wife and three daughters – young Margaret, tempestuous Marianne and reserved Elinor – with no home, and little income. Those are high stakes for women in the early 1800s, and the ladies are forced to rely on the kindness of the good-hearted Middletons. Though times are hard, the sisters meet many new friends along the way, and soon Marianne and Elinor find that, while love is easy enough to fall into, it can be a hard emotion to negotiate when your family and future are on the line. A charming romance from Jane Austen.


Featuring Tracy Michelle Arnold, Sarah Day, Tim Gittings, Jamal James, Brian Mani & Marcus Truschinski

Hamlet

By William Shakespeare

Directed by James DeVita

Returning home from school after the death of his father and rapid remarriage of his mother to his uncle, Hamlet is pondering his options. Did his uncle, Claudius, murder his father? How much does his mother, Gertrude, know about the perceived crime? How far will the young prince go while investigating, and who will pay the price for what he finds? Family bonds balance on the head of a pin, as the collective father-son relationship pulses through every word; a play that revels in contradictions and defies categorization, last seen at APT in 2013.

Featuring Nate Burger as Hamlet. Also featuring Kelsey Brennan, David Daniel, Alys Dickerson, Jamal James, Chiké Johnson, Colleen Madden & Triney Sandoval.

A Raisin in the Sun

By Lorraine Hansberry

Directed by Tasia A. Jones

On the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, the Youngers have lost their patriarch. But with this tragedy comes a rare financial boon for the family – a $10,000 insurance payment that could change their lives and fulfill dreams long postponed. As their family dynamics spin, it soon becomes clear that everyone has different ideas about how the money should be used, causing divisions and mistrust. A stunning American classic that examines how racism suppresses the lives and aspirations of Black families. 

Featuring Chiké Johnson, Gavin Lawrence & Greta Oglesby

Love’s Labour’s Lost

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Brenda DeVita

An early Shakespeare comedy returns to our stage for the first time in two decades. The King of Navarre and his three companions, Berowne, Dumaine and Longaville, commit themselves to three years of hard study with no distractions. To firm up his resolve, the King declares that no woman will be allowed within a mile of the court. When a French Princess arrives with her attendants, Rosaline, Maria and Katherine, the men immediately regret their oath in this fun and satisfying summer Shakespeare. 

Featuring Nate Burger, David Daniel, Melisa Pereyra, James Ridge, Marcus Truschinski & Triney Sandoval

In the Touchstone Theatre

The River Bride


By Marisela Treviño Orta


Directed by Robert Ramirez

Helena’s feelings about her sister Belmira’s wedding to Duarte are complicated, much like her relationships with both Belmira and Duarte themselves. But Helena’s thoughts are redirected when her father literally fishes a mysterious man out of the Amazon River, sending everyone’s plans into upheaval in this lyrical fable about the complexities of love. 

Featuring Erica Cruz Hernández, Melisa Pereyra, Ronald Román-Meléndez & Triney Sandoval

The Brothers Size

By Tarell Alvin McCraney

Directed by Gavin Lawrence

In the Louisiana bayou, Ogun Size is the hardworking and steady brother to the younger Oshoosi. Ogun worries constantly about his brother, who’s fresh out of jail, and when Elegba, Oshoosi’s former prison-mate, arrives with a gift, the brothers’ relationship is thrown out of balance. Influenced by the rich culture of the Yoruba people of West Africa, this contemporary tale begins in ritual and evolves into a tough and tender drama of what it means to brother and be brothered. Combining flights of poetry, music and dance, The Brothers Size explores the tenuousness of freedom and the need to belong.

Featuring Nathan Barlow, Jalen Gilbert & Rasell Holt

The Moors


By Jen Silverman


Directed by Keira Fromm

A young governess arrives at a remote manor after exchanging semi-romantic correspondence with the mysterious Mr. Branwell. But when the door opens, the only residents of the house seem to be Branwell’s two sisters, a maid (or maybe two maids?) and a lovelorn mastiff. And no man to be found, or child to be cared for. An inspired, whimsical satire that both embraces and sends up the gothic musings of the Brontë sisters; a play the New York Times called “…the reason we go to theater.” 

Featuring Tracy Michelle Arnold, Kelsey Brennan, Jim DeVita & Colleen Madden.

Stones in His Pockets


By Marie Jones


Directed by Tim Ocel

Two down-on-their-luck men in a down-on-its-luck Irish town are given what they hope is a chance at the good life. Jake and Charlie have been cast as extras in a Hollywood movie – a shaft of light through the clouds of their dreary rural existence. Like most sets, this one is rife with drama on stage and off – some hilarious and some heartbreaking – as the American cast and crew try to immerse themselves in Jake and Charlie’s culture, and vice-versa. A two-hander with each actor playing multiple characters in this unique and enthralling tragicomedy.

Featuring Nate Burger & Marcus Trushinski playing every role.

About the Theatre

APT is a professional repertory theater devoted to the great and future classics. It was founded in 1979 and continues to be one of the most popular outdoor classical theaters in the nation.

The Theatre is located in Spring Green, Wis., on 110 acres of hilly woods and meadows above the Wisconsin River. The outdoor amphitheater is built within a natural hollow atop an oak-wooded hill. Under the dome of sky, 1,089 comfortably cushioned seats encircle three sides of the stage. In 2009, APT opened the 201-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre, offering a different type of play and experience.

For more information, visit www.americanplayers.org

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American Players Theatre: Oedipus

Yes this is the classic Greek play. Yes Sophocles is alive and well. But director David Daniel did an amazing and masterful job in his adaptation of the play to appeal to 21st Century audiences without losing any of the angst and gravitas of the original!

Here the poetry flows more smoothly and recognizable to the modern ear. And Mr. Daniel’s clever insertions of the vernacular and current adages brings out an audience chuckle or two and balances out some of the weight of the story.

I will sit here quietly while you stamp and shout

And Mr. Daniel’s Greek chorus is more limber and interactive and helps guide us along through the story! Thank them for that…and their solo interjections and asides provide a few insights we might not catch without their help!

Gavin Lawrence is a masterful Oedipus and he plays against the image that the chorus provides of their king that we too are as befuddled by his confusion as are they. The fearful man who rants about the stage in a way unbecoming to the king we expected…and Mr. Lawrence makes us totally forget the clear level headed man we thought would take charge!

Creon, Oedipus’ brother in law and uncle, is played by a very regal and earnest Corey Jones…who clearly is undone by the ranting Oedipus. Of course he is working with knowledge of only half the story that the rest of use are privy too. But Mr. Jones holds his character up and plays the loyal, honest, royal personage to the last!

Left: Sun Mee Chomet as Jocasta, center Gavin Lawrence as Oedipus, right Ted Deacy as the Corinthian. Screen capture by Ed Heinzelman

And the most in control on center stage is Creon’s sister and the mother/wife of Oedipus, Jocasta, as played by Sun Mee Chomet . At first regal with a bit of haughty, she puts both Creon and Oedipus in their place. Ms. Chomet makes her character believable and forceful and makes clear attempts to hide her vulnerability until the truth is revealed.

Perhaps the most effective character in this adaptation is La Shawn Banks as the blind prophet, Tiresias. He stays the course in the face of an angrier and angrier Oedipus as he introduces the story line that will eventually unravel the fairy tale that is Thebes and destroy the king but will cure the plague and all other ills that are destroying the city.

And my personal favorite? Ted Deasy as the Corinthian messenger who believes that he is bringing good (but sad) news and is happy to tell his stories since he has no knowledge of the consequences to Oedipus, Jocasta, or Thebes. On one hand the most entertaining and the other the most congenial character in the play.

the Greek Chorus; photo courtesy of the American Players Theatre

I am sorry that this response is so late in the play’s run. I watched this via the At Home streaming option and because of technical difficulties it wasn’t available until this past Monday…and I couldn’t get to it until yesterday. The live version runs at the American Player Theatre’s Hill Theatre through tomorrow October 9, 2021. And because of the technical difficulties with the streaming version, that will now be available through October 24th! Information on the play is here and ticket information is here!

And please leave comments after reading this post. If you are a first time commenter I will have to approve your post before it will appear! But you will be good to go in the future!

So ends what I am calling APT’s 2021 Greek Triad with An Iliad and A Phoenix Too Frequent!

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American Players Theatre: Christopher Fry’s A Phoenix Too Frequent

When you first read parts of the American Players Theatre description of Christopher Fry’s A Phoenix Too Frequent, you feel you might be about to experience a challenging tragic drama:

In ancient Greece, Dynamene is prepared to die from grief over the death of her husband and has barricaded herself, fasting, in his tomb. She has brought her faithful servant along to die with her (a plan that said servant is not 100% on board with).

But I have taken that entirely out of context and Christopher Fry has instead provided us with a witty understated comedy that plays off classic sources from Homer to Sophocles to of course, Shakespeare! Instead we find ourselves roaming from troubled to amused to relieved…as the somber circumstances play out via Fry’s immaculate verse…to the captivating human interaction…laced with humor in character definition, an absurd situation, and his carefully manipulated clever English! It’s all a delight until the crisis appears when all seems lost. But as with most classics, there is a deus ex machina of sorts and life and love prevail. So that covers the play…but again from the APT:

Here we have the classic “boy-meets-girl, boy-dies, girl-meets-handsome-soldier-in-the-first-boy’s-tomb-while- waiting-to-die-with-her-faithful-servant” story. It may sound ridiculous. And it is. But youth is often a ridiculous ride, and it’s hard to be hopeless for long when you’re on it. Feel free to laugh with them as they attempt to find their way in the literal dark, with a bellyful of wine and all the earnest, wobbly assurance of people dealing with death just as they’re learning to live life. Quirky and Greeky and oh so funny, with a deceptively deep story, this one promises a delightful time

screen capture by Ed Heinzelman: we need darker vowels

Now our story revolves around just three characters: our widow, Dynamene played by Phoebe Gonzalez, her handmaiden, Doto played by Tyler Meredith, and our handsome stranger, the soldier, Tegeus played by Christoper Sheard. These three weave the words into actions that tell the story with complete awareness of the absurdity of the situation and cleanly emphasize the humor in the text. Director Keira Fromm has them interacting in and around the minimal stage with a certain grace…even during the various crises and entanglements shall we say. It works on every level and certainly invites us to stay engaged with the players, the story. and the action. And of course the emphasis on the humor seems invisible until it subtly reaches our conscious funny bone.

And the minimal stage couldn’t be better suited to the action, the deceased’s crypt, benches, and the entrance are all clearly defined and perfectly appropriate to an undisclosed but clearly ancient Greece. Thank you Jeffrey Kmiec! And the blue lighting was dramatic, ethereal, and unobtrusive all at the same time. Something that I wouldn’t have ever considered….so thank you, Jesse Klug!

Tylelr Meredith as Doto: photo courtesy of the American Players Theatre

The opening scene quickly introduces us to the world weary and street smart Doto who gets a lot of the early laughs and chuckles as she lays out her predicament. All worked around a restlessly sleeping Dynamene (how Ms. Gonzalez manages to do this without laughing is funny in itself…Ms. Meredith get a similar ‘respite’ later but gets to do it out of sight of most of the audience instead of center stage! ). So you want to feel for Doto right away and it is a great deal of fun to listen to the rather unique English she employs and the street cred she exhibits when Tegeus ‘bursts’ on the scene! Bravo Ms. Meredith!

Christopher Sheard as Tegeus, Phoebe Gonzales as Dynamene; photo courtesy of American Players Theatre.

And the pas de deux between Dynamene and Tegeus is magic. Not only the language but the dance itself as they struggle to engage and keep their distance and engage while moving about the set. There isn’t even a more convincing scene in Shakespeare! The timing, looks, leers, restraint, and finally surrender to love all works to perfection. Ms. Gonzalez and Mr. Sheard amplify those emotions without our noticing any effort and with our full approval. And it makes the coming crisis that more shocking and poignant when it comes. I won’t discuss it any further.

Given the feel of the poetry, the period, the geography, and the story, this is plainly a ‘classical piece’, and more appropriate to this season in particular as it follows a similarly toned and previously presented Iliad and the other current production of Sophocles Oedipus. This seems like a prime central focal point of a ‘Greek’ triad!

A Phoenix Too Frequent runs through October 3, 2021 and tickets are available for the in person presentations at the Touchstone Theatre or to stream online!

left to right: Christopher Sheard as Tegeus, Phoebe Gonzalez as Dynemene, and Tyler Merideth as Doto; screen capture by Ed Heinzelman

you fall easily into superlatives…