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
