Theater News

Hartford Stage Announces 2014-15 Season Lineup

Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak will take the helm of three classic works for the Connecticut theater’s upcoming season.

Darko Tresnjak
Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak will direct productions of Hamlet, Private Lives, and Kiss Me, Kate for the theater's 2014-15 season.
(© David Gordon)

Connecticut's Hartford Stage has announced the seven productions in its 2014-15 season.

The East Coast premiere of Elizabeth Egloff's Ether Dome, a coproduction with Los Angeles' La Jolla Playhouse and Boston's Huntington Theatre Company, will open the season, running from September 11-October 5. Based on the true story of the 1846 discovery of ether as an anesthetic by Dr. Horace Wells, Ether Dome is a psychological thriller exploring the pain that afflicts humankind, our attempts to find relief, and healthcare as big business.

Hamlet, Shakespeare's classic tale of revenge, will follow with a run from October 16-November 9, directed by Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak. Tresnjak will then direct Noël Coward's Private Lives, a comedy about a divorced couple who reunite while honeymooning with their new spouses. The production will run from January 8-February 1, 2015.

Between those two shows, Hartford Stage will offer a holiday-season production of Charles Dickens' classic yuletide tale, A Christmas Carol, adapted by Michael Wilson and directed by Maxwell Williams. The production is set to run from November 28-December 28.

The world premiere of Matthew Lopez's Reverberation, directed by Maxwell Williams, will take to the stage from February 19-March 15, 2015. The play follows Jonathan, who, after suffering a personal tragedy, withdraws from the world until a charming girl named Claire moves into the apartment upstairs and tries to coax him out of his shell.

The Pianist of Willesden Lane will then receive its East Coast premiere, running from March 26-April 19, 2015. Based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen and adapted and directed by Hershey Feder, the play tells the story of a young Jewish musician sent from Nazi-ruled Vienna to London during the Blitzkrieg.

Cole Porter's classic musical Kiss Me, Kate, featuring a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack, will round out the Hartford season, running from May 14-June 7, 2015. Tresnjak will helm the Shakespeare-inspired production, based on the Bard's classic comedy The Taming of the Shrew.

For tickets to Hartford Stage's upcoming productions, click here.