Plays by Durang, Henley, and Wilson Slated for McCarter Theater’s 2005-2006 Season
(Photo © Michael Portantiere)
The McCarter Theater’s 2005-2006 season in Princeton will include new works by Christopher Durang and Beth Henley, along with August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream that will travel to the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn after its McCarter run.
Kicking of the season September 9-October 16 will be the world premiere of Durang’s Miss Witherspoon, about a persnickety woman who is forced to reincarnate against her better judgment. The show is to be co-produced with Playwrights Horizons, where it will begin its New York run on November 11. Emily Mann, the McCarter’s artistic director, will direct both productions.
Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who played Caesar in the Broadway production of Gem of the Ocean, will make his directing debut with Wilson’s moving tale about a troubled slave seeking salvation in the home of the mystical Aunt Ester. Performances are scheduled for October 11-30. In January 2006, Gary Griffin — who is directing the Broadway-bound production of the musical The Color Purple — will helm Eugene O’Neill’s classic A Moon for the Misbegotten. No word yet on who will try to fill the shoes of such previous Misbegotten players as Jason Robards, Gabriel Byrne, Colleen Dewhurst, Kate Nelligan, and Cherry Jones. Performances run January 13-February 19.
In the McCarter’s first-ever collaboration with Paper Mill, it will present a new version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Tina Landau and with original music by the hot group Groovelily, who will also perform onstage. The show will transfer to Millburn almost immediately after the March 21-April 9 run in Princeton.
Finally, the McCarter will host the world premiere of Ridiculous Fraud (May 5-June 11). In this latest work by Pulitzer Prize-winner Henley (Crimes of the Heart), “the Clay Brothers’ string of bad luck continues with a disastrous wedding rehearsal dinner. Oh, and Daddy’s in jail for fraud.” For more information, visit www.mccarter.org.
