A voyeuristic prefiguring of Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape,” and a hilarious and heart-breaking window on the last moments of youth. Reeling on his 39th birthday, an actor’s obsessive identification with Beckett’s famous character compels him to examine his own quixotic life: his fears, his failures, and his search for (and forfeiture of) love, all in preparation to record a version of the 39-year-old Krapp’s soliloquy to be used in an imagined production of “Krapp’s Last Tape” thirty years in the future.
Genre: Adaptation / Translation
Mr. Dickens’ Hat
On the darkest night of the year—December 21, 1865—a humble Victorian shop becomes the unlikely setting for a thrilling adventure. At its center is the real-life hat of Charles Dickens, once used to carry water to train wreck victims. When two thieves plot to steal the hat, young Kit embarks on an unforgettable journey to stop their scheme and rescue her father from debtors’ prison.
Set in the heart of 19th-century London, MR. DICKENS’ HAT is a witty and heartfelt play-with-songs that blends Dickensian storytelling with playful theatricality. Featuring nine original “Victorian carols” and a diverse cast of colorful characters, it offers a suspenseful, sentimental, and joy-filled tale perfect for winter programming. Not a Christmas show per se—but rich with the warmth, wonder, and generosity audiences seek each December.
The Mole Hill Stories
Based on the work of award-winning children’s author Lois Ehlert, THE MOLE HILL STORIES takes you on a journey with Mole as she discovers, with the help of her friends, that there is more to life than one can see at first glance and that our dreams are within reach if we believe.
The Three Sisters Brontë
Set against the bleak and windy Yorkshire moors in the 1800s, THREE SISTERS BRONTË follows the lives of the Brontë sisters as they struggle to find creative prosperity while navigating the harsh realities of male society. Faced with limited opportunities for scholarly women, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne live in the rich worlds of their imaginations, dreaming of life in London, until they are forced to face the truth that nothing is certain, and their destinies are best served when held firmly in their own hands. As their brother Branwell descends into madness and their father grows blind, the three sisters must find a way to make their own living in an era when men of means asked “the woman question”: what does society do with educated unmarried women? Inspired by THREE SISTERS by Anton Chekhov, who reportedly read THE LIFE OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË a few years earlier before his play opened, THREE SISTERS BRONTË explores the parallels in the lives of the real life Brontës and the fictional Prozorovs.
Cyrano De Bergerac
CYRANO DE BERGERAC is brand new adaptation in verse of the famous crowd-pleasing tale of love, honor, and panache, by way of a warrior-poet with a huge nose and a huge complex about it.
Washington Square
This adaptation of Henry James’ WASHINGTON SQUARE centers on Catherine Sloper, a wealthy young woman raised in a house of grief by a father bitterly dead to love. Surrounded by a society and family who perceive her as plain and soft spoken, Catherine remains steadfastly committed to her forward-thinking optimism. When Morris Townsend, a young, mysterious suitor, makes a bid for her heart, Catherine is torn between following her instincts and heeding the warnings of her father and meddling aunt.
While the novel is set in the fashionable downtown of late 19th century New York City, Sharp’s radical interpretation strips away the excess of the time period to deeply focus on Catherine’s journey
to becoming her own person. This sparse, actor-focused design heightens the psychological underpinnings of the story, building tension as the play hurtles towards its inevitable conclusion.
Jane Eyre
“Women feel just as men feel. They need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do.”
Charlotte Brontë’s timeless romance, JANE EYRE, is a Gothic story of resilience, in which a penniless orphan is determined to craft a fulfilling life for herself, against all odds. When Jane is hired as a governess at Thornfield Hall, she falls passionately in love with her brooding employer, only to discover that he—and his home—are surrounded by dark secrets. When the secrets are revealed, how will Jane preserve her chances for happiness?
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Fallen Soufflé
It’s the day before Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and her son, the playboy Prince of Wales, arrives at 221B Baker Street pursued by Anarchist assassins. The greatest chef in the world, Auguste Escoffier, also arrives, his career about to be shattered by blackmail and scandal. This action-filled tale of royal debauchery, priceless gems, and gourmet food will provide Dr. Watson with the material for Sherlock Holmes’ most bizarre and tastiest case.
Well Met by Moonlight
This eight-person adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream places us at Hermia’s wedding rehearsal dinner, where she is trapped into marrying Demetrius, threatening to tear her away from her true love Lysander. When dressmaker Bottom fits her into her wedding gown, Hermia faints and awakens in a magical landscape—part frolic, part dream, part nightmare. In her Wizard of Oz-like hallucination her parents transform into Titania and Oberon and friends and lovers couple and uncouple until, at last, Hermia escapes to be with her true love.
Witch Hunt
Ten years after Abigail Williams, instigator of the witch trials, disappeared from Salem, she turns up at the tavern of her fellow ex witch-hunter, Mercy Lewis. About to leave the colonies forever, it’s her last chance to understand the madness that overtook them. But with war threatening northern New England yet again, Mercy and her fellow townspeople are in no mood for Abigail’s doubts, which suggest to them complicity with the devil. And just when everything is at its most dangerously tense—the devil himself shows up.