The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

Pericles, World Premiere Highlight Season

Shakespeare's As You Like It in the summer and Pericles in the winter highlight the 2013 Lineup of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison, which is entering its 51st year with an ambitious season that includes some groundbreaking productions.

The roster, running from late May through December, will include six productions on its Main Stage at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison, while As You Like It will play June 19–July 28 on the Outdoor Stage, the Greek amphitheater on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township.

The 2013 season will close with the seldom-produced Pericles, a fantastical odyssey epic filled with perilous adventures, courageous acts, and a thrilling and climactic rejuvenation. Director Brian B. Crowe will create a newly imagined, shimmering vision of this tale that takes audiences across the seas in search of new worlds and lost souls. Pericles will begin performances on Dec. 4 and continues through Dec. 29.

Another highlight of the season will be a production of Jacques Deval's Tovarich in a translation by Robert E. Sherwood, Aug. 7–25. The theater received a special grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to produce this play. “I am very excited to introduce our audiences to this wonderfully eccentric, improbable romance about an indomitable Russian Grand Duchess and her dashing Prince of a husband hiding out in Paris," said Bonnie J. Monte, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's artistic director. "The provocative issues of the play are given hilarious life by this master of the American stage.”

In another first, Tony Award–winner Richard Maltby Jr. makes his Shakespeare Theatre directorial debut with the world premiere of Cathy Tempelsman's A Most Dangerous Woman which explores the life of Mary Ann Evans—better known by her pen name George Eliot—the infamous and groundbreaking author of the Victorian era. A woman of extraordinary passion and intellect, born into a time and society that closed most doors to women, Eliot finds a way to unleash her talent despite all odds. A Most Dangerous Woman will run Sept. 18 through Oct. 6.

The season opens May 29 with J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, which runs to June 23, followed on the Main Stage in Noël Coward's rarely produced Fallen Angels, July 3–28. Thornton Wilder's Our Town will hit the Main Stage Oct. 16–Nov.17, a production directed by Associate Artist Joseph Discher, celebrating the play's 75th anniversary.

Advance orders for Complete Works' discount subscriptions, including tickets to all six Main Stage productions, are now being taken. Complete Works' discount subscriptions start at $135, and student subscriptions are available for only $60 for all six Main Stage productions. The Complete Works' discount subscription features tickets as low as $22.50 per show, the best seats to all Main Stage productions; free, easy and unlimited ticket exchanges should schedules change; and discounts on additional tickets. Call the box office at 973-408-5600.

A series of special events is also planned for the 2013 Season. Back by popular demand are "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "Something Merry This Way Comes." Titled from a line in Shakespeare's Macbeth, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" features actors from The Shakespeare Theatre company as well as guest artists presenting a 90-minute collage of dramatic readings from the classic canon of the macabre. This one-night-only event will be held Oct. 28.

Hearkening back to a time when families read to each other, "Something Merry This Way Comes" is a cornucopia of holiday tales, songs, and poems read by members of The Shakespeare Theatre's company of actors. "Something Merry This Way Comes," scheduled Dec. 16, is appropriate for all ages.

"Lend Us Your Ears," the Theatre's play-reading series, returns for the 2013 season and provides patrons the opportunity to join The Shakespeare Theatre's directors, actors, and artistic staff in exploring diverse and exciting plays. These script-in-hand readings feature members of The Shakespeare Theatre's company of actors as well as prestigious guest artists. Reading titles will soon be announced.

For more information about these special events, visit ShakespeareNJ.org or call the box office at 973-408-5600.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Main Stage, the 308-seat F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, is located in Madison at 36 Madison Ave. (Route 124) at Lancaster Rd. (on the Drew University campus), just minutes from routes 287, 78 and 10. Parking is free. The Outdoor Stage is located on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown.

February 19, 2013

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