2023 ASC Artistic year
UPDATE: March 1, 2023
Our summer season comes with a few surprises. First, we are very excited to announce a special three week engagement—beginning May 17—of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] (again) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Jess Winfield, with new revisions by Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield.
Secondly, we are disappointed to say we are unable to produce The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson as previously planned due to scheduling issues. While this change has altered many of our plans for the summer and fall, we are very pleased to announce that ASC will be adding William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing to the summer/fall line up. A revised schedule for our Summer and Fall seasons is below. Tickets will be on sale late March.
As You Like It
Feb. 16 – May 14
Sponsored by Paul Beers of Roanoke, Virginia
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players…”
-As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7
The Forest of Arden is hopping! On the run from his murderous brother, Orlando hides out in the Forest, where Rosalind, banished from the Court, is also on the run, disguised as a shepherd. As if their love lives weren’t complicated enough, they have to contend with a real shepherd and shepherdess with their own romance issues, an exiled Duke and his posse, and the court fool. Awash in wit and exuberant in a bedrock belief that love conquers all, this beloved Shakespeare comedy races toward a happy ending and four – count them, four – weddings.
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
Feb. 23 – May 13
Sponsored by the ASC Board of Trustees
“What a happiness it would be to cry…”
–Eurydice
Ruhl’s wildly imaginative bittersweet comedy Eurydice reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice not through Orpheus’s infamous pilgrimage to retrieve his bride, but through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost life. With contemporary characters and plot twists to rival Shakespeare’s most twisted plotlines, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story. “Devastatingly lovely…Ruhl’s magical play about the joys and trials of living and dying invites the happiest kind of commemoration. Like all fine poems, songs and paintings, it’s a love letter to the world that deserves to be remembered for a good long time.” (New York Times)
“Eurydice” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
The complete works of william shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] (again)
BY ADAM LONG, DANIEL SINGER, JESS WINFIELD; NEW REVISIONS BY DANIEL SINGER AND JESS WINFIELD
Originally produced by Reduced Shakespeare Company
Sponsored by Kimberly R. West
May 17 – June 4
In this rush to glory, three madcap players in tights weave their wicked way through all of Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies in one wild ride that will leave audiences breathless and helpless with laughter. An irreverent, fast-paced romp, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] (again) is a new 2022 version of the original The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) that played a record-breaking nine-year run in London, and has since been performed around the world, winning rave reviews.
The Taming of the Shrew
June 16 – August 12
“She is my good, my chattels, she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything…”
–The Taming of the Shrew, Act 3, Scene 2
Lucentio loves Bianca, but society’s rules (and her father’s bad temper) prevent her marrying until her older sister Katherina weds. But Katherina is strong-willed, outspoken, and not interested in marriage – three strikes against any woman in an era where females were considered property and required to be submissive. How much has changed in the 400 years since this play was published? See Shakespeare’s misogynistic masterwork through new eyes in ASC’s new staging.
Measure for Measure
June 23 – August 12
“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall…”
–Measure for Measure, Act 2, Scene 1
Vienna is rife with brothels and redolent of sin, but when its Duke decamps, his deputy takes a hard right on transgressors. Mocking hypocrisy and skewering corrupt authority, Shakespeare weaves a morality tale where the falsely virtuous are exposed and true-hearted victims rewarded. Not his first swipe at the Puritans who disapproved of many things in Elizabethan society – including plays and playwrights – Shakespeare’s sharp-witted tale takes its title from the New Testament Book of Matthew: “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
Much ado about Nothing
July 21 – November 19
“Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.”
–Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5, Scene 2
Beatrice loves Benedick. Benedick loves Beatrice. So what’s the problem? Feel the joy of love won and the ache of love lost as this story makes you laugh, breaks your heart, and then somehow puts it back together again.
*Fall dates for Much Ado About Nothing will go on sale later this summer
Hamlet
September 29 – November 18
Sponsored by Paul Beers of Roanoke, Virginia
What a piece of work is a man!
–Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2
A royal family unravels in this thrilling drama. Shattered by his father’s death and horrified by his mother’s hasty remarriage to his scheming uncle, Denmark’s Prince Hamlet plots revenge, feigning madness that soon consumes him. Plot and counterplot build to a devastating finale as Hamlet’s obsession finally destroys everyone around him.
At the heart of this thrilling production is an intriguing casting twist, with ASC veteran actor Meg Rodgers as Hamlet and Artistic Director Brandon Carter as Ophelia.
Tickets on sale Summer 2023
Coriolanus
Oct. 26 – Nov. 18
“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends…”
Coriolanus, Act 2, Scene 1
Class war and the struggle for equity and justice were unlikely themes for a theater company called the King’s Men, but Shakespeare’s Coriolanus pits a leader whose pride places him so far above his subjects that he can scarcely hide his disdain. When hunger drives the people to sedition, Coriolanus wins back their regard in feats of battle—only to lose their faith and his life. Unbending pride and untrammeled power make a deadly mix in this riveting tragedy.
Tickets on sale Summer 2023
A Christmas Carol
November 30 – December 30
“Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!”
–A Christmas Carol
The ultimate tale of transformation, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol transports miserly Ebenezer Scrooge high above the streets of Victorian London, where Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future haunt his dreams…accomplishing, in one fateful night, what a lifetime of grasping and greed could not do: the warming of his cold, cold heart. Join a holiday tradition beloved by families and friends of all ages!
Tickets on sale Summer 2023
