Production Descriptions

Marketing-focused show descriptions for Shakespeare Theatre Company's 22/23 and 23/24 Seasons.

An Electrifying Musical Sensation
EVITA
Book & Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Sammi Cannold
Produced in association with the American Repertory Theater
Sep 5– Oct 8 | Harman Hall

Sammi Cannold (Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment) helms this groundbreaking revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Tony Award-winning rock opera. In a production The Boston Globe hails as “EXCEPTIONAL…A new generation’s take on Evita,” the story of Eva Perón’s meteoric rise to First Lady of Argentina is brought to life with breathtaking heart and spectacle.

A Wickedly Fun Theatrical Event
MACBETH IN STRIDE
By Whitney White
Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky & Taibi Magar
In association with Philadelphia Theatre Company
Oct 10–28 | Klein Theatre

Something wicked this way comes. Created by Obie Award-winning artist Whitney White, Macbeth In Stride uses one of the Bard’s most iconic characters to examine just what it means to be an ambitious Black woman. Swathed in a mesmerizing tapestry of pop, rock, gospel, and R&B, the fatalistic arc of Lady Macbeth uplifts contemporary thoughts on Black female power, femininity, rage, and desire. This “spellbinding and strikingly original” (Edge Boston) production bubbles with energy, humor, and swagger, bringing Lady M’s herstory into the 21st century.

A Joyful Celebration
AS YOU LIKE IT
By William Shakespeare
Adapted & Directed by Daryl Cloran
Conceived by Daryl Cloran & Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival
Dec 5–31 | Harman Hall

It’s the 1960s and flower power, peace, and love are in the air. The free-spirited Rosalind is exiled from court and escapes to an alternative community, where everything is possible. Mistaken identities and mixed signals come together, melding the Bard’s verse with the beloved music of The Beatles in what Vancouver Presents calls “one of the clearest renderings of As You Like It that you will ever see.” This tuneful take on Shakespeare’s romantic classic will be “a total blast” (Chicago Tribune) for the holiday season, reminding us that in times of trouble, all you need is love.

A Terrifying Descent
MACBETH
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Simon Godwin
April 2024 | Location TBA

Blood will have blood. Unbridled ambition, supernatural forces, and murderous desires reign supreme in Shakespeare’s most poetic examination of evil. When three witches tell Macbeth that he will become King of Scotland, he plots with his wife to attain the title through an assassination; a bloody act that gives him his crown and sends him careening down the path of his own undoing. Artistic Director Simon Godwin directs Tony and BAFTA Award-winner Ralph Fiennes and Olivier Award-winner Indira Varma in this thrilling account of how our minds deceive us and how a guilty conscience can undo us all.

An Epic Family Drama
THE LEHMAN TRILOGY
By Stefano Massini
Adapted by Ben Power
Feb 22-Mar 24 | Harman Hall

Meet the Lehman brothers—immigrants building an American dream that crumbles into a chaotic nightmare for future generations. Utilizing three actors and covering 160 years of family struggles, achievements, and missteps, this winner of the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play is a powerhouse cautionary narrative for our times. Heralded by The New York Times as a “captivating… feat of storytelling,” The Lehman Trilogy examines the double-edged sword of capitalism and personal choices that created the largest financial crisis in U.S. history.

A Playful New Adaptation
THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE
Adapted & Directed by Mary Zimmerman
Based on the Opera by Mozart
In association with Goodman Theatre
May 24-Jun 16 | Klein Theatre

In her acclaimed signature style, Mary Zimmerman conceives a brand new theatrical adaptation of Mozart’s beloved opera. Playful and imaginative, it’s big music in a small space. This “matchbox” presentation features a cast of 10 and an orchestra of five, all following the fantastic adventures of Prince Tamino and Princess Pamina. With dragons, a man who is a bird, trials by fire and water, and more, Day and Night do battle. 

Stunning Visual Feast
THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI
Based on the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
Adapted and Directed by Mary Zimmerman

Tony Award-winner and MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient Mary Zimmerman, the creative leader behind some of STC’s most imaginative productions (Candide, Pericles), brings the writings of Leonardo da Vinci to life in this stunning revival of one of her earliest creations. Called “a true revelation” by The Chicago Tribune, Notebooks celebrates the dynamic interplay of science, art, and the human spirit in a poetic kaleidoscope of visual splendor.

Delightful Romantic Comedy
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Simon Godwin

The course of true love never did run smooth, especially when the ON AIR sign is lit. Shakespeare’s cherished romantic comedy lands in a cable newsroom, where sparring co-anchors Benedick and Beatrice trade barbs behind the news desk. Helmed by “one of the most insightful and sensitive directors of Shakespeare today” (WhatsonStage), Much Ado About Nothing is the perfect blend of sparkling screwball comedy and romance.

Feminist Revenge Comedy
JANE ANGER:
OR THE LAMENTABLE COMEDIE OF JANE ANGER, THAT CUNNING WOMAN, AND ALSO OF WILLY SHAKEFPEARE AND HIS PEASANT COMPANION, FRANCIS, YES AND ALSO OF ANNE HATHAWAY (ALSO A WOMAN) WHO TRIED VERY HARD
By Talene Monahon
Directed by Jess Chayes

It’s 1606 and Shakespeare (Michael Urie) is plagued... with writer’s block. London’s theatres are closed and the actual plague has the Bard stuck in quarantine with his “young” apprentice, Francis (Ryan Spahn). In through the window climbs Jane Anger (Amelia Workman), a Cunning Woman and a writer of her own merit with a dream to change history. As Jane tries to assist Shakespeare in writing King Lear, Jane and Anne Hathaway (of Stratford, not Hollywood, played by playwright Talene Monahon) take matters into their own more than capable hands. The New York Times raves, "The production has a liveliness that the exceptional cast runs away with, delivering Monahon's mile-a-minute gags with zest."

Enthralling Family Drama
KING LEAR
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Simon Godwin

Caught in a carousel of memory, the head of a dysfunctional royal family grapples with power-hungry children and the threat of losing the empire he created. Real and imagined worlds coalesce, creating a political and personal horror that threatens to swallow the mind of the monarch. The incomparable Patrick Page (Hadestown, The Gilded Age) returns to STC as the once noble king grappling with the hurricane of chaos ravaging his home, head, and heart.

Unprecedented Theatrical Event
Shakespeare Theatre Company and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company present
A St. Ann’s Warehouse & Good Chance production of
THE JUNGLE
by Joe Murphy & Joe Robertson | directed by Stephen Daldry & Justin Martin 
Original production by Good Chance / National Theatre / Young Vic

Welcome to The Jungle where cultures collide and thousands dream of crossing the English Channel to the possibility of freedom. Laughter, tears, allegiances, and prayers are shared by this extraordinary community of refugees caught up in a global crisis beyond their control.

STC teams up with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company to bring this exclusive theatrical experience to Washington after sold-out runs in the West End and New York. Co-directed by Tony Award-winner Stephen Daldry (An Inspector Calls, The Crown) and Justin Martin, this “thrilling…ravishing…devastating” play (The New York Times) immerses the audience in the camp’s environment “to astonishing emotional effect” (The New Yorker).

Note: Due to limited capacity, priority access will be given to subscribers of STC or Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

Fascinating Historical Mystery
HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES
By Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich
Conceived & Directed by Moises Kaufman
A Tectonic Theatre Project Production

A mysterious album of never-before-seen Nazi-era photographs arrives at the desk of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum archivist Rebecca Erbelding. As she and her team of historians begin to unravel the shocking story behind the images, the album soon makes headlines around the world. In Germany, a businessman sees the album online, recognizes his own grandfather in the photos, and begins a journey of discovery that will lead him to a reckoning of his family’s past and his country’s history.

Here There Are Blueberries tells the story of these photographs—what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust, and about our own humanity.