American Players Theatre Announces 2023 Season
Refreshing Our Roots - Shakespeare , Wilder & Chekhov Meet Ives, Ramirez & Lopez
SPRING GREEN, WIS: American Players Theatre (APT) is thrilled to announce its 2023 lineup, to run June 10 – November 19. The Hill Theatre will open with one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the season’s other Shakespeare play will be Romeo & Juliet featuring Shakespeare's words performed in a combination of spoken English and American Sign Language. Also playing on the Hill, David Ives’ comedy The Liar, Thornton Wilder’s great American classic Our Town and Anton’s Shorts – a series of early one-act comedies by Anton Chekhov, adapted by award-winning playwright Aaron Posner.
The season in the Touchstone Theatre offers four productions never seen before on APT’s stages: The Royale by Marco Ramirez, Once Upon a Bridge by Sonya Kelly and Mala by Melinda Lopez. Finally, playing late October through November in the Touchstone shoulder season, David Auburn’s Proof, directed by Artistic Director Brenda DeVita.
DeVita said of the season: "We are so thrilled to continue to be able to continue to offer these large-cast, gorgeously appointed productions this summer. And to welcome the audience back to our theaters again. This season is really a love letter to them. The plays this year are about community, and taking care of one another, and how vital it is to have connection to another human being, or group of human beings. We’re incredibly excited to bring back two great, beloved Shakespeares – The Merry Wives of Windsor, a delightful comedy, and Romeo & Juliet, which will feature actors who are deaf playing Romeo and Friar Laurence, sharing Shakespeare through ASL. Of course, we have a great American Classic, Our Town, coming back to the Hill for the first time in 30 years, as well as The Liar - a hilarious farce, which our company will just have a blast with. And a piece that brings a fresh take on one of APT’s foundational playwrights – Anton’s Shorts, offering five of Chekhov’s early one-act Vaudevilles, freely adapted, and partly created, by Aaron Posner, who is a genius. And in the Touchstone, we have four gorgeous, poetic, contemporary plays that are new to us, as we continue our journey into exploring the new classics, and how they connect and intersect with our foundation and our future."
Tickets are now on sale for returning patron. General public on-sale will be April 24. More information at americanplayers.org.
The 2023 Plays
June 10 - November 19
In the Hill Theatre
The Merry Wives of Windsor
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Terri McMahon
Shakespeare could be a real charmer when he set his mind to it. Case in point, this very play. It’s so full-on funny, yet so down to earth, set amidst a middle-class burg where people love to party, and aren’t above a little well‑meaning practical jokery. All this revelry urged on by Mesdames Ford and Page, two ladies who’ve got that town wrapped around their delightful little fingers. Which will come in handy when Falstaff comes calling. He’s a Knight with hilariously high self-esteem, a total lack of self-awareness and a limitless appetite for good times. The lengths he will go to find a lady to subsidize his shenanigans is endlessly entertaining. A festive, uplifting comedy with just a pinch of wickedness; a sure-fire winner on a summer evening. Runs June 10 - October 8.
FEAUTRING: Tracy Michelle Arnold, Dee Dee Batteast, Kelsey Brennan, Teri Brown, Nate Burger, David Daniel, Jim DeVita, Phoebe González, Tim Gittings, Kailey Azure Green, Casey Hoekstra, Rasell Holt, Reginald A. Jackson, Josh Krause, Jamaque Newberry, Ronald Román-Meléndez, James Ridge, Marcus Truschinski
The Liar
By David Ives
Adapted from Le Menteur by Pierre Corneille
Directed by Keira Fromm
The French have a knack for making us rethink our notions about love, and David Ives has a knack for outrageous comedy. Which makes this adaptation of The Liar a perfect storm of the sexy and the silly. Everything about this play is engineered to make us laugh. We have a man who cannot tell a lie, and another who can’t do anything but. We have two ladies whose liaisons run hot and cold, and two identical servants who are far from interchangeable. All of them are simply seeking someone to make them happy. Whether that’s forever or for the night is another question entirely. It’s joyful and bawdy and utterly brilliant, written completely in rhyming couplets and featuring actors who know how to make the most of every bon mot. Runs June 16 - September 29.
FEATURING: La Shawn Banks, Kelsey Brennan, Phoebe González, Casey Hoekstra, Josh Krause, Daniel José Molina, Samantha Newcomb
Our Town
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Tim Ocel
Every moment holds a mystery. We set them free without a thought – endless choices slipping past us with every breath. But then, there are the ones that flash with inevitability, when we are frozen for a beat in the light of our shifting stars. Emergent love. Stunning comprehension. Shattering grief. Brilliant shards of life that are universal, and completely unique to the folks that bear them. Grover's Corners is a town made up of these moments, brought to life by its irresistible residents. Each charming soul experiencing a life that’s uniquely their own, within the embrace of their community. They share a simple human truth – that even when we feel most insignificant, we are part of something grand and endless. An American Classic not seen on this Hill in a generation. See it this summer with fresh eyes and an open heart. Runs June 23 - September 22.
FEATURING: Tracy Michelle Arnold, Teri Brown, Nate Burger, Sarah Day, Jim DeVita, Tim Gittings, Kailey Azure Green, Josh Krause, Brian Mani, Jamaque Newberry, Samantha Newcomb, Ronald Román-Meléndez, James Ridge, Jefferson A. Russell
Anton's Shorts
Brief Plays and Vaudevilles by the Young Anton Chekhov
Freely Adapted by Aaron Posner
Directed by Jake Penner
Once upon a time, there was a young Russian playwright who wanted to make his audience laugh. Of course, in true Chekhovian fashion, all five of the stories in this collection harbor the full spectrum of human emotions and foibles – life and legacy; marriage and moving on. Each with its own unique rating on the comedic Richter scale, from thoughtful to gleeful to full-on funny. Each with an eye for the bright pieces of humanity that live within us all. Five exquisite stories tied together by Anton Chekhov himself (a character created by the inimitable Aaron Posner), and featuring a full cast of Core Company actors. There are just north of a dozen opportunities to see this captivating collection of tales, and we expect the demand to be high. Plan ahead, and don’t delay. Runs August 4 - October 6.
FEATURING: Tracy Michelle Arnold, Kelsey Brennan, Nate Burger, David Daniel, Sarah Day, Brian Mani, James Ridge, Marcus Truschinski
Romeo & Juliet
By William Shakespeare
Directed by John Langs
Oh, do we have a show for you. A play that makes every best-of list grows even more glorious with the marriage of Shakespeare’s spoken poetry with the soulful expression of American Sign Language. Every stanza a dance, the aural with the visual. Shakespeare’s words pirouette on the Hill stage, as his poetry swirls through the air, amplifying the impact of a story that fills and breaks our hearts, time and again. The breathtaking bloom of young love. A savage family rivalry raging in a state addicted to adrenaline and violence. Verona is a place where you move or you die. If anyone took a second to think, maybe things would turn out differently. Runs August 11 - October 7.
FEATURING: Nathan Barlow, Joshua Castille, Sun Mee Chomet, Jim DeVita, Tim Gittings, Kailey Azure Green, Casey Hoekstra, Rasell Holt, Jamal James, Josh Krause, Gavin Lawrence, Colleen Madden, Daniel José Molina, Ronald Román-Meléndez, Robert Schleifer, Lindsay Welliver
In the Touchstone Theatre
The Royale
By Marco Ramirez
Directed by Tyrone Phillips
This is one of those plays that will have people talking; a production you simply will not want to miss. About the glory, and the doubt, and the very real danger that comes with blazing trails as a Black man in America. Like the sport at its center, it’s a story suffused with grace. Theatrical and kinetic, like a boxing ballet, swept along by language that’s beautiful, crisp and crystalline clear. And then there’s the fighter himself. Irresistible. Brash. Confident. At least on the outside. A man at the very top of his craft, forced by society into the role of underdog. Not that he’ll let that get in his way. Though there may be a price to be paid. A sports thriller that’s so much more, based on the life of the great Jack Johnson. Runs June 16 - September 27.
FEATURING: Dee Dee Batteast, Jamal James, Brian Mani, Reginald A. Jackson &
Once Upon A Bridge
By Sonya Kelly
Directed by Laura Rook
Three lives intersect for the space of a single breath; their well-planned worlds knocked right off their axes in the space of seconds. But maybe the moment itself doesn’t matter. It’s what comes next that will determine who they truly are when the dust settles. It’s something we all face, in a fashion. The way life changes on a dime. The way our humanity is tested and twisted. And the way it can bounce back if we are able to evolve. To forgive. It’s the kind of play we’re thrilled to fold into the embrace of the Touchstone – compact and thrilling, and exquisitely poetic. Based on a true event that mesmerized London, Once Upon a Bridge is a lyrical and uplifting meditation on the moments that shake us, and the small acts that may help us heal, if we only let them. Runs June 27 - October 7.
Featuring: La Shawn Banks, Elizabeth Reese, Marcus Truschinski
Mala
By Melinda Lopez
Directed by Rosa Joshi
Mala is doing her very best to be a dutiful child without losing her cool (or her mind), while caring for her stubborn, aging mother. Her story offers a heartfelt exploration of the maddening, devastating and darkly hilarious events that surround caring for a parent heading toward the end of life. As Mala shares her own experiences, and the experiences of her friends in similar situations, she bounds between comedy and deeply poignant emotion, creating an event custom-made for anyone who's struggled to be perfectly patient with someone they love. A tour-de-force featuring the extraordinary talents of Nancy Rodriguez.
Opening in October
Proof
By David Auburn
Directed by Brenda DeVita
Rarely does a play unfold as perfectly as Proof. A riveting spellbinder brought to life before our eyes – funny and heartbreaking and vastly relatable. And at its core, Catherine, a sharp-edged young woman who has anchored herself in place with familial obligations and the weight of her own genius. But not everything is outside of her control – there’s much of her future still to be written, if she only has the courage to pick up the pen. David Auburn’s Pulitzer-Prize winner makes its debut in the Touchstone at last; a glorious close to this glorious season. Runs October 26 - November 19.
Featuring: Kelsey Brennan, Nate Burger, David Daniel, Laura Rook
About the Theatre
APT is a professional repertory theater devoted to the great and future classics. It was founded in 1979 and continues to be one of the most popular outdoor classical theaters in the nation.
The Theatre is located in Spring Green, Wis., on 110 acres of hilly woods and meadows above the Wisconsin River. The outdoor amphitheater is built within a natural hollow atop an oak-wooded hill. Under the dome of sky, 1,075 comfortably cushioned seats encircle three sides of the stage. In 2009, APT opened the 201-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre, offering a different type of play and experience.
For more information, visit www.americanplayers.org
For photos or interviews, please contact: Patty Heaston, pheaston@americanplayers.org