Fascinating ideas and wild theatrical variety define Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s (CRT) choices for the 2005 – 2006 season.  From two new world premieres to the hysterical and lyrical traditions of Shakespeare and Sondheim, CRT’s upcoming season is built on exciting stories and challenging ideas.

In the Main Stage Series, CRT will produce a musical for the first time in more than three years with Stephen Sondheim’s fractured fairy tale, Into The Woods, in December.  Shakespe's are’s transcendent As You Like It will play next spring.  Both shows will be presented in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the Storrs campus.

The new Nafe Katter Theatre, which opened in October, 2004, will feature two new plays.  The emphasis on new plays is a reflection of CRT’s passionate commitment to bring new American stories to life on stage.  In October, CRT will present the world premiere of William Gibson’s newest play, Jonah’s Dream.  Gibson, a Tony Award-winner for his American classic The Miracle Worker, will be in residence developing the script with CRT Artistic Director, Gary English.  The Miracle Worker was also made into an Academy Award-winning movie starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke.  Another of Mr. Gibson’s plays, Two For the Seesaw, was made into a motion picture and starred Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine.

Connecticut playwrights Barbara and Carlton Molette’s new play Prudence, about Connecticut heroine Prudence Crandall, will be presented in the Katter in February, 2006.  Based on true events, this world premiere production depicts a little-known and surprising aspect of Connecticut’s history.

Puppet Arts productions in the Studio Works Series, presented in the Studio Theatre, are a favorite among CRT audiences and next spring CRT will present Balloon, a new adaptation by Megan McNerney, with original puppets.  Next fall, CRT will present Diana Son’s powerful drama,
Stop Kiss.

“I’m very proud of and extremely excited by next season’s offerings,” said Gary M. English, Artistic Director of CRT.  “This season is a clear demonstration of our commitment to classical theatre and new play development – and will provide fun and entertaining shows for CRT audiences while still presenting them with challenging, intelligent theatre.”

MAIN STAGE SERIES

GET TICKETS SEAT MAP	Jonah’s Dream		Oct. 6 – 16, 2005
	by William Gibson (world premiere) Nafe Katter Theatre
	William Gibson, one of America’s most influential and celebrated dramatists (Tony Award-winner for The Miracle Worker), has penned this fascinating and wildly theatrical new stage version of the biblical tale of Jonah and the Whale.  This is the world premiere of not only a new play, but a new score composed specifically for this highly musical production that will feature live musicians and original choreography.  Jonah’s Dream uses an eccentric mix of theatrical styles from comedy, drama and Yiddish Theatre to vaudeville, musical theatre and puppetry to create a vivid dreamscape in which the Old Testament’s Book of Jonah provides captivating insights into ancient and modern concepts of atonement, forgiveness and repentance.

GET TICKETS SEAT MAP	Into The Woods		Dec. 1 - 9, 2005
	Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by James Lapine Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre
	Sondheim’s magical and magnificent score helps tell this bewitching and playful story that features an ambivalent Cinderella, a blood-thirsty Little Red Riding Hood and a witch who raps – and these are just a few of the cockeyed characters in this fractured fairy tale.  When a baker and his wife learn the witch next door has put a curse of childlessness on them, they embark on quest for the special objects required to break the spell; swindling, lying to and stealing form the likes of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack (and the beanstalk), and Rapunzel.  After acquiring all the objects, it looks like everyone will live happily ever after -- until reality sets in and suddenly the prince doesn’t seem so charming anymore and what do you do with a dead giant in your backyard?  This musically brilliant and delightfully irreverent tale inquires, “What happens after happily ever after?”

GET TICKETS SEAT MAP	Prudence		Feb. 23 – Mach 5, 2006
	by Barbara & Carlton Molette (world premiere) Nafe Katter Theatre
	In 1833, Prudence Crandall, who was white, established a school for “young ladies of color” in Canterbury, CT.  This outraged many members of that community, who fought to close the school.  Even the Connecticut General Assembly got involved and passed a law aimed at closing the school.  Despite the vicious opposition fueled by widespread racism, Ms. Crandall and her brave students persevered.  This is an inspiring story of the courage, compassion and strength of a handful of women – white and black, young and old – and their capacity to stand up for their principles in pre-Civil War Connecticut.

GET TICKETS SEAT MAP	As You Like It		April 20 – 28, 2006
	by William Shakespeare Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre
	In one of Shakespeare’s most popular and romantic comedies, dukes and maidens, royalty and commoners, all frolic in the idyllic Forest of Arden.  In this comedic tale of love and mistaken identity, the colorful mixture of hilarious rustics and witty courtiers who find themselves in the forest range from the memorable clown Touchstone to the contemplative Jaques who makes one of Shakespeare’s best loved speeches, “All the world’s a stage . . .”  Filled with laughter, love and song, Shakespeare’s genial comedy makes for perfect springtime entertainment.

STUDIO WORKS SERIES

GET TICKETS SEAT MAP	Stop Kiss		Oct. 27 – Nov. 6, 2005
	by Diana Son Studio Theatre
	Love is unexpected in this funny and poignant story, and so are its consequences.  Contemporary New York City is the setting for this tragicomic look at how suddenly and completely the breathlessness, tenderness and innocence of a first kiss can change lives forever when it happens in the wrong place at the wrong time, and provokes a violent attack in a culture possessed of prejudice and intolerance.  Stop Kiss was a huge Off-Broadway hit that the New York Times called “an enchantingly sincere play.”

GET TICKETS SEAT MAP	Balloon		March 23 – April 2, 2006
	A Puppet Arts Production, Adaptation by Megan McNerney Studio Theatre
	CRT Puppet Arts productions are a favorite with CRT audiences because of the extraordinary inventiveness of UConn’s renowned Puppet Arts program.  This new adaptation, by Megan McNerney, a post-graduate student in Puppet Arts, of Padraic Colum’s 1929 play will feature original tabletop-styled rod puppets and moving sets that will also be manipulated by puppeteers to bring the scenery itself to life. The story is centered on Caspar, who makes his living selling views of the moon through his telescope, but dreams of the glamorous world of the fabulous hotel next to him.  When he trades places with the hotel’s architect for an evening, and gets caught up in a publicity stunt balloon launch, he quickly realizes where his real happiness lies.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Current CRT subscribers will receive a subscription renewal form in the mail.  New subscriptions will go on sale soon.  Please call 860-486-4226 for information on subscribing and general ticket information.

Performances are Wednesdays through Sundays.  Wed. & Thu. evening performances start at 7:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. evening performances start at 8 p.m., Sat. and Sun. matinee performances start at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $10 to $26, and subscribers receive a discount of up to 25 percent off regular ticket prices.



CONNECTICUT REPERTORY THEATRE

CRT is the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. CRT productions are directed and designed by, and cast with visiting professional artists, including Equity actors, faculty members, and the department’s most advanced student artists.  The synergy between professional and advanced student artists creates extraordinary theatre and a unique learning environment.