Thieves, beggars and prostitutes populate this sexy, sinister and political musical set in Victorian London.  Kurt Weill’s brilliant score and Bertolt Brecht’s groundbreaking book combine to make The Threepenny Opera a milestone in 20th century musical theatre and a precursor to such great shows as Cabaret, Chicago and Urinetown.  Based on The Beggar’s Opera from 1728, The Threepenny Opera focuses on the love story between London’s most notorious criminal, Macheath, and Polly Peachum, whose father, an underworld boss, opposes their union.  The magnificent score includes the unforgettable opening number, “Mack The Knife,” one of the most popular songs of the 20th Century, performed by a full orchestra.

The Arabian Nights is a wonderfully theatrical retelling of the mystical folk tales of The Book of the Tale of the Thousand Nights, a collection of classic, ancient Persian stories.  The Kalifah, having been cuckolded by his wife, beds then executes a virgin every night.  However, the seductive and clever Scheherezade tells him beguiling stories each night to prevent her execution, stopping tantalizingly short of the ending to ensure that she lives another day.  Mary Zimmerman (Metamorphosis) has woven a rich variety of these exquisite, poetic stories that range from comic to erotic to elegiac.  The production will also feature an original score of Middle Eastern music performed by live musicians.  Ben Brantley called the play, "A celebration of the salutary powers of storytelling," and "a surprisingly engrossing exegesis of Islamic philosophy."

Lynne Alvarez’s story of a naïve American composer’s foray into an unnamed Latin American country that lead to his daughter’s abduction dramatically illustrates the danger and futility of the cycle of revolution in some Latin American cultures.  Through these compelling characters and situations, Alvarez deftly unveils the hypocrisy and corruption at every layer of this nameless country as they desperately seek to rescue their daughter.

Tony Award-winning playwright David Edgar’s (Nicholas Nickleby) epic play Pentecost  is one part artistic whodunit and one part hostage thriller.  The authenticity of a newly-discovered painting, found in an Eastern European church, presents a tantalizing puzzle that could permanently alter our concepts of art.  Cultures clash in the debate among a curator, art historian, church official and even tourists who are then suddenly taken hostage by a group of asylum-seeking refugees from a variety of world trouble spots.  David Edgar’s extraordinary language is often compared to Bernard Shaw’s in this incendiary collision between art and politics that New York Times critic Alvin Klein said, "sets the brain spinning in the highest gear; there’s no controlling where wonderment will fly or land." Contains adult sexual content and male nudity.

Sponsored by the Foundations of Humanitarianism program, the Human Rights Institute, and the Humanities Institute

The handsome King of Navarre and his three lords take a three-year vow of chastity and abstinence to devote themselves fully to academic pursuits.  This worthy, if unrealistic, pledge is soon challenged when the beautiful Princess of France and three ladies-in-waiting arrive on a diplomatic mission.  The four couples are irresistibly attracted and young love quickly overwhelms everyone’s intentions.  Shakespeare fires all the weapons in his comic arsenal in this bright and boisterous send-up of devotional self-denial – from misdirected love notes and exuberant physical comedy to elegant rhymes and witty banter.  Eccentric Shakespearean clowns such as Holofernes, (a pretentious schoolmaster), Costard (a fool) and Moth (a page), round out the comic landscape that includes the hilarious performance of the "Great Worthies" and the suitors disguised as "Muscovites" in one of Shakespeare’s most romantic comedies.

Original Puppet Arts shows are a favorite with CRT audiences because of the tremendous inventiveness of the puppet designers and the shear creativity of the puppetry performances. In Meet the Samsas, Franz Kafka’s immortal classic, The Metamorphosis, is brought to life on stage featuring original puppets performing this exciting and significant story. It’s a rare chance to experience this literary milestone in a completely new and theatrically unique way.