2008-09 Season
The 2008-2009 Brandeis Theater Company season is full of music, mirth, and mythology as the talents of Stephen Sondheim, Edith Wharton, Hermann Hesse and Euripides come together for an exciting offering of musical comedy, dance and drama. All four of this season’s productions explore an individual’s need to seek more -- a better life, greater social position, peace and contentment and justice in the face of defeat -- and the lengths they are willing to go to achieve them even if great sacrifice is the price. This season welcomes new actors as they join our ensemble of guest artists, faculty, staff, graduate designers and undergraduate actors and designers. See the future of American theater as the stars of tomorrow take the stage!
Saturday Night
Book by Julius J. Epstein
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Based on the play “Front Porch in Flatbush”
By Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein
Directed by Eric Hill
October 16-26-2008
Laurie Theater
Lighting Design by Michael Jarett, MFA ‘07
Musical director Matthew Stern, ‘08
Choreography by Hannah King, ‘07
Twenty-three year old Stephen Sondheim penned his first musical based on the play ‘Front Porch in Flatbush’ by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein (Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein’s grandfather and great-uncle!) in 1954. But this lost musical was never publicly performed until 1997 and received its New York premiere in 2000. In this light-hearted musical comedy, occurring over three successive Saturday nights in 1929 in Brooklyn, an ambitious group of young men find themselves restless and worse, date-less. Gene, a Wall Street runner in the market frenzy before the crash, has dreams that reach far beyond Brooklyn and drive him into deceiving Helen, who has secrets of her own, into thinking he is someone he will never be and luring his friends into the financial foolishness of the time, coming close to paying the consequences of his deceit. Youthful innocence and a simpler time make Sondheim’s first musical a delight for all and a must-see for the Sondheim aficionado.
Made possible through generous support from the Robin, Barbara and Malcolm L. Sherman Endowment for the Performing Arts.
Tea and Flowers, Purity and Grace
A dance play based on Edith Wharton’s ‘House of Mirth’
Created and choreographed by Susan Dibble
November 20-23, 2008
Mainstage Theater
Edith Wharton’s novel ‘House of Mirth’ serves as the inspiration of this lovely adaptation by acclaimed dancer and choreographer Susan Dibble. Young socialite Lily Bart brings her beauty, ambition and cunning to bear on her attempt to climb New York’s social ladder by arranging an advantageous marriage for herself, as is expected by custom and society, yet all of her efforts are thwarted by her own desire for a life of luxury and greed. “Society is a revolving body,” Edith Wharton wrote, and the characters of her pages come to life in this Tableaux Vivant-inspired work of twenty-four dances guided by a narrator combines dance, movement and music ranging from Chopin and Satie to Ragtime and Laurie Anderson.
Siddhartha: A Jungian Fantasy in Three Movements with Prelude
By Hermann Hesse
Adapted by Eric Hill from the novel Siddhartha and other writings by Hermann Hesse
February 5-15, 2009
Laurie Theater
The story of Siddhartha is well-known and well-loved, but its origins from the mind of Hermann Hesse owe much to his analyst Carl Jung and his collective unconscious theory of mankind. In this whimsical and poetic adaptation by Eric Hill, Hesse himself tells the story of the young Siddhartha’s journey into manhood and enlightenment as he explores the world and discovers himself. With the help of Jung, Freud and three Hindu Goddesses, Hesse finds parallels between himself and the man who would become a Budha. ‘Siddhartha’ is part of a year-long focus on the history, culture and influence of India in a program sponsored by the Brandeis Office of Global Affairs.
Hecuba
By Euripides
Translated by Eirene Visvardi, Brandeis Kay Fellow and Leonard Muellner with his students
Adapted by Eric Hill and Eirene Visvardi
April 2-5, 2009
Mainstage Theater
Directed by Eric Hill
Featuring Janet Morrison as Hecuba
Euripides’ compelling story of one woman’s devotion and revenge gets a new translation in this production. At the end of the Trojan War, the Greeks are unable to return home until the ghost of Achilles receives the sacrifice he demands: the death of Polyxena, daughter of the now enslaved former queen of Troy, Hecuba. Hecuba grieves the loss of her daughter and vows revenge for the death of her son Polydorus at the hands of the King of Thrace, Polymestor. Hecuba and her women plot their retaliation for her loss since justice is no longer an option in their conquered, weakened state.
Made possible through generous support from the Jaffe Foundation, the Herbert and Kim Marie Beigel New Play Fund, the Ann ’56 and Clive Cummis Family Foundation.
Download the Brandeis Theater Company 2008-09 Season Brochure.
Please click here for information regarding Season Subscriptions, which are available now. Single tickets go on sale September 2 via Internet Ticketing at http://go.brandeis.edu/BrandeisTickets and by telephone at 781-736-3400, option #5.Performance Schedule/Prices:*
Thursday Preview at 8pm - $16
Friday Opening at 8pm - $20
Saturday at 8pm - $20
2nd Thursday at 8pm - $18*
2nd Friday at 8pm - $20*
Saturday Matinee at 2pm - $18*
2nd Saturday at 8pm - $20*
Sunday Matinee at 2pm - $20*
* Tea & Flowers, Purity & Grace and Hecuba will each perform for one week only. They will follow the schedule and pricing structure of second week performances, including Saturday and Sunday matinees.