Lantern Theater Company Announces 2020/21 Season

Lantern Theater Company has announced its upcoming 2020/21 season, which will include an ambitious and eclectic mix of classic and contemporary work for the stage. The five plays that comprise the company's mainstage season include Tom Stoppard's Tony Award-winning comic masterpiece Travesties; the Philadelphia premiere of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage's satirical Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Philadelphia legend Frank X in Novecento by Italian writer Alessandro Baricco; Robert Bolt's award-winning classic A Man for All Seasons; and William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. The Lantern will also present a remount of its original adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a new holiday tradition co-created by Philadelphia theater artists Anthony Lawton, Christopher Colucci, and Thom Weaver.

"When we try with all our might to live in a world other than the one we find ourselves in, there are two possible consequences: the tragic and the absurd," said Lantern Artistic Director Charles McMahon. "For our upcoming 2020/21 mainstage season, we will bring you five great stories of this human folly from five brilliant storytellers, past and present. The familiar voices of Tom Stoppard and William Shakespeare will delight us with their comic masterpieces. We will also produce for the first time the work of Robert Bolt and Lynn Nottage, and we will return to the work of Alessandro Baricco with Frank X's stirring and beautiful performance in Novecento. We are very proud to bring the works of these great artists to the stage in a season that will be both timeless and timely."

Season subscriptions and flex packages start at $105 and are available online at www.lanterntheater.org or by calling the Lantern Box Office at (215) 829-0395. Single tickets for all plays will go on sale in August 2020.

Lantern Theater Company's 2020/21 Mainstage Season

TRAVESTIES

By Tom Stoppard

Directed by Charles McMahon

September 3 - October 11, 2020

Press Opening: Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 7 p.m.

Zurich, 1917. In Tom Stoppard's Tony Award-winning comic masterpiece, obscure British diplomat Henry Carr and Dadist Tristan Tzara are in love with Cecily and Gwendolyn, who are both in love with someone named Jack. Carr stages a production of The Importance of Being Earnest with James Joyce, and the action gets heated when Vladimir Lenin bursts onto the scene.Soon everyone in neutral Switzerland is at war over the question, "What does it mean to be an artist and a revolutionary?"

FABULATION, OR THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE

Philadelphia Premiere

By Lynn Nottage

Directed by TBA

November 5 - December 6, 2020

Press Opening: Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at 7 p.m.

Undine has it all - success, love, and a fabulous wardrobe. When her life begins to unravel in one hilarious reversal after another, she is forced to return to a life she had long left behind. In this satirical comedy by Lynn Nottage, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner asks Undine - and all of us - whether you can really ever go home again.

NOVECENTO

By Alessandro Barrico

Translated by Michael Golding

Directed by M. Craig Getting

January 14 - February 14, 2021

Press Opening: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 7 p.m.

Philadelphia legend Frank X brings to life jazz trumpeter Tim Tooney, who tells the strange story of his friend and bandmate Novecento. Born on a luxury ocean liner on the first day of the 20th century, Novecento became the greatest jazz pianist in the world without ever setting foot on dry land. Jazz, identity, and rootlessness drive this classic storytelling experience.

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

By Robert Bolt

Directed by Peter DeLaurier

March 11 - April 18, 2021

Press Opening: Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 7 p.m.

When Henry VIII puts asideQueen Catherine, he fears opposition from his own Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, even more than from the Pope. A man of principle and politics, More tries to thread a vanishingly small needle to uphold his principles and to keep his head. Bolt's searing drama forces us to confront what we too might bear - or not - to keep clear our conscience.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Charles McMahon

May 20 - June 27, 2021

Press Opening: Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at 7 p.m.

Mistaken identities and romantic confusion are the order of the day when Antipholus and Dromio land in Ephesus, little suspecting that both of their twin brothers - from whom they were separated at birth - already live there. Suddenly everyone is in trouble with their families, the police, and some local goons. Never has Shakespeare woven a tangled web more humorously.

2020/21 Special Holiday Production

Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Special Holiday Production

An Original Adaptation by Anthony Lawton

In Collaboration with Christopher Colucci and Thom Weaver

December 4 - 27, 2020

Press Opening: Sunday, December 6, 2020 at 2 p.m.

In this wonderfully clear and direct telling of Charles Dickens' novella, acclaimed playwright and actor Anthony Lawton brings the story boldly to life as only live theater can. Come rediscover Dickens' timeless story of a miser's miraculous redemption from a life of bitterness, greed, and isolation. Back by popular demand, this heartwarming adaptation captured the hearts of theater critics and audiences alike, inspiring a new Philadelphia holiday tradition. NOTE: All performances of this special holiday production will take place in The Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street in Center City Philadelphia.

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