Theater At Monmouth Present Season 52- (R)EVOLUTIONARY REDUX

This summer, give yourself a break and journey to the lakes region of Central Maine to celebrate the re-emergence of live theater in Maine. Join Theater at Monmouth for its (R)evolutionary Redux Season. With more vaccine distribution centers opening and testing becoming more and more efficient, the ability for venues to safely open is on the horizon, and that means TAM's intermission will soon come to an end.

The 2021 Summer Repertory Season includes Shakespeare's Measure for Measure directed by James Noel Hoban; Mat Smart's The Agitators directed by Debra Ann Byrd; the World Premier of Callie Kimball's Sofonisba directed by Dawn McAndrews; Age of Bees by Tira Palmquist directed by Eddie DeHais. Lynn Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy directed by Chris Anthony, and the musical Daddy Long Legs, Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon, Book by John Caird, based on the novel by Jean Webster and directed by Adam P. Blais. The Family Show is Aesop's Guide to Friendship by Dawn McAndrews and directed by Ian Kramer.

SUMMER REPERTORY SEASON

Performances take place in multiple venues this year. Historic Cumston Hall, a 250-seat Victorian opera house designed by Harry Cochrane, will be the main performance space. For audience members looking to be outside for performances there will be a tent at Cumston Hall, and a short drive from Cumston Hall Wednesdays at WillowsAwake in Leeds. Since its founding TAM has rehearsed and performed in rotating repertory, inviting audiences to see the actors in different roles in different shows in one weekend.

Daddy Long Legs | June 25 - August 20

Music and Lyrics by Paul Gordon, Book by John Caird. Based on the novel by Jean Webster | directed by Adam Blais

This heartwarming story about a witty and tenacious young woman and her mysterious benefactor is filled with soaring melodies and deep longing. Based on the classic novel, which inspired the 1955 movie starring Fred Astaire, Daddy Long Legs is a "rags-to-riches" tale of newfound love in the spirit of Jane Austen, The Brontë Sisters, and Downton Abbey.

Adam P. Blais returns to TAM having previously directed Murder for Two, The Pirates of Penzance, and My Father's Dragon. Additional credits include work with The Public Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, The University of Maine, Waterville Opera House, and many others. Adam holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Maine, and a M.A. in Leadership Studies from the University of Southern Maine, and serves as the Education & Development Director for The Public Theatre in Lewiston.

The Agitators | July 3 - August 20

by Mat Smart | directed by Debra Ann Byrd

Brimming with urgency and relevance, The Agitators examines the friendship and rivalry between Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. It's 1849 and two young activists steel themselves for the battles to come. Over the next 45 years, they journey from allies to adversaries and back. Theirs is a story of defiance, of rebellion, of revolution. They agitated the nation. They agitated each other. They changed the course of history.

Debra Ann Byrd is the founder of Harlem Shakespeare Festival and Take Wing and Soar Productions where she currently serves as Chief Executive and Producing Artistic Director. As an actor, producer, arts manager, and business leader she has received more than 20 awards and citations. Debra Ann received a BFA Degree in Acting from Marymount Manhattan College and graduated from the NYSF Shakespeare Lab at The Public Theater, the Arts Leadership Institute, at Teacher's College/ Columbia University, and completed producer training with The Broadway League at the Commercial Theatre Institute.

Crumbs from the Table of Joy | July 8 - August 21

by Lynn Nottage | directed by Chris Anthony

Brooklyn, 1950. After the death of their mother, Ernestine and Ermina Crump move to New York with their father, Godfrey, who seeks guidance from charismatic preacher, Father Divine. In the swirling, glamorous commotion of this new city, with calls for equal rights and communist rebellion hanging in the air, the girls begin a journey toward independence and a challenging future. This sharp and boisterous play from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage about family, faith, and revolution has been described as a mash-up of Lorraine Hansberry and Tennessee Williams, a memory play about a black family, a glass menagerie in the sun.

Chris is a director, teacher, actor, and producer working at the intersection of art and community empowerment. Chris holds an MFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts; she has worked in educational, professional, and community spaces. She has worked to find common ground between art and community, using human relations dialogue to enrich artistic practice and artmaking in service of community development. Professional directing credits include the original Off the Rails for Native Voices at the Autry, Lunch Lady Courage at Cornerstone Theater, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet, and Othello at the St. Louis Black Rep, and Romeo & Juliet at the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles. She is currently Assistant Professor of Performance at DePaul University.

Measure for Measure | July 15 - August 22

by William Shakespeare | directed by James Noel Hoban

With a unique brew of laughter and darkness, Shakespeare's tale of impassable moral dilemmas, religious hypocrisy, and he said/she said examines the complex relationships between those in power and those they govern. The quality of mercy is strained to the point of breaking in this dark comedy about the corruption of justice and authority...and the true nature of love and mercy.

James has been a company member at TAM as a director and actor for 11 Seasons. Favorite roles include: Twelfth Night, The Illusion, A Woman of No Importance, Tartuffe, What the Butler Saw, The Learned Ladies, and Love's Labour's Lost. He was most recently seen in Good Theater's A Doll's House, Part 2. He is the founder of Portland Shakespeare Company and directed the critically acclaimed production of Richard II at St. Luke's Cathedral. Other regional credits: Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Portland Stage Company, The Public Theater, Fenix Theater, Lorem Ipsum, 60 Grit, Penobscot Theater, Mad Horse Theatre, and Dramatic Repertory Company.

The Age of Bees | July 22 - August 19 | MAINE PREMIERE

Tira Palmquist | directed by Eddie DeHais

Palmquist's coming-of-age drama, imagines a world where environmental disaster, and a rapidly spreading plague, has reduced civilization and decimated hope. Mel finds safe haven on an isolated farm, tending to the last blooming apple orchards as primary pollinator. Enter Jonathan, an independent field researcher collecting samples of plants to start anew. Mel sees possibility and purpose in Jonathan, and in Mel, Jonathan discovers a secret that could save the world.

Eddie is a director, choreographer, writer, and devised-theater-maker, who creates spaces of rigorous collaboration, radical empathy, and reckless joy to investigate the best and worst of human nature in both new work and traditional scripts. They are a 2021 Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Directing Candidate. Eddie has been crafting epic and sensorial new plays since 2009 and has worked with artists such as Robert O'Hara, Anne Bogart, Annie-B Parson, JoAnne Akalaitis, Will Davis, and Taibi Magar. eddiedehais.com.

Sofonisba | July 29 - August 21 | WORLD PREMIERE

by Callie Kimball | directed by Dawn McAndrews

Michelangelo's 27-year-old apprentice, Sofonisba Anguissola, boards a ship from Italy to become the first female court painter for King Philip II. Her 20 years at the Spanish Court are one long chess match, played for and against the expectations of king, bishop, fool, knight, and 14-year-old queen. The negotiations and sacrifices she makes in service to her art and her heart reveal the dangerous waters of court politics for an unmarried, headstrong woman. A play about the hunger for creation of birth and art and the very real cost of both.

Callie Kimball plays have been produced and developed in theaters across the country including the Kennedy Center, Portland Stage, Lark Play Development Center, Halcyon Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Echo Theatre, The Brick Theater, Project Y Theatre, Washington Shakespeare Company, Everyman Repertory Theatre, Absolute Theatre, Mad Horse Theatre, The Drama League, and many colleges and festivals across the country. She won a Ludwig Vogelstein grant to research Sofonisba, which won the Clauder Gold Prize, was a finalist for the O'Neill, a semifinalist for the Princess Grace Award, and was on The Kilroys' 2016 List.

Dawn McAndrews has worked at theatres across the country including Shakespeare Theatre Company, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Portland Stage Company, and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. Directing credits: The Pajama Game (UMO); Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Colby); The Language Archive (Public Theatre); Richard III, The Winter's Tale, Peter & the Starcatcher, The Mousetrap, Of Thee I Sing (TAM); The Glass Menagerie, Holiday, and Three Days of Rain (1st Stage); Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice (The Orange Girls), Timberlake Wertenbaker's Antigone (St. Louis University), as well as adapting and directing A Christmas Carol at Portland Stage.

FAMILY SHOW

Aesop's Guide to Friendship | June 19 - August 13

by Dawn McAndrews | directed by Ian Kramer

Aesop's delightful fables full of wit and wisdom let the animals do the talking; dispensing lessons on perseverance, kindness, and friendship along the way. Aesop's Guide to Friendship explores age-old stereotypes and mannerisms in his fables such as "tortoise are slow," "hares are quick," "foxes are clever" to help young and old alike appreciate our similarities and differences.

Ian Kramer, a 2020 graduate from the Brown/Trinity MFA Acting Program, is grateful to be back working in a theatre again! TAM audiences may recognize him from Every Christmas Story Ever Told, James and the Giant Peach, the tours of Twelfth Night and Henry V, and directing the spring tour of The Velveteen Rabbit. Along with visiting all 50 states, he has worked around the country, including: Trinity Rep, Hangar Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare, Texas Shakespeare, Kentucky Shakespeare, Kingsmen Shakespeare, and Tour 64 of the National Players. Ian received his BFA in Acting from the University of Central Florida.

FALL SHOW

Kate: The Unexamined Life | September 23- October 3
by Rick Foster | directed by Dawn McAndrews

From stunning ingénue who once graced the New York stage, to "box office poison," to silver screen royalty, no actress commanded the stage, screen, and the public's attention quite like Katharine Hepburn. Join Kate on New Year's Eve 1999 as she prepares for her next project, shares intimate details of her life and loves, and ponders-at age 92-what the future holds. A gracefully funny, witty, and poignant look at one of our nation's greatest stars.

To reserve tickets, subscriptions, or arrange group sales, please visit www.theateratmonmouth.org or call the box office at 207.933.9999.

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