BRATTLEBORO — Vermont Theatre Company begins its 35th season this weekend.
The 2018-19 season features five plays performed at their three regular venues - the Hooker-Dunham Theater on Main Street in Brattleboro, the Evening Star Grange on East-West Road in Dummerston Center, and The Rotary Stage at Living Memorial Park on Guilford Street in West Brattleboro, as well as the BUHS Auditorium on Fairground Road.
The season kicks off with the French comedy, Art, by Yasmina Rezi, translated by Christopher Hampton.
Art begins when Stephanie buys a piece of modern art and reveals it to her two close friends, Marcy and Yvan. Stephanie is insulted when Marcy thinks it's a joke and both of them turn to Yvan as a potential ally in their quickly developing dispute.
The purchase strains the very fabric of their relationship as their arguments become less about the theory and philosophy of “what is art?” and more about their personal shortcomings.
Art is directed by William Wieliczka and will run at the Hooker-Dunham Theater on Oct. 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Charles Dickens' holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, returns for a fifth year with a new adaptation by James and Jessica Gelter. Written in 1843, A Christmas Carol was Dickens' response to what he saw as the “social irresponsibility” of the day.
His story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who is transformed into a paragon of kindliness over the course of a single Christmas night, was intended to inspire the fortunate to view Christmas as a time to help those in need.
And inspire it has. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print and has inspired countless adaptations. In this year's production, director James Gelter will focus on the surreal and dream-like qualities of Dickens' original story. In the spirit of giving that the novella inspires, VTC's production of A Christmas Carol will, as always, include a food drive for local food banks.
A Christmas Carol shows at the BUHS auditorium just one weekend, Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 13, 14, 15, and 16 with two shows on Saturday.
“A writer in a totalitarian state is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories.” Thus, the protagonist of The Pillowman describes his own situation.
A darkly comedic play by Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), The Pillowman questions the roles of art and violence in society, reflecting on all the ways innocence is lost.
Justin Fetterman directs a minimalist production of this Tony and Olivier Award-winning play, with an original score.
The Pillowman will run at The Hooker-Dunham Theater for two weekends: Feb. 1, 2, and 3, and Feb. 8, 9, and 10. This production contains adult language and situations and is recommended for a mature audience.
James Gelter returns to direct a second show this season with Gaslight.
“Gaslighting” has become a relevant term in our national dialogue. To 'gaslight' is to slowly convince someone that their perception of reality is false, through blatant lies, confusion, and alienation. The term is derived from the play Gaslight, a melodramatic thriller written by Patrick Hamilton in 1938 and adapted for film in 1944.
It tells the story of Bella Manningham, whose husband, Jack, has slowly convinced her that the strange occurrences she keeps noticing in their home are not real, but symptoms of her madness.
When Rough, a police inspector, appears and tells her that these occurrences are indeed real and evidence of her husband's crimes, the two must race to catch Jack in the act before he realizes they are on to him. Gaslight will run at The Evening Star Grange in Dummerston for two weekends: May 3, 4, and 5, and May 10, 11, and 12.
VTC ends the 2018-2019 season with its 30th annual Shakespeare in the Park production. Commenting on the United States' recent past and present-day leaders, this season's production of Shakespeare's Macbeth will explore crises of leadership and their cataclysmic impact on society at large. Central to such catastrophic circumstances are the clefts between charisma and competence, between public perception and leaders' actual capability.
Macbeth will be performed on The Rotary Stage at Living Memorial Park for just one long weekend, June 27, 28, 29, and 30.