The 2018-2019 season at Indiana Repertory Theatre includes a variety of productions ranging from new work to straight-from-Broadway and Pulitzer Prize-winning hits. The lineup also includes a beloved Indiana Series play, according to Executive Artistic Director Janet Allen.
“Our upcoming season provides audiences a chance to explore the diverse offerings and newest work in our industry, and to relish in the familiarity of world classics and heartfelt stories that tell the Hoosier narrative,” Allen said. “We are enthusiastic to produce a season of work that I know will reach patrons in a very personal and meaningful way.”
Ticket packages can now be purchased for the Signature Six Series, which includes Holmes and Watson, Pipeline, Every Brilliant Thing, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Amber Waves and You Can’t Take It With You, said Managing Director Suzanne Sweeney.
Additional productions rounding out the 2018-2019 season include A Christmas Carol, The Diary of Anne Frank and Elephant and Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!”
Here is a closer look at the upcoming season:
- Jeffrey Hatcher penned Holmes and Watson, a mystery which finds Dr. Watson having been summoned to remote asylum on a rocky island, where three inmates who all claim to be the late master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. On stage Sept. 25 through Oct. 21
- Pipeline, by Dominique Morisseau, tells the tale of Nya, whose son is tormented with rage and in trouble at school. A fractured family navigates a broken system as a mother fights for her son’s future in a world divided by race, class and money. Compassion and eloquence galvanize this gritty new work by one of America’s most sought-after playwrights, Allen said. On stage Oct. 16 through Nov. 11
- The anchor of every IRT season is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. As adapted by Tom Haas, the well-known tale centers around Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim and spirits of the past, present and future. Filled with laughter and tears, A Christmas Carol celebrates the power of kindness and love in this uplifting tale of one man’s journey to redemption, Allen said. On stage Nov. 17 through Dec. 26.
- Loss and laughter will be mixed in Every Brilliant Thing, a one-man show written by Duncan Macmillan and curated by Jonny Donahoe. The play asks the question, what makes life worth living? The answers are both simple and profound in this one-of-a-kind off-Broadway hit. Allen described the play as “a theatrical experience like none other” which shines compassionate light into the dark corners of the human condition. On stage Jan. 8 through Feb. 10.
- Written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, and adapted by Wendy Kesselman, The Diary of Anne Frank is set in a world turned upside down by the Holocaust, in which Anne Frank held on to her faith in humanity. On stage Jan. 25 through Feb. 24
- The season’s Exploring Stages offering for children ages 3-8 (and their families), Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!” is described as a rollicking celebration of friendship and fun in a colorful musical. The play written by Mo Willems with music by Deborah Wicks La Puma even features backup singers – the Squirelles. On stage Feb. 23 through March 24
- Lucas Hnath wrote A Doll’s House, Part 2, which comes to Indy straight from Broadway. The play, a sequel to the Henrik Ibsen’s classic, begins 15 years after Nora left her husband and her children. As she returns to the place where she slammed the door on her past, long-kept secrets are split wide open. While pointing out that the audience need not have seen the original play, Allen said the work is a scaldingly funny and deadly serious exploration of divorce, family and lost love. On stage March 12 through April 7
- Playwright-in-residence James Still brings his Amber Waves back to the IRT stage. Hard times mean hard decisions as an Indiana family faces the prospect of losing their farm. Allen said the small-town tale returns by popular demand, featuring music by Tim Grimm and Jason Wilbur, with generous helpings of courage, love and humor. On stage April 2-28
- You Can’t Take It With You, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, became a Frank Capra movie classic during the Depression, and now comes to the IRT. The farcical comedy features Alice, who loves her eccentric family – but what if her fiancé’s straight-laced parents don’t feel the same way? On stage April 23 through May 19
