The Return to Town Hall Theatre Includes Audience Favorites and New Faces
After two seasons away, Chester Theatre Company (CTC), under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Daniel Elihu Kramer, is thrilled to return to the Town Hall Theatre, its beloved home in Chester, MA.
“As wonderful as it was to bring three beautiful productions to the tent at Hancock Shaker Village last summer, we are embracing our return to the Town Hall Theatre as a homecoming,” said Kramer. “This feels especially true because the inaugural production of the season, Pride@Prejudice, is a fresh staging of my play first produced here in 2011. And it marks the first time I am directing it myself.”
“Chester Theatre Company has long told diverse stories as a means of exploring our shared humanity,” continued Kramer. “This season we have done the work to make sure that the diversity seen on our stage is also reflected backstage, in our design teams, and in our cohort of interns. We are also working to share our productions with a broader community of theatergoers. We have an incredible group of artists joining us this season, including many actors, directors, and designers who have worked with us in the past. And there are many new folks we can’t wait to introduce to our audiences.”
The Season:
Pride@Prejudice
Written and Directed by Daniel Elihu Kramer
June 23 – July 3
The Jane Austen classic is reimagined with bloggers, chat rooms, Austen enthusiasts, and even Jane, herself! A hilarious and moving homage to the beloved novel, with thirty characters portrayed by five versatile, diverse actors.
Producing Artistic Director Kramer directs his work for the first time. Actors Candace Barrett Birk (Tiny Beautiful Things), Luke Hofmaier (Now Circa Then), and Marielle Young (Mary’s Wedding, The Night Alive) all return to Chester Theatre Company, while Claire Fort and Brian Patterson make their debuts on the Town Hall Stage.
The design team for Pride@Prejudice consists of Lara Dubin, CTC’s Resident Lighting Designer, Juliana von Haubrich, who designed the scenery for all three shows last summer now returns to create the world of Jane Austen, Christina Beam designing costumes, and Alexander Sovronsky composing and designing sound. Leslie Sears, stage manager for the entire 2021 season, returns to manage the 2022 inaugural production.
Birds of North America
Written by Anna Ouyang Moench
July 7 – 17
Binoculars. Birds. A Baltimore backyard. Over the course of a decade, a father and daughter navigate the changes in the climate and in their relationship as the world around them shifts in ways both towering and minute.
Director Alex Keegan (Roundabout, Rattlestick, Lincoln Center, Williamstown) makes her CTC directing debut. Christopher Patrick Mullen (People’s Light, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Vineyard Playhouse), last seen in 2004’s The Pavilion, will be co-starring with Micheline Wu (Lyric Stage Company, Speakeasy Stage Company), making her first appearance in Chester.
Lara Dubin will design the lights. Resident Sound Designer Tom Shread returns to create the aural world of the play. The scenery will be designed by Ed Check, costumes will be designed by Anna Sorrentino, and Meaghan Lydon will return to stage management.
Pass Over
Written by Antoinette Nwandu
July 28 – August 7
Moses and Kitch want off their Chicago Street corner. The Promised Land awaits—if only they can pass over. This remarkable play that reopened Broadway in 2021 addresses the history of oppression facing Black men in America.
Christina Franklin (CTC’s The Niceties, Associate on Broadway’s For Colored Girls…) returns to direct. Austin Sasser (Western Reserve Playhouse, Karamu House) and Kayodè Soyemi (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Yale Cabaret, Dallas Theater Center) make their CTC debuts alongside James Barry (Tiny Beautiful Things, Title and Deed, The Aliens, and more). Nadir Bey (scenery) and Madeleine Hebert (lighting) make their CTC design debuts. James McNamara returns to design sound. Chevonne Baylor will stage manage the production, her first with CTC.
To the Moon and Back
Written by Darcy Parker Bruce
August 8 – 18
A daughter and father with a history as murky as the dark side of the moon. Ace alternately maps craters searching for…something and tries to outrun the shadows of the past she shares with her dad, Major, who spends his days watching gameshows from his lawn chair on the moon in this specially commissioned production, making its premiere.
Keira Naughton (Curve of Departure, Title and Deed) returns to direct. Raye Birk (Curve of Departure), Tara Franklin (Tiny Beautiful Things, On the Exhale, and more), and Pauli Pontrelli (I and You, The Aliens, Curve of Departure) star.
Lara Dubin is slated to design lights, Travis George (Mary’s Wedding, On the Exhale, others) returns to design scenery, Charles Schoonmaker designs costumes, and Nathan Leigh designs sound. Stage Manager Kevin Jinghong Zhu makes his Chester debut.
All performances of the four productions named above will take place in the intimate setting of Chester’s Historic Town Hall, 15 Middlefield Road, Chester, MA. Individual ticket prices are $52.50. Chester and Middlefield residents, members of the military and their families, ConnectorCare enrollees, and those holding EBT/SNAP cards may purchase discounted tickets by calling the box office. Student Rush $10 tickets are available day of show. Single tickets and season subscriptions may be purchased online at chestertheatre.org, or by phone at 413.354.7771. Special rates for groups of ten or more are available.
CTC will be requiring proof of full vaccination and masking for entry. See the website for details.
About Chester Theatre Company
Founded by a former Artistic Director of Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, Vincent Dowling, Chester Theatre Company is an award-winning professional theatre company known for presenting high-quality, contemporary productions with top-notch actors, directors, and designers from across the country since 1990.
For further information, please call CTC at 413.354.7770, or visit www.chestertheatre.org.
