“MAKING A WORLD”: HEAD TRICK THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2018-19 SEASON
PROVIDENCE——Head Trick Theatre announces a season of wit, magic, and danger, following its recently acclaimed productions of Gabriel and God of Vengeance. Titled “Making a World,” the 2018-19 season asks audiences to join Head Trick’s performers in creating new worlds through innovative approaches to three classics.
“This season grew out of the idea of escapism and fantasy,” artistic director Rebecca Maxfield says. “We wanted to ask: Is there a world we’re running to, when we say a play is escapist? And does that world look the same if you’re a woman, or gay, or a person of color? It’s really about the purpose of the stories we tell each other and ourselves.”
The season opens in July 2018 with an outdoor production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at the Roger Williams National Memorial, continues in October 2018 with Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine at AS220’s Black Box, and closes in April 2019 with Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon’s musical Goblin Market, adapted from Christina Rossetti’s poem, also at AS220.
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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
by William Shakespeare
“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more
Men were deceivers ever…”
The original screwball comedy! Sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick are tricked into falling for each other in Shakespeare’s classic battle of wits, set against the backdrop of a darker story of romantic betrayal and prejudice. Head Trick’s Much Ado About Nothing takes a feminist approach to this beloved play in a production that both delights and challenges the audience: your ticket is your invitation to the party!
JULY–AUGUST 2018
WATCH ON THE RHINE
by Lillian Hellman
“It’s an indulgence to sit in a room and discuss your beliefs as if they were a juicy piece of gossip.”
From the Farrellys’ living room in Washington, the Nazis and the war in Europe seem very far away – until the war comes to them, when Sara Farrelly brings her anti-fascist husband home after twenty years abroad. Watch on the Rhine confronts an American family with the struggle between fascists and freedom fighters in their own home: Lillian Hellman strips away the civility and intrigue of a comedy to reveal the violence and immediacy of a political thriller, showing us the impossibility of shutting our eyes to the crisis around us.
OCTOBER 2018
GOBLIN MARKET
by Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon
music by Polly Pen
adapted from the poem by Christina Rossetti
“At twilight, halted by the brook,
For the first time in my life I began to listen and look…”
Two adult sisters return to their childhood home, where they once again come face to face with the perils and fantasies of their youth. In Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon’s haunting chamber musical, adapted from Christina Rossetti’s poem, Laura and Lizzie are tempted to risk their lives, their bond, and the Victorian world they know for the mysterious offerings of the goblin market. Rich in symbolism and sensuality, Goblin Market explores the power of love and the purpose of imagination.
MARCH–APRIL 2019
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ABOUT HEAD TRICK THEATRE
Head Trick Theatre is a performing group based in Providence, RI that puts on innovative productions of classic plays with a focus on the importance of liveness. Recent works in residence at AS220 include God of Vengeance, Sholem Asch’s controversial drama about a good Jewish daughter who falls in love with a prostitute employed by her father, and Gabriel, George Sand’s feminist parable performed by a cast of female and non-binary actors. Outdoor summer productions include The Knight of the Burning Pestle (2017) and The Revenger’s Tragedy (2016).
For more information on the upcoming season or on anything else Head Trick Theatre, visit https://www.headtricktheatre.org or email [email protected].