BOSTON: ArtsEmerson has announced its 2017-18 season, featuring 14 productions from around the globe.
“ArtsEmerson audiences are going to recognize much of what they’ve come to rely on us for in this season,” said co-artistic director David Dower in a statement. “It’s international in scope and filled with the kind of events not offered anywhere else—genre-busting works that blend theatre and film, theatre and dance, theatre and music —in unexpected ways.”
The season will start with Reversible (Sept. 6-24), from Canada’s The 7 Fingers, about eight circus performers who travel through space to honor their elders. The music directors will be Colin Gagné with Sébastien Soldevila, Raphaël Cruz, Ines Talbi, and Dominiq Hamel. The associate director will be Isabelle Chassé, and Gypsy Snider will direct.
Next up will be Philadelphia-based Geoff Sobelle’s Home (Sept. 27-Oct. 1), a magical party in which a house is built onstage. Lee Sunday Evans will direct.
Following will be Guillermo Calderón’s Kiss (Oct. 26-Nov. 19), from Chile, about a theatre troupe that decides to perform what they believe is a Syrian soap opera. Dower will direct.
The season will continue with Tania El Khoury’s Gardens Speak (Nov. 12-19), from Syria, which tells the oral history of 10 ordinary people from Syria in an interactive theatrical experience.
Next, from France, will be Théâtre de la Ville’s production of The State of Siege (Nov. 9-11), by Albert Camus, about the ways artists can resist human atrocities. Christophe Lemaire will be the assistant director, and Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota will direct.
Following will be Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia (Dec. 19-20), by Rithy Panh and composer Him Sophy. The show is a symphonic work addressing the traumas that occurred in Cambodia in the 1970s. The assistant director will be Andrew Cyr, and the director will be Panh.
Next will be Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre’s In the Eruptive Mode (Jan. 24-28, 2018), from Kuwait, which showcases six monologues from women caught in the violence of the Arab Spring. The cast will include Catherine Gowl and Hala Omran, and Al-Bassam will direct.
The season will continue with Torrey Pines (Feb. 14-17, 2018), by Seattle-based Clyde Peterson, a queer-punk coming-of-age story told through stop-motion animation. The projected film will be accompanied by a live rock band onstage. Peterson will direct.
Following will be Manual Cinema of Chicago’s Ada/Ava (Feb. 28-March 4, 2018), about a young woman who joins a traveling carnival to cope with the loss of her twin sister. Drew Dir will direct.
Next up will be the world premiere of Claudia Rankine’s The White Card (Dates TBA), commissioned by ArtsEmerson, which unpacks the questions of how racism manifests itself in everyday situations. P. Carl will serve as dramaturg.
Following will be Bedlam of New York City’s productions of Hamlet and Saint Joan (March 7-25, 2018). The shows, which will run in repertory, are retellings of the classic tales with just four actors. Tucker will direct.
Next will be The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence (May 3-6, 2018), by Step Afrika!, a movement piece inspired by the Migration Series paintings by Jacob Lawrence, which depict brave men and women who fled the American South in search of better opportunities in the early 20th century.
The season will conclude with Michèle Anne de Mey and Jaco Van Dormael’s Cold Blood (May 30-June 3, 2018), from Belgium, which showcases a series of different lives in a hypnotic, dream-like state, complete with voiceovers, dancing hands, and miniature sets.
ArtsEmerson, founded in 2010, is the professional presenting and producing organization at Emerson College.
