SYRACUSE: Syracuse Stage has announced its 2015–16 season, with highlights including Aaron Posner’s Stupid Fucking Bird, Lucas Hnath’s The Christians and Ken Ludwig’s Sherlock Holmes parody.
“The 2015–16 season is filled with whimsy, adventure and imagination,” said producing artistic director Timothy Bond in a statement. “We’re very proud at Syracuse Stage to be entering our 43rd season of producing professional theatre. We have the people of Central New York to thank, and with that in mind we always strive for serving our community with stories that are relatable and exciting, that speak to the great variety and interests of our region. I can’t wait for people to see these shows.”
The season will open with Steve Martin’s The Underpants, an update of Carl Sternheim’s German farce about a young woman who suffers a very public wardrobe malfunction in front of the King. Bill Fennelly will direct.
The holiday season will offer two shows. First up will be Peter Pan, the musical version by Carolyn Leigh, Morris Charlap, Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne, under Paul Barnes’s direction (Nov. 28, 2015–Jan. 3, 2016). As an alternative, there’s the annual production of David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries (Dec. 9, 2015–Jan. 3, 2016).
Next will be Posner’s Stupid Fucking Bird, a self-aware, contemporary “sort of” adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull (Jan. 20–Feb. 7, 2016). Woolly Mammoth artistic director Howard Shalwitz, who helmed the production in its sold-out world premiere run at the Woolly, will direct the Syracuse version.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Christopher Sergel’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, will be next, in a production directed by Bond (Feb. 24–March 26, 2016).
Then, in time for Easter, Bond will direct the Syracuse Stage production of Hnath’s The Christians, about the pastor of a megachurch who delivers a controversial sermon (April 6–24, 2016). Christians is a coproduction with Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater, where it will play May 11–June, 2016.
The season will close with Ludwig’s Baskerville, A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, a spoof of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, with five actors portraying more than 40 characters.
