2022-2023 Season, Austin Shakespeare
AUSTIN SHAKESPEARE ANNOUNCES 2022-2023 SEASON
New events & popular playwrights highlight season
2022-2023
Ellington/Strayhorn Cabaret: Oct. 2, 2022 at Parker Jazz Club
Sense & Sensibility: Nov. 11-27, 2022 at The Rollins Studio Theatre at the Long Center
Master Harold and the Boys: Jan. 13-15, 2023 at KMFA’s Draylen Mason Music Studio
The Real Thing: Feb. 17- March 5, 2023 at The Rollins Studio Theatre at the Long Center
Shakespeare’s Birthday Party: Celebrate Sonnets, April 23, 2023 at Pease Park Tutor Cottage & Terrace
Young Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors: June 16-25, 2023 at The Curtain Theatre
A Night of Ellington/Strayhorn will feature jazz diva Pam Hart and pianist Ryan Howard relishing the fabulous lyrics of the gifted young legendary Billy Strayhorn with songs like “Daydream,” “Lush Life,” and “Something to Live For.”
“Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was our most popular show at the Long Center, so we are thrilled to do Sense and Sensibility, her first story about two young sisters – marriageable – but with unique personalities: the sensible Elinor Dashwood and the impulsive Marianne Dashwood,” said Austin Shakespeare Artistic Director Ann Ciccolella. “And, there are, of course, young gentlemen: the wild romantic John Willoughby, the more mature Colonel Brandon and the reserved Mr. Edward Ferras.” The company will also invite high school students to a daytime “informance.”
Award-winning actor Marc Pouhé will star in South African playwright Athol Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys at KMFA’s new Draylen Mason Music Studio in a weekend of staged readings January 13-15, 2023. Set in 1950 apartheid-era South Africa, the play explores the challenges between a young white teenager and two older Black servers in his mother's cafe who, in fact, have been raising him. Director Ciccolella said “Fugard is one of our greatest living playwrights and this script is funny and touching as well as powerfully dramatic.”
Next up from February 17-March 5, 2023, the professional theater company will stage British playwright Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, set in the early 1980s. The witty plot explores marriage fidelity and infidelity and includes an array of mid-20th Century pop music. “Our audiences have loved the productions we did of Stoppard’s Arcadia, The Invention of Love and Indian Ink,” Ciccolella said. “The Real Thing offers that same clever writing and exploration of relationships.”
Sunday, April 23, brings a new project. Shakespeare’s Birthday: Celebrate Sonnets will be a collaboration with The Pease Park Conservancy featuring poetry, music and dance as well as cake and beverages. The free event will feature the park’s newly restored 1920 Tutor cottage and terrace.
In early summer, Young Shakespeare, Austin Shakespeare’s teen company, returns for its 15th year with Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors in a circus style at The Curtain, a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The company will audition young actors ages 13-19 who will have the privilege of performing in that unique setting.