Morals, Parables, a New Look at History, and More
Double Bill in Madison: Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River are opening the 10th anniversary season of Madison Lyric Stage. The Weill piece, which was written in 1920s Germany, tells the story of Anna, who goes across the United States for seven years seeking to earn money for her family and is torn between making money and her morals. The Britten piece is known as a “parable for church performance.” Performances, Thursday, May 12 to Sunday, May 15, are in a new deluxe tent on the grounds of the Deacon John Grave House. For tickets, visit MadisonLyricStage.org.
A New Look at History: Yale Rep is concluding its abbreviated season with Between Two Knees presented in collaboration with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The play was written by the intertribal sketch comedy troupe The 1491s. It runs Thursday, May 12 to Saturday, June 4. According to press materials, it “is an outrageously funny and wickedly subversive intergenerational tale of familial love, loss, and connection” though it deals with the Native American experience in the U.S. following the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. For tickets, visit YaleRep.org.
Comic Clash Over Gardens: Ivoryton is presenting a comedy about two neighbors whose philosophy of gardening and what constitutes a good garden are at odds, with the result being good intentions and bad manners. Native Gardens runs from Thursday, May 19 to Sunday, June 12. For tickets, visit IvorytonPlayhouse.org
Curtain Going Up: Goodspeed is just about ready to raise the curtain on the 2022 season. Cabaret is in the last stages of rehearsals and begins performances Friday, May 13. It will run through Sunday, July 3. In addition to the show, Goodspeed offers many special events including discounts for young people, teachers, and others as well as packages that include dinner. For tickets and information, visit Goodspeed.org.
Four Productions: The Yale Rep will present four plays for its 2022-’23 season starting with Edward Albee’s classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? from Oct. 22 to 29. From Nov. 25 to Dec. 17 is the world premiere of The Brightest Thing in the World. In the spring of 2023, the Rep will present Mojado from March 10 to April 1; the season concludes with the ripple, the wave that carried me home from April 28 to May 20. For information on the shows and subscriptions, visit YaleRep.org.
Next Year at Hartford Stage: The 2022-’23 season at Hartford stage will be five productions plus a reprise of last year’s holiday show, It’s a Wonderful Life. The season opens with the classic Agatha Christie mystery The Mousetrap (Oct. 13 to Nov. 6). After the holiday show break from Nov. 25 to Dec. 24, the season resumes with Espejos: Clean (Jan. 12 to Feb. 5) a bilingual production including supertitles; then a new comedy, The Art of Burning from March 2 to 26. The season concludes with Shakespeare’s The Winter Tale from April 13 to May 7 and Trouble in Mind from May 25 to June 18. Subscriptions are now on sale. For subscriptions or information, visit HartfordStage.org.
Broadway in Hartford: The Bushnell’s Broadway series for 2022-’23 features six musicals and one hit play. The musicals include Disney’s Aladdin (Nov. 8 to 13), Six (Jan. 17 to 22), Tootsie (Feb. 21 to 26), Tina—Tina Turner Musical (April 11 to 16), Jagged Little Pill (May 9 to 14), and Ain’t Too Proud (May 30 to June 4). The play Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird will close the season (June 27 to July 2). For information on subscriptions visit Bushnell.org.
Karen Isaacs is an East Haven resident. To check out her reviews for New York and Connecticut shows, visit 2ontheaisle.wordpress.com. She’s a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle, New York’s Outer Critics Circle, the League of Professional Theater Women and the American Theatre Critics Association.