Long Wharf Theatre Announces its 50th Anniversary 2014-2015 Season

LONG WHARF THEATRE ANNOUNCES ITS 2014-15 SEASON, ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

NEW HAVEN – Long Wharf Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, announces its 2014-2015 Season, its 50th anniversary.

 “Long Wharf Theatre’s 50th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate our rich history and to set our course for the future. This season presents a mix of classics and new work that will surprise and delight our loyal audiences, while engaging them in some important issues of our day,” said Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.

The season will begin in October with Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, directed by Edelstein on the Mainstage. Edelstein plans to present the production in a manner that mirrors the diversity of America today. “Our Town is one of the greatest plays written by an American in the 20th century. It is a profound meditation on life and death. The world of Our Town has changed since Wilder first wrote the play. Our production will endeavor to capture what our town is today, reflecting our city, our country, and our lives,” he said.

Following Long Wharf Theatre’s successful run of Steve Martin’s The Underpants in the 2013-14 Season, the famous funnyman’s writing returns with Picasso at the Lapin Agile on the Mainstage in November. “The play is a comic celebration of genius and ingenuity at the dawn of the 20th century. With brilliant comic arias and surprises at every turn, it is Steve Martin’s homage to the genius and amazing thought that will be born in the 20th century,” he said.

Dael Orlandersmith, who enthralled Long Wharf Theatre audiences in productions of Yellowman and The Blue Album, returns to Stage II in January with her newest work, Forever, an intimate look at family and identity, directed by Neel Keller. “Dael Orlandersmith has been an important part of Long Wharf Theatre’s theatrical legacy for two decades. She is one of the most unflinching, honest and powerful voices in the American theatre. She returns to us with her most powerful piece yet,” Edelstein said.

Bad Jews, by Joshua Harmon, will take Stage II in February. Cousins get together in the wake of their grandfather’s death to work out exactly what his legacy means in their own lives. The New York Times described the play as “the best comedy of the season.”

brownsville song (b-side for tray), a new play by Kimber Lee and directed by Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting in March, personifies the plague of urban violence through the experiences of a teenager and his family. Lee was interested in exploring the way time moves during periods of grief, she said. The play will be co-produced with Philadelphia Theater Company. “This is a beautiful play. I wish we could say that the subject is no longer current, that it is outdated, but sadly that is not the case. A vibrant, great kid who is getting his life together gets killed. This play is about the repercussions of that. We hope this play will create conversations in our community,” Edelstein said.

Long Wharf Theatre will dramatize a fascinating event in our nation’s history in the world premiere of The Second Mrs. Wilson by Joe DiPietro, directed by Edelstein, closing the season. “This is an astonishing story of a woman’s victory in a world run by men. For many months, First Lady Edith Wilson ran the country. Woodrow Wilson was incapacitated by stroke, the legacy of World War I was looming in Europe, and the League of Nations was in jeopardy. Through her wit, intelligence, and political savvy, she surprised everyone around her,” Edelstein said.

Subscriptions are already on sale. Single tickets will go on sale Monday, August 4. For more information about the 50th anniversary season, visit www.longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.