Two River Theater Announces Fall Schedule

Two River Theater Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, announces new information about its fall schedule for the 2012-13 Season. The eight-play season will begin in September with Suzan-Lori Parks directing her own play Topdog/Underdog on the 10th anniversary of its winning the Pulitzer Prize. The fall lineup will also include Ethan Lipton’s Obie Award-winning No Place to Go, directed by Leigh Silverman; Shakespeare’s Henry V, directed by Michael Sexton; and a world-premiere musical, A Wind in the Willows Christmas, which has been developed at the theater and will debut in December, written by composer Mike Reid, lyricist Sarah Schlesinger, and bookwriter Mindi Dickstein, under the direction of Amanda Dehnert.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Written and Directed by Suzan-Lori Parks
September 8-30, 2012
Opening: Friday, September 14, 2012
Rechnitz Theater

Topdog/Underdog is one of the most powerful dramas of our time, acclaimed for its taut theatricality and surprising humor. In 2002, the play was honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and Suzan-Lori Parks made history as the first African-American woman to receive the award. To launch Two River’s season she will, for the first time, direct a production of this darkly comic tale of two brothers, Lincoln and Booth—names given to them as a joke by their father. Obsessed with a street con game, three-card monte, the brothers are haunted by their own pasts—and our country’s history. Two River’s production will star brothers Brandon J. Dirden and Jason Dirden as Lincoln and Booth. Topdog/Underdog contains adult language and content and is recommended for mature audiences.

NO PLACE TO GO
Written by Ethan Lipton
Music Composed and Performed by Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra
Directed by Leigh Silverman
October 6-November 4, 2012
Opening: Friday, October 19, 2012
Marion Huber Theater

The corporation where he’s worked for the past 10 years is moving to another planet, and Ethan Lipton doesn’t want to go. Commissioned and originally produced by Joe’s Pub, No Place to Go is Lipton’s irreverent, deeply compassionate musical ode to America’s work force—and a love letter to friends, family, and country. Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra received a 2012 Obie Award for No Place to Go, which will be performed with cabaret-style seating in Two River’s Marion Huber Theater, directed by Obie-winner Leigh Silverman.

HENRY V
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Michael Sexton
October 20-November 11, 2012
Opening: Friday, October 26, 2012
Rechnitz Theater

Having inherited the throne, Henry must live down his wild adolescent past and unite his people in Shakespeare’s epic tale of leadership and ambition. Youthful and vigorous, Henry commits his troops to war—and must then examine the cost of glory as he moves among friends and enemies, noblemen and ordinary soldiers alike. Brimming with intrigue, battles, comedy, and romance, Henry V will feature a 14-actor ensemble under the direction of Michael Sexton, the Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Society in New York.

WORLD-PREMIERE MUSICAL
A WIND IN THE WILLOWS CHRISTMAS
Based on the Novel by Kenneth Grahame
Music by Mike Reid Lyrics by Sarah Schlesinger Book by Mindi Dickstein
Directed by Amanda Dehnert
December 8-30, 2012
Opening: Saturday, December 15, 2012
Rechnitz Theater