From the Directors
Dear friends,
This newsletter brings us the inside scoop on the first two productions of our 40th Anniversary Season, as well as information on a host of other Arizona Theatre Company activities. We hope that you find it valuable as you plan your visits to share in our work. Our love for the theatre springs from the connections it builds between the ideas of great playwrights and our inner lives, between the work of joyous artists and our diverse community, between our loyal audience and what we hope are entertaining, provocative, enlivening performances.
Our first two shows of the season, Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT and August Wilson’s JITNEY, are highlighted on these pages. What better way to start an Anniversary season than with the work of two of the very greatest playwrights, one classic and one modern?
Our season opening production of TWELFTH NIGHT marks the return of master director Jon Jory (Pride and Prejudice) to create a production of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies set on a beach in the moonlit Mediterranean that promises to be both lyrical and rollicking, both melancholy and joyful. The cast is made up of a delightful mix of ATC favorites and bright young talents. Nationally renowned scenic designer Hugh Landwehr joins us for the first time along with a number of our favorite ATC artists.
JITNEY marks the third production we have mounted of one of August Wilson’s towering plays following FENCES in 1990 and SEVEN GUITARS in 1997 . August Wilson had a great fondness for ATC and visited us several times in the years before his untimely passing last summer. JITNEY is one of Wilson’s most beloved plays: full of big themes, rowdy humor and huge emotions. It will be directed for us by one of Wilson’s closest colleagues and collaborators, Lou Bellamy, and the cast is filled with wonderful actors with longstanding connections to Wilson’s work.
Subscription renewal levels hit record heights this summer. That’s a nice pat on the back to the work of our wonderful professional staff and artists – but also a challenge to all of us here at ATC to continue to honor your support through our very best efforts. We hope you will find our coming season one of the most varied, entertaining, thought-provoking and energetic in ATC’s four decade history here in our beloved desert Southwest.
See you at the theatre,
David Ira Goldstein
Artistic Director
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