Constellation Theatre Company will do plays set in contemporary Japan, 17th-century Paris and ancient Greece in its three-production 2013-2014 season, the company announced yesterday.
Constellation’s season will begin with a production of 36 Views, Naomi Iizuka’s meditation on art and authenticity. American art dealer Darius Wheeler appears to have fallen for the art scholar Dr. Setsuko Hearn, but what really has his heart racing is his discovery of a Japanese pillow book – an unheard-of account by a courtesan, in diary form. Is it authentic? How closely do you want to look? 36 Views, which Constellation Artistic Director Allison Arkell Stockman will direct, will run from October 24 to November 24, 2013.
Next, Constellation will do Scapin, Bill Irwin’s and Mark O’Donnell’s adaptation of Moliere’s Les Fourberies de Scapin. Scapin is a professional con man whose arrogance is almost unmeasurable – but who manages to help the young lovers Octave and Hyacinthe and Leandre and Zerbinette get together despite the ill-wishes of their fathers. Scapin is the source of one of the great truisms from the stage: “It is better to be married than to be dead.” (Act 1, Scene 4). Katherine Chase Bryer will direct Scapin, which will run from January 16 to February 16 of next year.
Finally, Constellation will present The Love of the Nightingale, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s recasting of the ancient story of the rape of Philomele. King Tereus of Thrace, as a reward for helping the King of Athens win a war, is given Procne to wed; when Procne asks that her sister, Philomele, be allowed to join her, Tereus decides he likes her instead. He kills Philomele’s lover, rapes her, and then cuts out her tongue to assure her silence. Nightingale tells the rest of the story: the sisters’ horrible revenge. The Love of the Nightingale will run from April 24 to May 25, 2014; Stockman will direct.
All shows will be at the Source, 1835 14th Street NW. Season subscriptions+ cost $90 until July 1, when the price increases to $145.
