Our 2021 Lineup of Productions is Here

Mark your calendars, and get ready for the season we’ve all been waiting for!

James Barry

“After a year in which we and our audience were kept apart from each other, I’m beyond excited that we can offer this season,” says Daniel Elihu Kramer, Producing Artistic Director. “The journey through these three plays is about our need to connect with one another, how difficult that can be to accomplish, and the deep satisfaction of how we sustain each other when we succeed.”

Title and Deed
Written by Will Eno
Directed by Keira Naughton
June 16-27

A man has traveled to where we live, from somewhere undisclosed. Business or pleasure? Neither. Will Eno’s script is bursting with moments that are simultaneously intriguing, amusing, and enigmatic. Title and Deed stars James Barry, known to CTC audiences for his work in The Aliens, The Night Alive, and Sister Play. Keira Naughton, who was nominated for a Berkshire Theatre Critics’ Award for 2019’s Curve of Departure, returns to direct.

The New York Times calls it “A haunting and often fiercely funny meditation on life.”

The Niceties
Written by Eleanor Burgess
Directed by Christina Franklin
July 14-25

Zoe, a Black student at an elite liberal arts college, is called into her white professor’s office to discuss her paper about slavery’s effect on the American Revolution. What begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history, and power. (Casting to be announced at a later date.)

The Washington Post calls The Niceties “a barnburner of a play,” and “one of the best plays I’ve seen about who gets to tell the story of America, and how.”

Tiny Beautiful Things
Written by Nia Vardalos
Directed by Daniel Elihu Kramer
August 18-29

 

Tara Franklin

A celebration of the simple beauty of being human based on the “Dear Sugar” column written by Cheryl Strayed (author of Wild), Tiny Beautiful Things offers affirmation of love and loss, of pain and pleasure, of deep loneliness and shared humanity. Adapted by Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Tiny Beautiful Things is the story of what we can feel and learn when we open up to each other, and to hearing answers we can’t figure out on our own. Starring CTC Associate Artistic Director Tara Franklin as Sugar, James Barry and Paul Pontrelli (I and You, The Aliens, Curve of Departure) are also featured. Candace Barrett Birk, whose work as both an actor and director is known to regional audiences, including those at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and A.C.T. in San Francisco, makes her CTC debut.

Tiny Beautiful Things turns out be about the endangered art of listening to – and really hearing and responding to – other people.” The New York Times

All performances will take place at Hancock Shaker Village Wednesday through Sunday.

Single tickets and subscriptions go on sale to the general public via the website beginning March 22 and by calling the box office after noon on April 5. Box office phone hours are 12pm to 3pm Monday and Wednesday until the end of May. Check the website for hours June-August.

We can’t wait to see you at Chester@Hancock!

The 2021 Season is sponsored by Richard and Carol Seltzer