From a friendship with an invisible, six-foot bunny to cultural conflicts over the dinner table, connection is front and center in the seven plays featured in Everyman Theatre’s 32nd season, which runs from this September through July 2023.
Vincent M. Lancisi, founder and artistic director of Everyman Theatre said in a statement that the plays that were selected for this season complement each other and “seem just right for our times.”
“I found myself reaching back for some of the jewels that bring audiences joy while embracing the new voices who will provide us with the classics of tomorrow,” Lancisi said. “Though wildly different in style and substance, a theme emerged among these plays that really resonated for me, which is that nothing is really what it seems. Life is chock-filled with discoveries.”
Lancisi added that the plays explore a range of relationships that “reflect the richness and diversity of our great city.”
Everyman Theatre Managing Director Marissa LaRose said the theater has navigated “so much unknown and so much at stake” over the past two seasons.
“As we lead the way to recovery, the bold, celebratory spirit of this new 2022/2023 season, matched with our innovative and robust education and community programming, brings even more of what Baltimore audiences have come to know and love about Everyman Theatre,” LaRose said. “For 32 years and counting Everyman has demonstrated why theatre as an art form is so vital to our community and this season amplifies it even greater.”
The season will begin with “Dinner and Cake” by first-time, DMV-based playwright Tuyet Thi Pham. Running Sept. 6-Oct. 2, the play focuses on new D.C. resident Mylinh, who is tasked with translating a dinner meeting between her friends’ American and Vietnamese in-laws. The in-laws clash and Mylinh must diffuse the conflict.
Next up, from Oct. 18-Nov. 13, will be “The Lion in Winter” by James Goldman. During Christmas 1183, King Henry II, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their three sons who are vying for the throne, face betrayal, treachery and fights to the death. The play was adapted into a 1968 film starring Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn as the king and queen.
Finishing out 2022 will be “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” by Ken Ludwig, a comedy inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 novel “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” In the play, which runs Dec. 6-Jan. 1, detective Sherlock Holmes and his investigative partner Dr. John Watson set out to solve a mystery before a curse claims a family’s heir.
“Jump” by Charly Evon Simpson will run Jan. 24-Feb. 19. When two strangers meet on a bridge, they form an unexpected bond. The play explores mental health, human connection, grief, loss, hope, and the process of letting go.
Then, from March 7-April 2, Everyman will present “The Sound Inside” by Adam Rapp. In the Tony Award-nominated play, Ivy League writing professor Bella Lee Baird helps her student Christopher Dunn with his novel that mirrors his life. Through their work together, the professor and student form an intense bond and their stories become woven together.
The penultimate play of Everyman’s 32nd season will be the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Harvey” by Mary Chase. Elwood P. Dowd wants his best friend Harvey to be included in his sister Veta’s social gatherings. There’s one problem: Harvey is an invisible, six-foot-tall rabbit. After Veta has Elwood committed to a mental institution, Harvey positively influences the hospital staff. The play will run from April 25-May 21.
Rounding out the season, “The World Goes ‘Round” will run from June 6-July 2. The play is a co-production of ArtsCentric, Everyman Theatre, and Olney Theatre. The production will include musical theater hits from shows like “Cabaret,” “Chicago,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “The Scottsboro Boys” and more.
