Williamstown Theatre Festival's 67th season, which will be presented outdoors and socially distanced, kicks off July 6 with the world premiere of Outside on Main: Nine Solo Plays by Black Playwrights, curated by 2020 Tony nominee Robert O'Hara (Slave Play). Performances will run through July 25.
Celebrating Black artists and their voices through theatrical storytelling, each performance will feature three of the nine 30-minute world premieres, created by writers Ngozi Anyanwu, France-Luce Benson, J. Nicole Brooks, Guadalís Del Carmen, Terry Guest, Ike Holter, Zora Howard, NSangou Njikam, and Charly Evon Simpson. The new works were written for actors of color and will be directed by Wardell Julius Clark, Candis C. Jones, and Awoye Timpo. Performances will take place on the Front Lawn of the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance.
The season will continue July 13–August 8 with the world premiere of the musical Row, featuring a book by Daniel Goldstein, music and lyrics by Dawn Landes, and direction by Tyne Rafaeli. Inspired by A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure, the cast will feature Grace McLean, who also appears in the Audible recording of Row, out April 8. The musical, interrogating the resilience, fear, and ambition inside one individual as she aims to be the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic, will be performed at the Clark Art Institute.
The season concludes July 20–August 8 with the world premiere of Alien/Nation, an immersive theatrical experience from two-time Tony nominee Michael Arden (Once On This Island, Spring Awakening) and the company of The Forest of Arden that takes audiences on a journey throughout Williamstown.
Devised in collaboration with writers Jen Silverman and Eric Berryman and featuring members of WTF’s Community Works program, audiences can choose to experience the site-specific performance by foot or by car and plunge themselves into the center of stories inspired by real events that took place in Western Massachusetts in 1969.
Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield said, “This summer, the conditions for our audiences, administrators, and artists will be safe but the theatre we make will be anything but! Join us for the kind of work you know and love—bold, impactful world premiere plays and musicals—produced in a way that transforms the town of Williamstown itself into our stage. The 2021 Williamstown Theatre Festival season—made outside on Main Street, Around Town, and at the Clark—will reconnect you with the power, beauty, and unique thrill of live theatre.”
Additional programming, as well as complete casting and creative team information, will be announced at a later date. Tickets will go on sale to the public in mid-June. Visit WTFestival.org.
