Classic Stage Company announces 2016-2017 season

Tom Millward
Tom Millward

New Artistic Director John Doyle has announced his first season at off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company. The 2016-2017 season will include the world premiere of Dead Poets Society, David Ives' farcical comedy The Liar and Stephen Sondheim's musical Pacific Overtures.

Mr Doyle released the following statement:

"It is thrilling to be announcing our new season for CSC. Three great stories written by top writers providing, I hope, variety and continuity. A great American story by the wonderful Tom Schulman, a delightful new addition to David Ives' on-going work for CSC, and a further opportunity to explore the remarkable Sondheim/Weidman collaboration makes me excited for this new adventure"
The season kicks off in October 2016 with the world premiere of Dead Poets Society, written by Tom Schulman, adapted from his own screenplay for the 1989 film of the same name, and directed by John Doyle himself.

Synopsis: "Set at a rigorous all-boys preparatory school renowned for its ancient traditions, where the unconventional Professor Keating inspires his students to defy conformity, and to live passionately."

The season continues in January 2017 with David Ives' farcical comedy The Liar, based on the play by Pierre Corneille and directed by Michael Kahn.

Synopsis: "The farce follows the charming Dorante who cannot tell the truth and the manservant Clinton who cannot tell a lie."

And finally, John Doyle's debut season will conclude with his helming of a revival of Pacific Overtures, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman.

Synopsis: "In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed to Japan on a U.S mission to open up trade relations at any cost. Pacific Overtures tells the tale of a samurai and a fisherman who are caught up in the Westernization of the East."

The Classic Stage Company's current 2015-2016 season continues with Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham taking on the title role in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Nathan The Wise, translated by John Christopher Jones and directed by Brian Kulick, which begins previews on 18 March 2016 and then Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, adapted and directed by John Doyle, which begins performances on 11 May 2016.

Casting and creative team information for all three of the new 2016-2017 season's productions will be announced at a later date.

- by Tom Millward

Originally published on

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