Gloucester Stage Company Proudly Announces 45th Anniversary Season

Gloucester Stage Company (Rebecca Bradshaw, Artistic Director; Christopher Griffith, Managing Director) is excited to announce the upcoming season, marking a significant milestone as it celebrates its 45th year of bringing exceptional theater to audiences in Gloucester and beyond. With a legacy of producing innovative and thought- provoking performances, the 2024 season promises to be an unforgettable celebration of creativity, talent, and the enduring power of theater. From a laugh out loud comedy to poignant world and regional premieres, this season presents a dynamic lineup of plays with a diverse representation in both the storytellers and the stories on stage that will entertain, inspire, and engage audiences of all backgrounds.

“As we mark Gloucester Stage's 45th Anniversary, we are pleased to present a season that celebrates the very same mission on which our Company was founded in 1979. Looking toward the future of Contemporary Theatre, we are working to amplify diverse voices and stories, inviting our audiences to experience the world through a new lens,” said Managing Director Christopher Griffith. "We embody the stubborn fortitude of our Gloucester namesake, and with help from loyal supporters, we take pride in continuing to tell socially relevant stories that authentically bring our community together for shared entertainment."

Artistic Director Rebecca Bradshaw shared her excitement for the upcoming season, "When considering the plays for 2024, I felt a deep conviction, more than ever, that theatre needs to be a place for us to come together, connect, and laugh with each other. From septuagenarians learning how to surf to siblings behaving horrendously, the hijinx abound in these plays as they each lure us in with humor. Under their antics though, each ensemble is facing a pivotal moment in their lives. As an audience, we have the opportunity to learn from their choices and to dig deep into the relationships that keep them afloat. Whether it’s a bunch of guys on a job site throwing jabs at each other or in an Iranian apartment full of girlfriends fussing the night before each other’s nuptials, we will travel across the country and reach across the globe to find empathy and ignite conversation about how important it is to stay connected with those around us."

The 2024 season kicks off with a bang as Gloucester Stage presents 2024 Dramatist Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning play VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, directed by Rebecca Bradshaw, from May 31 to June 23. This play is a wild ride as three adult siblings come back together under one roof with a lot of opinions. Alongside a band of eccentric characters, the trio may slip into their teenage petulance as the stakes get desperate. Hilarious twists and unexpected romances will overshadow any need to be a Chekhov aficionado to enjoy this comedic masterpiece.

To follow as a part of its rolling world premiere through the National New Play Network is WIPEOUT by Aurora Real de Asua from July 5 to July 28. Directed by Shana Gozanskyo, the play takes audiences on a heartwarming journey with three adventurous 70-years-old women on their surfboards in the middle of the ocean as they learn the ropes from a hot rod young instructor. Together they navigate the waves of life and laughter in this tale of friendship, courage, and the pursuit of new experiences.

Gloucester Stage then presents the regional premiere of WISH YOU WERE HERE by Pulitzer Prize Winner Sanaz Toossi, recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, from August 9 to August 25. Directed by Melory Mirashrafi, this play follows a circle of tight-knit girlfriends as they gather to plan weddings, trade dirty jokes, and try to hang onto a sense of normalcy in 1980s Iran.

Finally, Gloucester Stage is proud to co-produce with Teatro Chelsea, a Latine Theatre organization based in Chelsea, MA, the regional premiere of THE HOMBRES in September. This uproarious comedy, written by Tony Meneses and directed by Armando Rivera, offers a fresh perspective on male friendships and machismo culture as three Latino construction workers find themselves entangled in unexpected yoga classes next door to their job site. The play, running from September 6 to September 29, includes community engagement programming in English and Spanish. The first three weeks of rehearsals and the final week of performances will take place in Chelsea, providing an opportunity for cultural exchange and collaboration.

Performances will be held Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Friday and Saturdays at 8:00 pm with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Season Subscription Packages are on sale now, with individual tickets released for sale on March 15th online and at the Gloucester Stage Company, located at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester.

PERFORMANCE TIMES AND LOCATIONS:

All performances, unless noted, are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm at Gloucester Stage Company located at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester.

Tickets to the Gloucester Stage 2024 season are available for sale on March 15th.. Single Ticket prices range from $15 to $67, with discounts available for seniors, military families, college students, youth under 18, young professionals under 35, E.B.T. Cardholders, W.I.C. benefits, and Cape Ann residents. For detailed ticket information, visit www.gloucesterstage.com.

Season Packages start at $200 for four tickets for any mainstage performance and include early access to seating, no fees, and free ticket exchanges. Packages can be purchased or renewed by calling the Box Office at 978.281.4433 or visiting gloucesterstage.com/subscribe. For additional information, contact the Box Office at 978.281.4433 or [email protected]. Located at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, the Box Office is open Tuesdays thru Saturdays from 10am to 5pm.

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About Gloucester Stage Company: Celebrating its 45th anniversary, Gloucester Stage Company is Boston's North Shore premier professional nonprofit theater company. Presenting professional productions of intellectually stimulating and socially relevant theater since its inception, Gloucester Stage has developed a highly engaged audience eager to experience the power of live theater. (gloucesterstage.com)

GLOUCESTER STAGE COMPANY'S 2024 SEASON

May 31 – June 23, 2024 | VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

Christopher Durang (Playwright) is one of our most beloved and widely produced contemporary American playwrights. He has received multiple Obies, a Tony Award nomination, and a Tony win for his work, among many other accolades. Durang is the recipient of the 2012 P.E.N. Master American Dramatist Award and is a 2013 inductee to the Theater Hall of Fame. Among his plays: Sister Mary Ignatius, Beyond Therapy, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Laughing Wild, Betty's Summer Vacation, Miss Witherspoon (Pulitzer Finalist), and Why Torture Is Wrong, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013 Tony Award for Best Play, Best Play from the New York Drama Critics Circle, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama League Award, and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award), and Turning Off The Morning News. Characterized by a combination of absurdist humor and raging satire, his style has influenced an entire generation of writers.

Rebecca Bradshaw (she/her) (Director) is in her second season as Gloucester Stage’s Artistic Director. She built her career in Boston as a theater director, producer, educator, and advocate. Her recent directing credits include The Ding Dongs at Gloucester Stage and Kitchen Theatre Company, Witch at Huntington Theatre Company, Do You Feel Anger? and Hurricane Diane at Kitchen Theatre Company and productions for Lyric Stage, The Nora Theatre Company, SpeakEasy Stage, Greater Boston Stage Company, A.R.T. Institute, Emerson College, Bridge Rep of Boston, Central Square Theatre/M.I.T., Weston Drama Workshop, The Umbrella Center for the Arts, Fresh Ink Theatre, among others. She has taught directing, producing, and casting at Emerson College, Harvard University, Suffolk University, Boston University, Brandeis University, Lesley University, and Boston Conservatory. Bradshaw joined Gloucester Stage in 2023 after acting as the Producing Artistic Director at the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY and having spent eight seasons producing at the Huntington Theatre in Boston. She is a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

July 5 - 28, 2024 | WIPEOUT

Aurora Real de Asua (Playwright) is a playwright, filmmaker, and performer. Her play Wipeout will receive a rolling world premiere in 2024 through the New Play Network, with productions at Rivendell Theatre, B Street Theatre, and Gloucester Stage Company. Wipeout was developed at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, New Harmony Project, the Old Globe, and Rivendell. Her other plays have been developed with The Playwright's Realm, Victory Gardens, Chicago Children's Theatre, and sideshow theater. Real de Asua's short film Heartsong debuted on Short of the Week and screened at various festivals. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from Northwestern University and an M.F.A. in film from Columbia University, where she received the Jesse Thompkins III Screenwriting Award.

Shana Gozansky (she/her) (Director) is a freelance director and teaching artist. She has directed at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Gloucester Stage Company, The Hangar Theatre, and at venues throughout Boston & N.Y.C. She has held teaching and/or directed at various colleges and universities in Boston and beyond. Gozansky holds a M.F.A. in Directing from Brown University/Trinity Repertory and a B.A. in Theater from Bard College, an Artistic Associate at The Hangar Theatre, and an Artist-in-Residence at both Chashama and The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She is a Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab member, Drama League Directing Fellow, and an Associate Member of S.D.C. Gozansky also writes books for children.

August 9- 25, 2024 | WISH YOU WERE HERE

Sanaz Toossi (Playwright) is an Iranian-American playwright and the winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Her plays include the critically acclaimed, award-winning ENGLISH (co-production Atlantic Theater Company/Roundabout Theatre Company) and Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons; Williamstown/Audible, released 2020). She was the 2019 P73 Playwriting Fellow, a recipient of the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award, the 2022 recipient of The Horton Foote Award and Hull-Warriner Prize, and most recently, the 2023 recipient of the Best New American Play Obie Award. Sanaz received her MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Melory Mirashafi (she/they) (Director) is a first-generation Iranian-American theatre artist from Portland, Oregon. Melory’s work spans from new plays and translations to music and opera, focusing on work that is relevant, rigorous, and theatrical. Melory is a Stage Directors & Choreographers Foundation Fellow (Young Americans, Pittsburgh Public Theater & Portland Center Stage) and recipient of the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize (Glück’s Orfeo) and Thomas Derrah Emerging Artist Award (English, SpeakEasy Stage). Recent credits: English (Speakeasy Stage Company); La Cenerentola (Portland Opera); The Music Man (Third Rail Repertory Theatre); Young Americans (Portland Center Stage); American Fast (Artists Repertory Theatre); Shahmaran (Shaking the Tree Theatre). Melory’s writing can be found in the Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays and Routledge’s Troubling Traditions: Canonicity, Theatre, and Performance in the US. Melory is a SDC associate member.

September 6-29, 2024 | THE HOMBRES

Tony Meneses (Playwright) was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and raised in Albuquerque and Dallas. His plays include Guadalupe in the Guest Room, twenty50, The Hombres, El Borracho, The Myth of the Two Marcos, and A Thousand Maids. He is an alumnus of the Soho Rep. Writer/Director Lab, Ars Nova Play Group, Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation, The Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship, and Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, and his work has been previously developed at the Lark Play Development Center Playwrights' Week, Berkeley Repertory Theatre's The Ground Floor, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company's Colorado New Play Summit, The Old Globe's Powers New Voices Festival, and South Coast Repertory's Pacific Playwrights Festival and New SCRipt Series. He is a two-time recipient of The Kennedy Center Latinx Playwriting Award, is published by Dramatists Play Service and Theatrical Rights Worldwide, and has been previously commissioned by Denver Center, Two River Theater, South Coast Rep, and The Juilliard School. He is currently under commission from The Old Globe. Education: The University of Texas at Austin, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard. He is currently the Interim Head of Playwriting at Fordham University.

Armando Rivera (he/him) (Director) is a Boston based director and actor, and serves as Co-Artistic Director of Teatro Chelsea, a bilingual Latino theater company in Chelsea, MA. His current focus lies in uplifting new Latine narratives that highlight the bilingual experience and resonate with diverse communities. Select Directing credits: Fade (Kitchen Theatre Company). 619 Hendricks, Revitalized, Sonia se Fue (Teatro Chelsea). Latin American Folktales, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Apollinaire Play Lab).

Select Acting Credits: Machine Learning (Central Square Theatre), Hamlet (Apollinaire Theatre), Sword in the Stone (B Street Theatre).