Tartuffe

Written by Jean Baptise Poquelin de Moliere
Translated into English Verse by Richard Wilbur
Directed by Beth Terranova
Performance Dates: September 8 - 30, 2023
Run time: 2h 15m
(including intermission)

When piety disguises cunning, there’s danger in the air… While the ostensibly pious vagabond, Tartuffe, is exploiting the homeowners who graciously took him in, the only one who can see through his false piety is the housekeeper Dorine. He has magnificent success in winning the respect and devotion of the head of the house, but then tries to marry his daughter and seduce his wife and scrounge the deed to the property… Will his duplicity be exposed and punished? The author has mercilessly examined the evil that men can commit in the guise of religious fervor and the dangers that imperil those who would believe only what they choose to believe despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. A sparkling version of one of the great comedies of the French Theater. As current today, as it was centuries ago, this classic comedic tale is an excellent play for the modern era.

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Wit

Written by Margaret Edson
Performance Dates: October 20 - November 11, 2023
Directed by Jacob Haythorn
Run time: 1h 40m
(no intermission)

Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., a renowned professor of English who has spent years studying and teaching the brilliant and difficult metaphysical sonnets of John Donne, has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. Her approach to the study of Donne: aggressively probing, intensely rational. But during the course of her illness—and her stint as a prize patient in an experimental chemotherapy program at a major teaching hospital—Vivian comes to reassess her life and her work with a profundity and humor that are transformative both for her and the audience. In her extraordinary first play, Margaret Edson has created a work that is as intellectually challenging as it is emotionally immediate. A remarkable and humane play that you will remember till your dying day.

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A Christmas Carol

Play and Lyrics by Richard Wade
Music by Richard Gessner
Directed by Debbie Barber Eaton
Performance Dates: December 7 - 17, 2023
Run time: 1h 10m
(no intermission)

It’s only Christmas in Annapolis when A Christmas Carol is playing at CP! The Colonial Players is delighted to bring this Dicken’s classic back to the stage with this phenomenally popular adaptation. This musical tale of redemption, will warm your heart, bring you glad tidings, and add a glittering touch to the festive season. Written for the Players in 1981 by Richard Wade and Dick Gessner, our 75th season would not be complete without it.

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Marjorie Prime

Written by Jordan Harrison
Directed by Edd Miller
Performance Dates: January 12 - February 3, 2024
Run time: 1h 30m
(no intermission)

It’s the age of artificial intelligence, and 85-year-old Marjorie spends her final, ailing days with a computerized version of her deceased husband — otherwise known as a “Prime”. With the intent to recount their life together, Marjorie's Prime relies on the information from her and her kin to develop a more complex understanding of his history. As their interactions deepen, the family begins to develop diverging recounts of their lives, drawn into the chance to reconstruct the often painful past. What would we remember, and what would we forget, if given the chance? In this richly spare, wondrous play, Jordan Harrison explores the mysteries of human identity and the limits — if any — of what technology can replace.

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The Baker's Wife

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Joseph Stein
Directed by Michelle Bruno
Performance Dates: March 1 - 30, 2024
Run time: 2h 30m
(including intermission)

The bickering residents of a rural village in 1935 Provence, France, have been without a baker for seven weeks. They finally find peace and contentment in the new baker, Aimable, and his attractive young wife, Genevieve. However, when Genevieve is lured away by a handsome young gigolo, the middle-aged baker loses all zest for life and baking. When he refuses to bake, the villagers must work as a team to bring Aimable and Genevieve back together. Old-world charm permeates every moment of The Baker's Wife, a true gem of a musical by legendary authors, Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof) and Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Wicked, Pippin). This romantic musical has developed a loyal following for its lush score featuring the song "Meadowlark."

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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Based on the novel by Mark Haddon
Adapted by Simon Stephens
Directed by Steve Tobin
Performance Dates: April 26 - May 18, 2024
Run time: TBD

15-year-old Christopher has an extraordinary brain: He is exceptional at mathematics but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched, and he distrusts strangers. Now it is 7 minutes after midnight, and Christopher stands beside his neighbor’s dead dog, Wellington, who has been speared with a garden fork. Finding himself under suspicion, Christopher is determined to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington, and he carefully records each fact of the crime. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a thrilling journey that upturns his world. Winner of the 2015 Tony Award for Best Play, this is a beautiful, eloquent, dazzlingly inventive show about the wonders of life. 

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