2016-2017 Season

2016-2017 Shanklin Theatre Season

Failure: A Love Story
By Philip Dawkins
Directed by R. Scott Lank
September 23-25, September 29-October 2

From one of Chicago’s most-intriguing theatrical voices, this fanciful and charming play introduces us to the Fail sisters, all of whom will be dead within a year. This vibrant comedy finds these three quirky women unwittingly living out their final days in their family’s bustling 1920’s Chicago clock shop—and falling in love with the same suave and dashing man. Audiences will certainly be charmed by this musical fable and yearning to truly understand and harness the power of love.

Oklahoma!
Music by Richard Rodgers
Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Directed by Ruben Van Kempen, Guest Artist from Seattle, WA
Musical Direction by Gregory B. Rike
November 11-13, November 17-20

This Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical has the distinction of being the first collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, thus ushering in the “Golden Age” of American musical theatre. Set against the hardscrabble life in 1906 Indian Territory, the endearing story of a rocky romance between a lovesick cowboy and a headstrong farm girl still garners wide appeal and is sure to have audiences tapping their toes to the catchy lyrics, buoyant melodies, and a soaring score.

Silent Sky
By Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Diane Brewer
February 17-19, February 23-26

In 2015, American Theatre magazine named Lauren Gunderson one of the most produced playwrights in America. In this exciting new play, we meet Henrietta Leavitt, one of the women employed at the Harvard Observatory to process astronomical data gathered by male scientists. A passionate and educated woman, she struggles to balance her own celestial studies, a twinkling workplace romance, and the ethereal bond of siblings. This poetic and poignant play will leave audience members whispering to their special someone, “Let’s go gaze at the stars.”

Hamlet
By William Shakespeare
Directed by John David Lutz
April 7-9, April 12-15

Mirroring the opening of Shanklin Theatre in April 1967, we are thrilled to celebrate the 50th anniversary with another production of Shakespeare’s most performed and critically acclaimed tragedy. Enraged by his mother’s hasty marriage and tormented by ghostly visions of his father’s suspected murders, we follow the desperate young Prince of Denmark on his bloody quest of revenge. Grand in scope and rich in language, this haunting story of family loyalty, obsession, and remorse will leave audiences ready for the next fifty years of historic Shanklin Theatre productions.