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The ReDiscovery Series

Works for the ReDiscovery series are chosen by Artistic Director Michael Kahn and presented under the direction of the Company's artistic staff. Guest artists join members of the Washington theatrical community to investigate these great but lesser-known plays of world literature. The readings occur at the Lansburgh on five Mondays throughout the year where guest scholars, translators and adaptors involved with the evening's reading also frequently participate in rehearsal, performance and post-performance discussions.

Now in its 14th season, the ReDiscovery Series has investigated many rarely produced classics that resulted in mainstage productions including Schiller's Don Carlos ( produced on the Shakespeare Theatre Company mainstage during the 2000-2001 season), A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde (produced on the Shakespeare Theatre Company mainstage during the 1998-1999 season), The Silent Woman by Ben Jonson (produced on the Shakespeare Theatre Company mainstage during the 2002-2003 season), a new translation and adaptation of Alfred de Musset's Lorenzaccio by Washington playwright John Strand (produced on the Shakespeare Theatre Company mainstage during the 2004-2005 season), and a world-premiere translation and adaptation of George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig (produced on the Shakespeare Theatre Company's mainstage during the 2006-2007 season). The series also included the world-premiere, standing-room-only performance of Tennessee Williams' newly discovered one-act plays, Five by Tenn (of which three plays were read as part of the series) at The Kennedy Center, and re-mounted in New York at The Manhattan Theatre Club.

The ReDiscovery Series is made possible through the generosity of donors Ann K. Morales and Jean and David Grier.

The production history of the series is as follows:

2 0 0 7

May 14	Sir Thomas More, attributed in part to William Shakespeare
April 22	The History of Cardenio, by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, an imaginative reconstruction by Gary Taylor
February 12	Edward III – attributed in part to William Shakespeare

2 0 0 6

December 4	The Belle's Stratagem – by Hannah Cowley
September 25	London Assurance – by Dion Boucicault
April 24	The Modern Husband – by Henry Fielding
February 20	Hernani – by Victor Hugo

2 0 0 5

December 5	The Voysey Inheritance – by Harley Granville-Barker
October 3	The Spanish Tragedy – by Thomas Kyd
May 2	The Beaux' Stratagem* –* by George Farquhar
February 7	A Busy Day – by Fanny Burney

2 0 0 4

December 6	The Dog in the Manger – by Lope de Vega
September 20 October 18	Boston Marriage – by David Mammet
February 23	Nathan the Wise – by Gotthold Lessing

2 0 0 3

December 9	Lorenzaccio* – by Alfred de Musset – translated and adapted by John Strand
September 22	A Chaste Maid in Cheapside – by Thomas Middleton
February 27	Brand – by Henrik Ibsen

2 0 0 2

December 9	The Recruiting Officer – by George Farquhar
October 14	Turcaret – by Alain-René Lessage
February 25	Mulatto – by Langston Hughes

2 0 0 1

December 10	The Newly Discovered One Acts of Tennessee Williams
October 8	The Alchemist – by Ben Jonson
February 26	The Beaux'Stratagem ** – by George Farquhar

2 0 0 0

December	The Double Dealer – by William Congreve
October	The Silent Woman* – by Ben Jonson

1 9 9 8

December 7	The Alcestiad – by Thornton Wilder
February 23	The Wives' Excuse – by Thomas Southerne

1 9 9 7

December 15	Amphitryon – by Molière – translation by Richard Wilbur
September 29	The Surgeon of Honour – by Calde ron de la Barca
May 12	Women Beware Women – by Thomas Middleton
March 3	All is True – by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher – adapted by Greg Doran
January 6	A Woman of No Importance* – by Oscar Wilde

1 9 9 6

November 4	The Roman Actor – by Philip Massinger
April 29	The Knight of the Burning Pestle – by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
March 11	The Tutor – by Jakob Lenz

1 9 9 5

December 11	Lorenzaccio – by Alfred de Musset
October 30	Ion – by Euripides
May 15	The Malcontent – by John Marston
March 13	The Man of Mode – by George Etherege
January 9	Venice Preserved – by Thomas Otway

1 9 9 4

October 10	The Last Days of Don Juan – by Tirso de Molina
February 14	Brittanicus – by Jean Racine

1 9 9 3

The Relapse – by Sir John Vanbrugh

The Critic – by Richard Brinsley Sheridan Beaumont and John Fletcher

Don Carlos* – by Frederich Schiller

*Fully produced by the Shakespeare Theatre Company.

** To be produced by the Shakespeare Theatre Company as part of the 2006-2007 season.