ReDiscovery Readings
Works for the ReDiscovery Series are chosen by Artistic Director Michael Kahn and presented under the direction of Shakespeare Theatre Company artistic staff. Guest artists join members of STC and the Washington theatrical community to investigate these great but lesser known plays of world literature.
Dates for the 2012-2013 Season have been announced. Please check our calendar for more information closer to the day of the reading.
- Mon,Oct 01, 2012– ReDiscovery Reading #1 - Crazy Money
- Mon, Nov 19, 2012 – ReDiscovery Reading #2 - Wild Oats
- Mon, Mar 04, 2013 – ReDiscovery Reading #3 - The London Merchant
- Mon, Jun 10, 2013 – ReDiscovery Reading #4
Since the 1993-1994 Season, the Shakespeare Theatre Company has staged more 70 plays as part of its ReDiscovery Series. Now in its 18th year, the ReDiscovery Series has investigated many rarely produced classics that resulted in mainstage productions including Schiller’s Don Carlos (produced during the 2000-2001 Season), A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde (produced during the 1998-1999 Season), The Silent Woman by Ben Jonson (produced during the 2002-2003 Season) and a new translation and adaptation of George Farquhar’s The Beaux’ Stratagem by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig (produced during the 2006-2007 Season). In recent years, the series has led directly to newly commissioned adaptations by David Ives of French verse comedy: Pierre Corneille’s The Liar (produced in the 2009-2010 Season) and Jean-François Regnard’s The Heir Apparent (produced in the 2011-2012 Season). The series also included the sold-out world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ rediscovered one-act plays, Five by Tenn, at the Kennedy Center in 2001, a production later remounted in New York at the Manhattan Theatre Club.
Works for the ReDiscovery series are chosen by Artistic Director Michael Kahn and presented under the direction of Shakespeare Theatre Company's artistic staff. Guest artists join members of the Washington theatrical community to investigate classic works of world literature at the Lansburgh on several Mondays throughout the year. Guest scholars, translators and adapters involved with the evening's reading also frequently participate in rehearsal, performance and post-performance discussions.
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:
2012
| October 1 | Crazy Money, by Alexander Ostrovsky (translated by Stephen Mulrine) |
| June 4 | Emilia Galotti, by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, translated by Anna Johanna Gode von Aesch |
| February 27 | Sejanus, by Ben Jonson |
2011
| December 19 | Egmont, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (translated by Michael Hamburger) |
| September 26 | Marta the Divine, by Tirso de Molina (translated and adapted by Harley Erdman) |
| June 6 | Don’t Play with Love, by Alfred de Musset (translated by Michael Sadler) |
| April 4 | The Superior Residence, by Carlo Goldoni (translated by Frederick Davies) |
| February 28 | The Government Inspector, by Nikolai Gogol (adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher) |
2 010
| October 18 | Madness in Valencia, by Lope de Vega (translated and adapted by David Johnston) |
| May 17 | Arden of Faversham, anonymous |
| March 15 | Waste, by Harley Granville-Barker |
2 0 0 9
| December 7 | Ruy Blas, by Victor Hugo |
| September 14 | The Bourgeois Gentleman, by Moliere, adapted by Barry Kornhauser |
| June 1 | Britannicus, by Jean Racine |
| April 20 | Sir Patient Fancy, by Aphra Behn |
2 0 0 8
| December 15 | The Gamester, by Jean-Francois Regnard, adapted by Freyda Thomas |
| October 20 | The Dispute, by Pierre Marivaux |
| June 30 | The Venetian Twins by Carlo Goldoni |
| March 31 | The Liar by Pierre Corneille, translated and adapted by Ranjit Bolt |
| February 4 | The Demi-Monde by Alexandre Dumas fils, translated by Barret Clark |
2 0 0 7
| December 10 | The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe |
| October 15 | The Phantom Lady by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, translated and adapted by Richard Sewell |
| May 14 | Sir Thomas More, attributed in part to William Shakespeare |
| April 22 | The History of Cardenio, by William Shakespeare and JohnFletcher, 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, edited by Melinda Finberg and David McCallum |
| September 25 | London Assurance – by Dion Boucicault |
| April 24 | The Modern Husband – by Henry Fielding, adapted by Michael Kahn |
| February 20 | Hernani – by Victor Hugo, translated and adapted by John Strand |
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, adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig |
| February 7 | A Busy Day – by Fanny Burney, adapted by Alan Coveney |
2 0 0 4
| December 6 | The Dog in the Manger** – by Lope de Vega |
| September 20 and October 18 | Boston Marriage – by David Mamet |
| February 23 | Nathan the Wise – by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, translated by Edward Kemp |
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 – translated by Richard Wilbur |
| September 29 | The Surgeon of Honour – by Pedro Calderón 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 or Sir Flopping Flutter – 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
2008-2009 season.
