As promised, the new co-artistic directors of the Yale Cabaret have figured out the rest of the fall semester offerings for that beloved basement-dwelling student-run theater. Also as promised, the season attempts to balance new and established works, not to mention a multitude of styles, and offers performance, design and directing opportunities for a broad swath of Yale School of Drama classmates.
(My recent interview with that new leadership team of Lauren Dubowski, Whitney Dibo and Kelly Kerwin, where they discuss their intentions, is here).
The September 26-28 and October 3-5 offerings were already known: This week is Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman; next week is a new work about motivational speaking conceived and directed by Gabe Levey, starring Kate Tarker.
Here’s the rest, heavy on scabrous Britishness and articulate short-storiness and world-premieriness, with styles ranging from live radio drama to dance to ensemble-work to good old-fashioned playmaking.
Oct. 10-12: The Cabaret is dark.
Oct. 17-19: Beginners by Raymond Carver; Or, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. An adaptation of a famous short story by Carver which was first published in 1981 in a collection edited by the well-regarded Gordon Lish, then published in Carver’s drastically different original manuscript form a few years ago by the New Yorker, to equally high acclaim. The story (and perhaps this editorial backstory) has been adapted for the stage by Phillip Howze (author of the tremendous social drama All of What You Love and None of What You Hate, which the Yale Cabaret presented in January) and directed by Andras Viski.
Oct. 24-26: The Cabaret is dark.
Oct. 31-Nov. 2: A Golden Age of Radio tribute, with live recreations of episodes of Suspense (namely that show’s famous Anthony Ellis adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s story Zero Hour, first aired in 1955) and the venerable Western saga Gunsmoke. The Cabaret rendition, conceived by Tyler Kieffer and Steve Brush and directed by Paula Bennett, features sound effects artistry and live music.
Nov. 7-9: The Cabaret is dark.
Nov. 14-16: The Sarah Kane play Crave is directed by Hansol Jung. Kane’s the British writer who churned out half a dozen remarkable, revolutionary and occasionally revolting plays before committing suicide in 1999 at the age of 28. She’s a natural fit for the edgier, darker factions of the Cabaret, which did memorable productions of her 4.48 Psychosis in 2010 and Phaedra’s Love in 2003.
Nov. 21-23: Derivatives, a multi-media ensemble-devised piece which “strives to unite the audience in a conversation about wealth, minimum wage, and the ever-increasing gulf between the haves and the have-nots.” The project was conceived by Jabari Brisport and is directed by Cole Lewis.
Nov. 28-30: The Cabaret is dark.
Dec. 5-7: Bound to Burn, an original dance/movement work conceived and directed by Rob Chikar and Alyssa Simmons “that explores the fragility of life and the resilience of the human spirit,” apparently with minimal text and much movement.
Dec. 12-14: The Cabaret is dark.
Dec. 19-26: The Cabaret is still dark.
Jan. 2-4: The Cabaret is dark yet.
Jan. 9-11: The Cabaret is dark. What, you never heard of Winter Break?
Jan. 16-18: Edward Bond’s Have I None, directed by Jessica Holt. Continuing a longheld Yale Cabaret fascination with dark English social-satirist playwrights of the late 20th century (Sarah Kane, Caryl Churchill, Howard Brenton, Edward Bond), this is a futuristic cautionary one-act about the world refusing to learn from, let alone acknowledge, the past. Bond wrote it in 2000, but it’s set in 2077 so it’s still ahead of its time.
Jan. 23-25: The Defendant. World premiere of a drama set amid the educational and criminal justice systems in the Bronx. Playwright Elia Monte-Brown once taught in a New York City public school. The show is described as one which “refuses to succumb to the bleak narrative surround public eduction, instead finding hope in the halls of a Bronx high school.” The Cabaret premiere is directed by Leora Morris.
The Yale Cabaret will offer another ten plays in the spring semester. Performances are Thursdays at 8 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays at 8 & 11 p.m. (The Thursday 11 p.m. slots are special presentations for Yale School of Drama students and faculty only.) The Cabaret sells special discount passbooks, bunches of tickets which can be used however you choose—for single seats at multiple shows, or multiple seats at single shows. Details at (203) 432-1566 or www.yalecabaret.org