2018 Season Archive

Support for the 2018 Season was generously provided by Manchester Designer Outlets, the Rogers Family Foundation, Peggie Telscher, and Tom Snopek.

“an emotional roller-coaster ride that whipsaws through laughs, poignant tears and moments of monumental rage…”

- LEO Weekly

“Heartbreakingly original”

- 2018 Steinberg-ATCA Citation Panel

Starring
CLEA ALSIP as Jessie
ANDREA SYGLOWSKI as Lina
GREG KELLER as Mitchell
JANIE BROOKSHIRE as Adrienne

Scenic Design by DAVID L. ARSENAULT
Costume Design by SYDNEY MARESCA
Lighting Design by MICHAEL GIANNITTI
Sound Design by SINAN REFIK ZAFAR
Production Stage Manager CAROLYNN RICHER

Jessie can’t find any Mom Friends in her new Long Island neighborhood until she and larger-than-life Lina start sneaking out for coffee between their duplexes during nap times. When a wealthy neighbor comes down from the hill overlooking their hangout, the sleep-deprived comedy of new parenthood shows a different side of itself.  An honestly absurd look at the dilemma of returning to work after childbirth and how class impacts parenthood and friendship.

WINNER of The 2018 Harold and Mimi Steinberg / American Theatre Critics Association New Play Citation

NEWSROOM:

"Dorset's 'Cry It Out' an early summer hit" - Manchester Journal

"'Cry It Out' a touching study of motherhood" - The Alt, Schenectady

"BWW Review: CRY IT OUT at Dorset Theatre Festival is NOT TO BE MISSED!" - Broadway World

"Dorset finds more than laughs in young motherhood" - Rutland Herald

"'Cry It Out': Finding home and humor after childbirth" - Rutland Herald

"Dorset Theatre Festival Presents CRY IT OUT" - Broadway World

"Season to open with parenthood comedy" - The Berkshire Eagle

"Dorset Theatre Festival Announces Full Casting for 2018 Season; 
Jayne Atkinson to lead ANN and More" - Broadway World

Starring
BRENDA PRESSLEY as Faye
LELAND FOWLER as Dez
MIRIRAI SITHOLE as Shanita
GABRIEL LAWRENCE as Reggie

Scenic Design by KRISTEN ROBINSON
Costume Design by ALICE TAVENER
Lighting Design by MICHAEL GIANNITTI
Sound Design by KARIN GRAYBASH
Projection Design by JOEY MORO
Production Stage Manager EMELY ZEPEDA

In Dominique Morisseau’s third play in her Detroit Cycle, a makeshift family of workers at the last exporting auto plant in the city navigate the possibility of foreclosure. Power dynamics shift, and they are pushed to the limits of survival. When the line between blue collar and white collar gets blurred, how far over the lines are they willing to step?

NEWSROOM

LISTEN: "The Dorset Theatre Festival Presents 'Skeleton Crew' by Dominique Morisseau" - WAMC's The Roundtable

BWW REVIEW: "Skeleton Crew at Dorset Theatre Festival" - Broadway World

REVIEW: "Dorset Theatre Festival offers up hearty `Skeleton Crew'" - Bennington Banner

REVIEW: "'Skeleton Crew,' at Dorset Theatre Festival" - Seven Days VT

REVIEW: "Humanity wins in Dorset’s ‘Skeleton Crew’" - Rutland Herald 

REVIEW: "Skeleton Crew, by Dominique Morisseau. Directed by Jade King Carroll. Reviewed by J. Peter Bergman." - Berkshire Bright Focus

PREVIEW: "'Skeleton Crew': Survival isn't always of the fittest" - Rutland Herald

PREVIEW: "Acclaimed new play 'Skeleton Crew' opening at Dorset Theatre Festival" - The Berkshire Eagle

“The stuff hits are made of...Jane Austen is known for her social insights and occasional satiric impulses. Actress/adapter Kate Hamill has kicked it up a notch in the comedy department, delivering a Pride and Prejudice that is funny and whimsical, but still captures the essence of Austen’s captivating novel.”

- Huffington Post

Pride & Prejudice was presented in collaboration with Actors' Shakespeare Project

Starring
KRYSTEL LUCAS as Jane / Ms. De Bourgh
JESSICA FREY as Lizzy
AISHLING PEMBROKE as Lydia / Lady Catherine
DAVE QUAY as Mr. Darcy
RYAN QUINN as Mr. Collins / Wickham / Ms. Bingley
CARMAN LACIVITA as Mr. Bingley / Mary
OMAR ROBINSON as Charlotte Lucas / Mr. Bennet
JOAN COOMBS as Mrs. Bennet

Scenic Design by ALEXANDER WOODWARD
Costume Design by HAYDEE ZELIDETH
Lighting Design by DEB SULLIVAN
Sound Design by IAN SCOT
Choreographer ALEXANDRA BELLER
Production Stage Manager VICTORIA WHOOPER

The outspoken Elizabeth Bennet faces mounting pressure from all sides to secure a suitable marriage. But is marriage suitable for a woman of Elizabeth’s intelligence and independence? When she meets the standoffish, tall, vaguely handsome, mildly amusing, and impossibly aristocratic Mr. Darcy, they clash initially, but is there something deeper behind their animosity? Literature’s greatest tale of manners, society and love has never felt so theatrical or spirited than it does in this effervescent adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic romance from acclaimed writer and actress Kate Hamill (Bedlam’s Sense and Sensibility).

NEWSROOM

'Pride and Prejudice' a hit at Dorset Theatre Festival - Bennington Banner

Theatre Review: DTF's 'Pride and Prejudice' fills the stage with delicious portraits of classic romance novel characters - The Berkshire Edge

Theatre Review: Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' gets physical - Rutland Herald

Theatre Review: 'Pride and Prejudice' at Dorset Theatre Festival - Seven Days VT

New take on 'Pride and Prejudice' is funny, moving - Manchester Journal

PREVIEW: ‘Pride and Prejudice’: Jane Austen you’ve never seen before - Rutland Herald 

Starring
JAYNE ATKINSON as Ann Richards
JULIE WHITE as the voice of Nancy Kohler

Scenic Design by JULIANA VON HAUBRICH
Costume Design by JESS GOLDSTEIN
Lighting Design by ANDI LYONS
Sound Design by M.L. Dogg
Wig Design by PAUL HUNTLEY
Production Stage Manager EMELY ZEPEDA

Written by award-winning actress and writer Holland Taylor, Ann is an inspiring and hilarious play that brings us face to face with the complex, colorful, and captivating character bigger than the state from which she hailed. Performed by two-time Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson (“House of Cards,” "Madam Secretary”), Ann takes a revealing look at the impassioned woman who enriched the lives of her followers, friends, and family.

“…fiery, salty and brash!” - The New York Times

“…fun and engaging… marinated in Texas wryness… Ann wants you to savor the wit of this up-by-the-bootstraps politico, who began… as an adoring wife and mother and reinvented herself by entering politics and ascending the ladder…”

- The Washington Post

Ann was a co-production with WAM Theatre