THE HAUNTED LIFE
World Premiere
By Jack Kerouac
Adapted by Sean Daniels
Directed by Sean Daniels and
Christopher Oscar Peña
Featuring Joel Colodner
March 20–April 14, 2019
A new play from Lowell's native son
Jack Kerouac
In honor of the theatre’s 40th Anniversary Season in Lowell, MRT brings a new adaptation of a “lost” novel set in Lowell by Jack Kerouac, who was born and raised here. A deeply-felt family drama, The Haunted Life follows the coming of age story of college student Peter Martin and his relationship with his conservative father. Taking place during America’s last golden summer before it entered WWII, it chronicles the cost of war on a small town, and stars Joel Colodner (A Christmas Carol). UMass Lowell professor Todd F. Tietchen edited the manuscript, which is full of Kerouac’s gorgeous and poetic prose. It will be adapted by MRT Artistic Director Sean Daniels (The White Chip) and produced in collaboration with the Estate of Jack Kerouac.
CRY IT OUT
By Molly Smith Metzler
Directed by Amanda Charlton
Featuring Veronika Duerr
April 24–May 19, 2019
A comedy for every new mom
This new comedy for every new mom throws two very different women into an unlikely, but fierce, friendship. On maternity leave for the first time, Jessie and Lina tiptoe to their shared backyard for a precious coffee and a chat during naptime. This play, featuring Veronika Duerr (Going to See the Kid), takes an honest look at the absurdities of being home with a baby, the dilemma of returning to work, and how class impacts parenthood and friendship. A whip-smart tale from Molly Smith Metzler (Orange is the New Black, Shameless), Cry It Out captures the belly laughs, raw rage, and secret confidences that come with the early days of parenthood.
Native Gardens
By Karen Zacarías
Directed by Giovanna Sardelli
Featuring Joel Colodner
September 12–October 7, 2018
Good fences make good neighbors…right?
A millennial, Latinx couple moves in next door to a white, baby boomer couple in Karen Zacarías’ topical new comedy. After some good-natured ribbing over gardening styles––traditional designs versus the eco-friendlier native plants––the couples find themselves at odds over an unexpected property line dispute. A dispute that explodes into a host of verbal jabs and blows over race, culture, privilege, and the meaning of neighborly behavior.
Joel Colodner (A Christmas Carol) returns to the MRT stage for this play DC Theatre Scene calls a “true breath of comic fresh air….a biting, perceptive, and ultimately hopeful send-up to our fraught relationships with those around us.”
MURDER FOR TWO
Book and Music by Joe Kinosian
Book and Lyrics by Kellen Blair
Directed by JC Clementz
Featuring Joe Kinosian
October 17–November 11, 2018
One murder. Two actors. Six suspects.
And one piano!
Who killed the great American novelist Arthur Whitney at his own surprise party? In this zany, whodunit, comedy musical, every guest has a motive. Was it the prima ballerina, the widow, the niece, the psychiatrist—or even the detective? Two actors play 13 roles—and the piano—in this entertaining homage to old-fashioned murder mysteries. The play stars co-writer Joe Kinosian, in the role he originated Off-Broadway. The New York Times called it an “ingenious miniature musical in the form of a snazzy vaudevillian double-act.”
MISS BENNET:
CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY
By Lauren Gunderson
and Margot Melcon
Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary
Featuring Veronika Duerr
November 28–December 23, 2018
A holiday treat for Austen fans and the
entire family
This lush, period drama is the perfect chance to reunite with the author’s delightful characters from Pride and Prejudice. There are love letters delivered to the wrong person and unexpected engagements announced. The large, eight-person cast includes Alexis Bronkovic (Silent Sky) and Veronika Duerr (Going to See the Kid). This is “a celebration of nerd love in all its overeducated glory” (Chicago Tribune) and “a gift for Jane Austen fans” (Washington Post). Playwrights Lauren Gunderson (Silent Sky) and Margot Melcon find the perfect warm-hearted blend of wit and manners for the holidays.
SLOW FOOD
World Premiere
By Wendy MacLeod
Directed by Sean Daniels
January 9–February 3, 2019
There's no escape from the world’s worst waiter
Irene and Peter just want to have a nice meal out on their big anniversary in Palm Springs. But their highly neurotic waiter, Stephen, will not bring them their food, and everything goes horribly, ridiculously wrong. This absurd server will have them examining everything from their menu choices to their very future together! Will their shared desperation get them their spanakopita—or end their marriage? Playwright Wendy MacLeod (Women in Jeopardy!) brings us a comedy for anyone who’s ever been “hangry.”
THE HEATH
World Premiere
By Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Sean Daniels
February 13–March 10, 2019
How can we make peace across generations?
The most-produced playwright in America, Lauren Gunderson (Silent Sky) returns to MRT for the fourth time with The Heath. This time, she turns her prodigious storytelling skills on herself. Connecting personal experiences with Shakespeare’s writings, she wrestles with how you can make peace with a beloved relative who seems unlike you in every way. This beautiful meditation on her grandfather’s life draws on everything from King Lear to the banjo. The Heath is a soul-stirring story of redemption, love, madness, and the science of memory.
Subscriptions for the 2018-19 Season are available now through the MRT Box Office. Visit mrt.org/subscriptions for more information. Single tickets for the 2018-19 Season go on sale July 30, 2018, and range from $24-$75.