A TALE OF TWO CITIES
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
BY CHARLES DICKENS ADAPTED BY MIKE POULTON
BOOK & LYRICS BY SIR WILLIAM GILBERT MUSIC BY SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN
“IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES; IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES...” Framed by a traveling troupe of actors creating this classic tale before the audience’s eyes, this new adaptation of Dickens’ greatest work portrays a world divided…the aristocracy fighting to stay on top, while the poverty-stricken lower class slowly simmers, planning an uprising. An epic story of love, sacrifice, destiny, and redemption, interweaving one family’s intensely personal drama with the terror and chaos of the French Revolution. Featuring some of Dickens’ most memorable characters, this story has never been more relevant or impactful.
NOVEMBER 17-19, 2016 Zak Rosen ‘16 and Charlie Olmert ‘17 in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
“IT IS; IT IS A GLORIOUS THING TO BE A PIRATE KING.” Gilbert and Sullivan’s hilarious, hopeful musical follows young Frederic, an orphan who has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but raucous band of pirates. He disavows the pirates’ way of life and falls for the beautiful Mabel. Frederic’s melodious tones win over the heart of Major General Stanley’s songbird daughter, Mabel, but when the Pirate King discovers General Stanley has lied about being an orphan to keep the pirates from stealing all of his belongings and carrying off his bevy of beautiful daughters, an “ingenious paradox” may prevent the budding romance and lead to the death of “the very model of a modern Major-General.”
FEBRUARY 23-25, 2017
BLACK COMEDY (A FARCE IN THE DARK) BY PETER SHAFFER
“LET THERE BE LIGHT!” In a feat of theatrical genius, the action supposedly in the dark is illuminated; when the lights are to be on, the stage is in the dark. Lovesick and desperate, sculptor Brindsley Miller has embellished his apartment with furniture and objets d’arte “borrowed” from the absent antique collector next door hoping to impress his fiancee’s pompous father and a wealthy art dealer, Schuppanzigh. The fussy neighbor returns just as a blown fuse plunges the apartment into darkness. Unexpected guests, aging spinsters, errant phone cords and other snares impede his frantic attempts to return the purloined items before light is restored in this hilarious comedy of errors.
APRIL 20-21 & 23, 2017
Ella Green ‘17 in “Nice Work If You Can Get It”
Cast of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Quinn Roes ‘19, Sarah Peeler ‘18, Kendall Jacobsen ‘19, and Noah Jaccard ‘18 in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Alana Miller ‘18 and Jimmy Diamondidis ‘18 in “The Mousetrap”
A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, RON GIDDINGS THE BRITISH ARE COMING! THIS YEAR’S DYNAMIC SEASON TAKES US ON A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME TO ENGLAND IN THE 1780S, 1880S, AND 1980S, SO GRAB YOUR TEA AND CRUMPETS AND JOIN US FOR THE WILD RIDE! OUR THRILLING OPENER IS A NEW TAKE ON CHARLES DICKENS’ MASTERPIECE OF DUALIT Y AND REVOLUTION, A TALE OF TWO CITIES . 17 ACTORS PLAY OVER 50 ROLES IN THIS TUMULTUOUS AND MOVING ADAPTATION. WE ARE EXCITED TO CONTINUE OUR RICH, LITERARY TRADITION, AFTER SUCH FAVORITES AS LORD OF THE FLIES AND A
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM . OUR WINTER MUSICAL IS THE FUN, FAMILY-FRIENDLY, SWASHBUCKLING ESCAPADE, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE , A TALE OF A YOUNG MAN FREE OF HIS PIRATICAL INDENTURES, READY TO LEAD A LIFE OF LOVE, IF ONLY HE COULD SHAKE HIS SENSE OF DUT Y. EACH DISTRACTINGLY HILARIOUS CHARACTER IS MORE FUN THAN THE LAST IN THIS ROLLICKING ADVENTURE ON THE HIGH SEAS. THE SEASON COMES TO AN END WITH PETER SHAFFER’S INGENIOUS FARCE, BLACK COMEDY , WHERE WE TURN THE LIGHTS OFF ON OUR ACTORS, INSTEAD OF ON OUR AUDIENCES AND HOPE FOR THE BEST. YOU’LL SURELY LAUGH YOURSELF TO TEARS IN THIS NON-STOP, BREAK-NECK, NOT-TO-BE-MISSED EVENING AT THE THEATRE. PIP-PIP-CHEERIO, AND GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
OUR MISSION:
THE WATER STREET PLAYERS ENCOURAGE THE DYNAMIC GROWTH AND DEEPENED INVOLVEMENT OF EMERGING, YOUNG ARTISTS.
SHOW INFORMATION NOVEMBER 17-19 A TALE OF TWO CITIES FEBRUARY 23-25 THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE APRIL 20, 21, 23 BLACK COMEDY
$10 ADULTS | $5 STUDENTS FREE FOR SEVERN STUDENTS & FACULT Y WWW.SEVERNSCHOOL.COM 410.647.7700
WITH A RENAISSANCE SPIRIT AND THROUGH QUALIT Y PROGRAMMING, WE STRIVE TO ENTERTAIN, ENGAGE, AND CHALLENGE AUDIENCES THROUGH THE ART OF THEATRE.
SEVERN SCHOOL CHALLENGES ITS STUDENTS TO PURSUE EXCELLENCE IN CHARACTER, CONDUCT, AND SCHOLARSHIP, TO MARSHAL THE COURAGE TO LEAD, AND TO DEVELOP THE LASTING DESIRE TO SERVE AND ACHIEVE. WE BELIEVE THIS IS BEST REALIZED IN A COMMUNIT Y WHERE ADULTS MODEL THESE QUALITIES AND WHERE EACH STUDENT IS KNOWN AND VALUED. Adam Needle ‘16 in “The Mousetrap”
Cast of “Nice Work If You Can Get It”
THE WATER STREET PLAYERS
INSPIRE EXPLORE SING ACT DISCOVER EXCITE IMAGINE COLLABORATE CREATE TRANSFORM 2016-2017 SEASON