For immediate release
Further information: contact Joseph Giomboni
Public Relations office, (570) 208-5957

Aug. 18, 2015 - The King’s College Theatre Department’s 2015-16 theatre season features productions of award-winning plays for local audiences, including a gripping historical musical, a magical seventeenth-century comedy, a mature, captivating fairytale, and a presentation of one of Shakespeare’s iconic plays.

The season kicks-off with performances of the Tony Award-winning musical, “1776,” music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards, book by Peter Stone. Based on the events surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the play dramatizes the efforts of national icons John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to convince members of the second Continental Congress to vote for independence from the British monarchy. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1-3 and Oct. 8-10 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 4.

Passion and regret, love and magic fuel the area premiere of award-winning playwright Tony Kushner’s “The Illusion,” a witty adaption of Corneille’s comedy “L’Illusion Comique.” The fairytale centers on a dying father’s desperate search for his long-lost son. The old man travels in the dead of night to a mysterious cave and engages a wizard, who conjures visions of the romantic, adventurous, and perilous life his son has been living since expelled from home. King’s Theatre will stage performances at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 12-14 and Nov. 19-21 and at 2 p.m. on Nov. 15.

One of the Bard’s legendary tragedies, “MacBeth” warns of how one’s rush to glory and power can transform into greed, treachery, and personal destruction. After victory on the battlefield, Macbeth witnesses a prophecy from three witches: he will sit on Scotland’s throne. As political ambitions consume Macbeth and send him teetering on the edge of madness, a king is murdered, heirs are dispatched, a crown is seized, as the prophecy plays out to its bitter and bloody end. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 24-27 and 2 p.m. on Feb. 27-28. High school matinee performances are available upon request. 

Weaving short fairy tales into a compelling narrative, Mary Zimmerman’s “The Secret in the Wings” transports viewers on a voyage into the murky underbelly of human impulses, through unexpected lands of ogres and princes, and into a charming conclusion in the riveting world of classic fairy tales. Performances for the area premiere of this renowned play are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on April 14-16 and April 21-23 and 2 p.m. on April 23. 

The season will conclude with a series of student produced An Evening of One-Acts in May. All theatre productions will be performed in the George P. Maffei II Theatre, located in the Administration Building on North River Street. Tickets are $12 for general admission, $7 for senior citizens, and $5 for King’s alumni and non-King’s students. For more information on upcoming performances or to reserve tickets, call the box office at (570) 208-5825 or e-mail boxoff@kings.edu.