Avant Bard | theatre on the edge
Coriolanus
An Avant Bard and Longacre Lea co-production, this adaptation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus is directed by Longacre Lea Managing Director Séamus Miller and is inspired by video games, virtual reality, and our cultural embrace of ultra-violence. The production reframes our understanding of the protagonist through a trauma-informed lens. The audience will be directly involved and implicated in the conditioning of a man who is bred into, even celebrated for, antisocial brutality—and then punished for his learned inability to ‘play nice.’ Longacre Lea brings its signature video presence to the co-production. The production runs from February 29 through March 23, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
Homeless Garden
Kathleen Akerley will direct Avant Bard’s production of Homeless Garden, written by Matt Minnicino and co-developed by Chicago’s Refracted Theatre Company and Director Graham Miller. A DC-area premiere, Homeless Garden modernizes and deconstructs Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard with an eye on the interconnection of environmental and class issues. Minnicino is a playwright known to area audiences for his Helen Hayes nominated adaptation of The Misanthrope for Avant Bard in 2019. The production runs from May 2 through May 25, Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.