Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum announces ‘Americana’ Summer Season

TOPANGA, Calif. - May 24, 2015 - PRLog -- Opening June 6: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Theatricumbrings back its signature production, an audience favorite with a set design unrivaled by any other theater - because it's the real thing. The most magical outdoor setting in Los Angeles is once again transformed into an enchanted forest inhabited by lovers both fairy and human. Shakespeare conjures a world of wonder, magic and romance where comical misunderstandings and the pain of unrequited love are resolved, and all is reconciled through midsummer night revelries and the enduring power of nature.

Opening June 7: As You Like It -  Two brothers alienated by ambition. Two more estranged by envy. Director Ellen Geer resets William Shakespeare's witty and playful romantic adventure in the divided South of the post-Civil War era, enhancing the story with traditional American folk music and dance. Rosalind, daughter of a banished Duke, is forced to flee the court and enter the Forest of Arden when her uncle, usurper of his brother's estate, threatens to have her killed. Accompanied by her cousin Celia, Rosalind disguises herself as a man for safety's sake. The disguise comes in handy when she tests the devotion of her noble admirer, Orlando — who is also on the run, from his hostile older brother. With Rosalind's wit leading the way, the forces of true love and justice eventually triumph.

Opening June 13: To Kill A Mockingbird – Christopher Sergel’s stage adaptation captures the warmth and poignancy of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, a compelling and timeless story about the loss of innocence. In a small Southern town during the depression, the idyllic childhood of eight-year old Scout and her brother Jem is changed forever when their lawyer-father defends a poor black man accused of raping a white girl. Through the drama of the trial and its aftermath, the children experience the harsh realities of prejudice that surround them.

Opening June 20: August Osage County – A vanished father. A pill-popping mother. Three sisters harboring shady little secrets. When the large Weston family unexpectedly reunites after Dad disappears, their Oklahoman family homestead explodes in a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets. A major new play that unflinchingly—and uproariously—exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and five Tony Awards, including Best Play. “Flat-out, no asterisks and without qualifications, the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years.” — The New York Times.

Opening July 11: Green Grow the Lilacs – Oklahoma native Lynn Riggs infused his 1931 hit play with a perfect mix of drama, romance and America’s most popular folk music. The courtship between a rancher and his gal is threatened by a menacing farmhand and turns violent, jeopardizing the young lovers’ future. Filled with vivid characters, colorful language, old songs and cowboy ballads, the play that inspired Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma is rarely performed in its original form, yet remains as compelling now as when it first burst onto the American stage.

Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga, CA 90290; $10-$39.50; (310) 455-3723; www.theatricum.com.