Indiana Repertory Theatre announces 2020-2021 Season
Community stories to shine in Bicentennial celebration and INclusion Series continuation

Indianapolis, Ind.—The Indiana Repertory Theatre has announced the 2020 - 2021 Season, which will take audiences on a journey from astonishing thrills to heartfelt laughter and from shared yesterdays to unknown tomorrows. Set to begin on September 9, 2020, the season continues IRT’s commitment to literary and multigenerational stories, celebrates the city’s Bicentennial and centers on the importance of community and change.

The Signature Six Series includes Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Indianapolis at 200: Finding Home, Native Gardens, Thurgood, The Widow Lincoln, and Steel Magnolias. The additional productions for students and families will be Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat, and the return of the Indy holiday tradition Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

The IRT will continue into the second year of the INclusion Series to celebrate diverse storytelling with the hot-button comedy Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías and Thurgood, a portrait of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall by George Stevens, Jr. Rounding out the INclusion Series will be Indianapolis at 200: Finding Home, a collection of stories crafted by writers across the city to support and reflect on Indy’s Bicentennial.

“We’re looking forward to our 49th season of producing nine plays across a diverse spectrum especially for our central Indiana audiences. These compelling stories encourage patrons of all ages to consider our shared history and celebrate and learn from our differences,” IRT’s Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Janet Allen said.  “We are particularly excited to continue our INclusion Series, to participate in Indianapolis’ Bicentennial observance, to produce a play focused on an iconic moment in American history by our playwright in residence, and to share with our audiences three remarkable pieces of theatre adapted from particularly timely, world-changing pieces of literature.”

The Season Sponsor for the 26th straight year is OneAmerica Financial Partners, who has pledged through 2025. The season is also made possible by Season Partner Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Seated ticket packages are available now and include options for the Signature Six Series. To learn more about season package benefits and to purchase, visit irtlive.com. Build Your Own packages and single tickets will go on sale later this summer.

For more information on the season announcement, contact Marketing Communications Manager Kerry Barmann at kbarmann@irtlive.com or 317.916.4824.
 
2020 - 2021 SEASON AT THE INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
adapted by David Catlin
September 9 - October 4, 2020

electrifying look at a classic thriller
Join a memorable gathering of literary giants on a dark and eerie evening as Mary Shelley stitches together her grisly gothic tale of Victor Frankenstein and his terrifying creation. This galvanic adaptation of the classic novel thrills and enthralls as it experiments with love, grief, horror, and the power to create—or destroy—life. There’s a little monster in all of us.


Indianapolis at 200: Finding Home
a collaboration by writers across the city
with songs by Tim Grimm & Bill Myers
October 6 - November 8, 2020

exploring Indy’s shared history
Delve into beloved icons and hidden gems, the famous and the forgotten, with an Indianapolis Bicentennial collection created by a diverse group of writers from all around the city. Featuring songs by Hoosier singer-songwriter Tim Grimm and Indianapolis jazz icon Bill Myers, this multifaceted look at our city’s story mixes music and history, comedy and drama, fact and fable.


Charles Dickens’
A Christmas Carol
adapted by Tom Haas
November 14 - December 26, 2020

Indy’s holiday tradition
As the weather turns cold, warm your heart with Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and spirits of the past, present, and future. A Christmas Carol shines a light on the power of kindness and love in this uplifting tale of one man’s journey to redemption. Come celebrate the joy of the season with our annual holiday treasure infused with music and song.


Native Gardens
by Karen Zacarías
January 13 - February 6, 2021

hot-button comedy
You can’t choose your neighbors. In this thorny new comedy, cultures and gardens clash when a Latinx couple, Pablo and Tania, move in next to Frank and Virginia, a white couple with a prize-worthy English garden. The neighbors, each rooted in their views on race, taste, class, and privilege, get into a border dispute over a long-standing fence line—pushing both couples to surprising and hilarious extremes.


Dr. Seuss’s
The Cat in the Hat
based on the book by Dr. Seuss
play originally produced by the National Theatre of Great Britain
adapted and originally directed by Katie Mitchell
January 30 - February 28, 2021

the best playdate ever
Everyone's favorite cat comes to life in this theatrical adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic. From the moment his tall, red-and-white-striped hat appears around the door, Sally and her brother know that the Cat in the Hat is the funniest, most mischievous cat they have ever met. With the trickiest of tricks and the craziest of ideas, he turns a rainy afternoon into an amazing adventure. But what will Mom find when she comes home? Introduce your children to the joyful experience of live theatre and the creativity of play.


Ray Bradbury’s
Fahrenheit 451
adapted by Tobias Andersen
February 5 - March 6, 2021

timeless sci-fi tale
In a dystopian future where the written word is forbidden, firemen are paid to burn books instead of fight fires. But when Montag starts to read the books he is supposed to burn, he begins to question the life he leads. Now he must choose between continuing his regimented existence or risking everything for the right to think. Published in 1953, this science fiction classic is even more relevant today.


Thurgood
by George Stevens, Jr.
March 2 - March 28, 2021

champion of equality
As a young Civil Rights lawyer, Thurgood Marshall risked his life to guarantee equal education opportunities for all children. Eventually, he took the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case all the way to the highest court in the land—and won. Later, as the first African American Supreme Court Justice, he fought for liberty and justice for all of us. This Broadway hit is an eye-opening, uplifting, and surprisingly humorous portrait of an American hero.


The Widow Lincoln
by James Still
March 31 - April 25, 2021

tragic and triumphant
Fascinating, frustrating, and misunderstood, Mary Lincoln was one of the most criticized and maligned First Ladies in American history. When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, she locked herself in a room in the White House and didn’t come out for 40 days and 40 nights. Commissioned by Ford’s Theatre, James Still’s hauntingly theatrical play weaves together the past and the present into the fever dreams of a woman trying to grieve, trying to imagine a suddenly unknown future, and trying to do it on her own terms.


Steel Magnolias
by Robert Harling
April 13 - May 9, 2021

strong and sassy
Before it was a movie, this pop culture favorite was an off-Broadway hit. With sharp, witty banter and memorable one-liners, six women from all walks of life celebrate the everyday joys and tears of small-town living while gathered at their favorite hair salon. But when tragedy strikes, the play reveals the steely bonds of compassion and love that hold true friends together.

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ABOUT THE IRT
Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.

IRT brings to life first-ever stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s ultimate whodunit
Exotic golden-age detective story weaves history, mystery, murder and morals


​Indianapolis, Ind.—The Indiana Repertory Theatre dives into the mysterious pages of the world’s best-selling author for its next production, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Adapted by Ken Ludwig, this ultimate whodunit runs March 3 - 29 on the OneAmerica Mainstage and is a co-production with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Originally published in 1934, Murder on the Orient Express has been adapted into multiple radio plays, films, and television programs, but this version by Ken Ludwig—writer of Lend Me a Tenor and The Game’s Afoot--is the first stage adaptation. While the IRT has done multiple Agatha Christie mysteries over the years, Ludwig’s take will only be the IRT’s second play that features the Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot; the first was Black Coffee in 1989.

Inspired by Christie’s own time stranded on the Orient Express in Turkey during a mudslide and the international news of the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, her story weaves well-known history, cosmopolitan characters, moral complexities, and a shadowy murder into a spell-binding, thought-provoking, and intricate detective mystery.

“There is nothing more theatrical than the thriller, and no master better suited to creating stage-worthy thrillers than Agatha Christie,” IRT’s Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Janet Allen said. “Christie’s work has the uncanny ability to draw people from many different walks of life under her spell. She appeals to both men and women, and widely across cultures, as her work has been translated into more than 50 languages.”

Returning to direct is Risa Brainin, IRT Associate Artistic Director from 1997-2000, who also directed the 2017 nationally recognized production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time starring Mickey Rowe and last season’s Holmes and Watson.

“It is exciting to come back to IRT and work on a very different kind of mystery play,” Brainin said. “Christie wrote fabulous roles, and Ludwig’s version exploits, expands, delights in those wonderful renderings. He has remained true to the original when it comes to portraying these delightfully complex, dramatic, and quirky individuals.”

Helping bring these complex and quirky characters to life are IRT familiars Ryan Artzberger as Colonel Arbuthnot and Samuel Ratchett, Rob Johansen as Michel and Head Waiter, and Aaron Kirby as Hector MacQueen, along with a versatile and talented cast of actors new to the IRT, including Andrew May as Hercule Poirot.

Tickets are available now for the golden-age detective story from the pages of the world’s best-selling author!

DETAILS

WHERE: Indiana Repertory Theatre, 140 W. Washington Street, OneAmerica Mainstage

RUN DATES:  March 3 - March 29, various times. Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is approximately 2 hours and ten minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. Tickets and performance schedule available at IRTlive.com.

TICKETS: Tickets start at $25. Click to buy.

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM:

RYAN ARTZBERGER | Colonel Arbuthnot & Samuel Ratchett
KATIE BRADLEY | Countess Andrenyi
NASTACIA GUIMONT | Mary Debenham
DALE HODGES | Princess Dragomiroff
ROB JOHANSEN | Michel & Head Waiter
CALLIE JOHNSON |Greta Ohlsson
JENNIFER JOPLIN | Helen Hubbard
AARON KIRBY | Hector MacQueen
GAVIN LAWRENCE | Monsieur Bouc
ANDREW MAY | Hercule Poirot

RISA BRAININ | Director
ROBERT M. KOHARCHIK | Scenic Designer
DEVON PAINTER | Costume Designer
MICHAEL KLAERS | Lighting Designer
MICHAEL KECK | Composer
L. B. MORSE | Projections Designer

SPECIAL EVENTS:

BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION AT FRANKLIN ROAD LIBRARY
Monday, March 2, 2020 | Discussion 6:30 - 8 PM
Adults are invited to a book discussion at the Indianapolis Public Library Franklin Road Branch about Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Chat about the classic mystery and hear from IRT’s Resident Dramaturg Richard Roberts about the first-ever stage adaptation by Ken Ludwig.

OPENING NIGHT
Friday, March 6, 2020 | Performance at 7:30 PM
Raise a glass and cheers to the cast and crew at IRT’s Opening Night! After the show, delight in a champagne toast, hors d’oeuvres, and a one-time-only chance to explore the set with IRT Artisans.

HAPPY HOUR
Tuesday, March 10, 2020 | Happy Hour starts at 5:30 PM | Performance at 6:30 PM
Start your evening at the Theatre with IRT’s Happy Hour! Beginning at 5:30 PM, sample appetizers and drinks from local distilleries, breweries and more before the performance. Sip, savor, and save with half-price drinks at the bar available throughout the evening.

IRTEA TALK
Sunday, March 15, 2020 | Performance at 2 PM
Stay after the performance to take part in a post-show discussion led by actors, staff and special guests. Learn behind-the-scenes details and additional information about the show and its themes while enjoying tea and cookies courtesy of the IRT.

ASL/AD PERFORMANCE
Sunday, March 15, 2020 | Performance at 2 PM
The IRT offers ASL/AD services to our patrons with vision and hearing needs. Patrons with hearing needs are encouraged to sit in the interpretation zone and meet with the interpreter before the show. We also offer Assisted Listening Devices free of charge at each performance. To learn more visit irtlive.com/accessibility.

BACKSTAGE TOUR
Friday, March 20, 2020 | Following the 7:30 PM performance
Immediately following this performance, join IRT staff for an explorative and informative backstage tour. Tours typically last 30 minutes.

COOKIES & COFFEE
Thursday, March 26, 2020 | Performance at 2 PM
Before the 2 PM performance, sweeten your afternoon at the IRT with complimentary cookies, tea and coffee provided by Bee Coffee Roasters served in the lobby.

POST-SHOW DISCUSSION
Thursday, March 26, 2020 | Following the 2 PM performance
Join IRT staff and cast immediately after the performance for a post-show discussion that covers a variety of interesting topics related to the show. Post-show discussions typically last for 20 minutes.

For more information contact Kerry Barmann, Marketing Communications Manager at kbarmann@irtlive.com or 317.916.4824.

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ABOUT THE IRT
Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.