Shakespeare, Wilde celebrated in PICT Classic Theatre season
Submitted photo
Alan Stanford, artistic and executive director at PICT Classic Theatre in Pittsburgh.
Submitted photo
A rendering of the PICT Classic Theatre in Pittsbrugh by Jonmichael Bohatch.
"Romero and Juliet" opens Oct. 21 at the WQED Fred Rogers Studio in Oakland, and runs through Nov. 4.
"In The Company of Oscar Wilde" will appear on the Frick Art Museum of Point Breeze stage at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 6-10.
Classic authors will be celebrated in the 2017-2018 season at PICT Classic Theatre in Pittsburgh, starting with William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
The star-crossed lovers and feuding families will appear on stage in Shakespeare’s original tragedy at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the WQED Fred Rogers Studio in Pittsburgh.
According to artistic and executive director Alan Stanford, the production will be wonderful, yet unforeseen.
“As we do always with Shakespeare, it’ll be Shakespeare but slightly unexpected,” Stanford said.
Without giving too much away, Stanford added that it’s no Elizabethan production.
“It will be slightly more modern in staging and setting, but will be as Shakespeare wrote it,” he added. “He was a very modern playwright.”
Stanford noted that professional theater should always be a learning experience.
“I celebrated my golden anniversary this year — 50 years as a professional actor and director. And there hasn’t been one single year that I haven’t learned something new,” Stanford said.
He added that he hopes to convey that message to the audience through their performances.
“The first job of theater is to entertain. The second job, is to make you think,” Stanford said. “Ask yourself questions.”
“When you see ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ think about it. It’s the perfect example,” Stanford said. “Parents and friends do what they think is right, but they might end up in a bad way because of other people’s thoughts and ideas. No matter, we tend to mess up other people’s lives. Left alone, they might have been happy. If that isn’t an absolutely wonderful and frightening story of today, nothing is. That’s what it is — Shakespeare is alive because it’s modern.”
The show will continue playing at the studio through Nov. 4.
“Romeo and Juliet” is one of two major productions during their season this year, Stanford said.
In the spring, “Jane Eyre” will appear on stage April 7-28 in the WQED Fred Rogers Studio.
“It’s a brilliant book, and the best of the novels,” Stanford said, applauding the classic author Charlotte Brontenn for her book about decency and morality.
“She’s striving to do what’s right, and facing an enormous amount of adversity because of it,” he said. “It’s a book of optimism.”
Between their major productions, PICT will also feature a series of shows based on Oscar Wilde at The Frick Art Museum in Pittsburgh.
“It’s an examination of the life and times of Oscar Wilde, using his own words,” Stanford said. “He was an essayist, a philosopher — not just a playwright.”
Stanford said Wilde was also a satirist, too, often satirizing the English establishment and elite Victorian London.
“He wrote glittering prose, and was an amazing user of the English language,” Stanford noted.
The series, known as “Wilde at the Frick,” begins with “In The Company of Oscar Wilde” Dec. 6-10. “Oscar Wilde Fairy Tales” begins at 2 p.m., Dec. 9, while “The Trial of Oscar Wilde” takes the stage at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 10. A post-show discussion led by Stanford and Frick Pittsburgh Executive Director Robin Nicholson will follow that evening, according to a press release from PICT.
“The shows will take audiences through his times,” Stanford said.
When it comes to pinpointing a highlight of the season, Stanford says he can’t pick just one.
“Every play we do is a highlight,” he said. “When you offer a season to subscribers, you’re not saying what’s best, because everything we strive to do is always better than before. That’s the way theater should be.”
Ticket prices for each performance vary, and subscriptions are available. Reservations, tickets and further information can be found at www.picttheatre.org or at their box office at 412-561-6000.