The Carriage House Players will open their spring season at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 16, with Yasmina Reza’s searing drama God of Carnage, which won the 2009 Tony Award.
Other performances will be on Friday and Saturday, March 23-24, at 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday, March 18 and 25, at 3:00 p.m. Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 seniors and children. (Tickets will be available soon on the Vanderbilt website.) The season includes The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh in April, Precious Little by Madeline George in May, and Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan in June.
Spring 2018:
God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza
A playground altercation between eleven-year-old boys brings together two sets of Brooklyn parents for a meeting to resolve the matter. At first, diplomatic niceties are observed, but as the meeting progresses, and the rum flows, tensions emerge and the gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than just their liberal principles in tatters.
The New York Times: “[A] streamlined anatomy of the human animal…delivers the cathartic release of watching other people’s marriages go boom. A study in the tension between civilized surface and savage instinct, this play is itself a satisfyingly primitive entertainment.” Entertainment Weekly: “Reza has established herself as a master [of] magnificently constructed plays.”
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
With echoes of Stoppard, Kafka, and the Brothers Grimm, The Pillowman centers on a writer in an unnamed totalitarian state who is being interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a series of murders. The result is an urgent work of theatrical bravura and an unflinching examination of the very nature and purpose of art.
Performances: Friday and Saturday, April 20-21, and 27-28, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, April 22 and 29, at 3:00 p.m. Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 seniors and children.
Precious Little by Madeline George (Performance rights pending)
Brodie, a gifted linguist, learns unsettling news about the baby she carries. Unable to get comfort from her girlfriend, she finds it in the two least likely sources imaginable: the elderly speaker of a vanishing language…and a gorilla at the zoo. Madeleine George’s irreverent and charming new play reveals the beauty and the limits of human language.
Performances: Friday and Saturday, May 11-12, and 18-19, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, May 13 and 20, at 3:00 p.m. Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 seniors and children.
Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan
When Jeff, a luckless young security guard, is drawn into a local murder investigation, loyalties are strained to the breaking point. As Jeff’s tightly wound supervisor is called to bear witness against his troubled brother, and an attractive rookie cop finds she must stand up to her seasoned partner, truth becomes elusive and justice proves costly.
Time Out NY: “A masterpiece. The best drama, the best comedy and the best romance of the year, all rolled into one.”
Performances: Friday and Saturday, June 8-9, and 15-16, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, June 10 and 17, at 3:00 p.m. Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 seniors and children.
Summer Shakespeare Festival
July and August
The 2018 Summer Shakespeare Festival will be the 30th anniversary of this popular event. Performances are given outdoors in the permanent stage in the Vanderbilt Mansion courtyard, where the Spanish-Mediterranean architecture offers a charming, period backdrop.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
June 29 – July 29
Every Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $15 (available in June at the door or on the Vanderbilt Museum website).
Hamlet
August 5 – September 2
Every Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $15.
