Theater 2024

Compagnia TPO: +ERBA A Forest in the City

Presented in Partnership with The Legacy Theatre and part of the Gordon Geballe Environmental Series

In this interactive show, +ERBA invites children from the audience to join two dancers on stage to create an imaginary city. One dancer builds the houses and streets, while the other creates the insects, grass, and trees. Children from the audience help color and populate the city. The newborn city becomes a living environment as new characters and events are added. Dancers and audience members share the stage in this cross-collaboration of art and play.

Compagnia de’ Colombari: King Lear

Compagnia de’ Colombari’s KING LEAR, adapted and directed by Karin Coonrod, is a raw, primal, and potent “paper crown” Lear that strips down the Shakespearian classic to its essence. An ensemble of ten actors ranging in age and gender all embody King Lear at the beginning. One by one, they strip off their paper crowns, transform into other characters, and conduct a take-over of the text and the theatre space. Spreading across the play’s treacherous psychic cartography, the performers dig deep into the internal and external voyage of a mighty king who loses and then finds himself again after arduous challenges.

The Regicides: Dad Jokes (But Funny!)

The Original King Killers of Comedy kick off their summer improv series with a special Father’s Day-themed performance. It’s not a dad bod, it’s a father figure. (18+ suggested)

A Slice (of What’s to Come)

New Haven is a pizza town. Or, more appropriately, apizza town. But what does this iconic American food — with roots in New Haven’s immigrant and labor communities past — say about our present moment, for our city and our culture? Join A Broken Umbrella Theatre (last seen at the Festival in 2013 with the award-winning Freewheelers), as they present A Slice, a preview of a larger work that will debut at Arts & Ideas 2025. A Slice includes a pizza tasting, a walk-through of New Haven pizza history with Taste of New Haven’s Colin Caplan, and a discussion with Broken Umbrella’s creative team about devising new work and why we love New Haven apizza!

Improv Workshop with The Regicides

Say “Yes, and…” to the Regicides, then get on your feet and play with us! Exercise your creative and collaborative muscles while having a ton of fun learning the basics of improvisational comedy, facilitated by New Haven’s longest-running improv ensemble. (Please note: Workshop participants must be 15 or older)

Elm Shakespeare’s Building a Brave New Theatre 2024

Elm Shakespeare’s annual discussion and performance series interrogates how Shakespeare serves the 21st Century and amplifies innovative and marginalized artistic voices. This year the series focuses on exploring Gender through Shakespeare. The Festival is thrilled to partner with Elm Shakespeare to present one event in this series as part of the Festival’s June 29 Ideas Summit: Intersections in the Arts. TRANSforming Shakespeare: How Creative Casting Makes Better Plays