POWERHOUSE SEASON

The Powerhouse Season, our annual partnership with Vassar College, is the core of our artistic programming.  About three hundred and fifty professional playwrights, directors, actors, and designers, plus forty to fifty students in the Training Company live and work together, away from critical and commercial pressures, allowing them to take risks as they explore and develop new projects.

The 2017 Powerhouse Season ran from

June 23 - July 30, 2017. 

The 2018 Powerhouse Season details will be announced in early Spring.

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MAINSTAGE IN THE POWERHOUSE

SACRED VALLEY

by Josh Radnor

directed by Sheryl Kaller

Narby and Natalie can’t remember a time when they weren’t friends. But their seemingly rock-solid friendship is upended when Narby takes Natalie’s husband Brian out for his first mushroom trip. The next day, a confused Brian leaves Natalie, an enraged Natalie blames Narby, and three people are forced to ask themselves the deepest questions about love, friendship, and growing up in this bittersweet comedy from Josh Radnor (Liberal Arts, “How I Met your Mother”, Powerhouse’s The Babylon Line).

JUNE 29 - JULY 9

MAINSTAGE IN THE POWERHOUSE

GOOD MEN WANTED

by Kevin Armento

directed by Jaki Bradley

choreographed by Ani Taj

Good Men Wanted brings to life the incredible true stories of renegade women who disguised themselves as men to fight in the Civil War. In a searing drama punctuated by explosive dance sequences set to contemporary pop music, five women of vastly different backgrounds become warriors and spies, endure prison camps and midnight raids, and ultimately intersect at America's most storied battlefield, Gettysburg. These unsung heroes circumvented the limitations of their time, with a boldness that speaks loudly to our own.

JULY 20 - 30

MUSICAL WORKSHOPS IN THE MARTEL

STILYAGI

lyrics by Lisa Kron

music by Peter Lerman

based on the motion picture The Hipsters, produced by

Red Arrow Films

directed by Michael Mayer

“This is musical about me, Mels Yefimovich Vasnetsov, about difficult time in my life when I was young (hard to believe) and good looking (harder to believe) in no-longer-existing world of 1950s Moscow, when I was pulled from promising future in Komosomol Leninist Youth Brigade by beautiful, corrupt and dissipated Stilyaga girl by name of Polly, who ruined my life in best and worst possible manner, which, to this day, I am not reconciling. Obviously, this is complicated Soviet story, not fit subject for frivolous American musical. But they ask for blurb so here is blurb so if you are interested, please, I invite you, come. But if you ask me this is terrible idea.” 

JUNE 23 - 25

MUSICAL WORKSHOP IN THE MARTEL

THIS AIN'T NO DISCO

music and lyrics by

Stephen Trask and

Peter Yanowitz

book by

Stephen Trask &

Peter Yanowitz

and Rick Elice

directed by Trip Cullman

Set against the garbage strikes, the grit, the graffiti of NYC 1979, This Ain't No Disco tells the story of drifters and dreamers who search for their place in the night world of Studio 54 and the Mudd Club. Ultimately, it’s about finding community and purpose in a city where one’s fate can turn on a dime bag, where every few steps gives you a chance to pick a new direction, to take a new path. From co-creator of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and the director of Six Degrees of Separation.

JUNE 30 - JULY 2

MUSICAL WORKSHOP IN THE MARTEL

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES

book by Lynn Nottage

composed by Duncan Sheik

lyrics by Susan Birkenhead

based on the novel by

Sue Monk Kidd

directed by Sam Gold

It’s 1964 in South Carolina, and Lily Owens wrestles with her controlling father and a haunting memory of her dead mother. When Rosaleen, her Black caretaker, is beaten and jailed for attempting to vote, Lily’s rebellious spirit is awakened and she and Rosaleen escape their circumstances on an adventure, to find the truth about her mother’s death. One portentous clue leads them to a colorful bee farm run by three eccentric and spiritual Black sisters, whose wisdom, warmth and motherly love help both Lily and Rosaleen grow and heal. Written by two time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage, lyrics by Tony and Drama Desk nominee Susan Birkenhead,composed by Tony winner Duncan Sheik, and directed by Tony winner Sam Gold.

JULY 27 - 29

INSIDE LOOK PLAY WORKSHOPS

THE GREAT LEAP

by Lauren Yee

directed by Will Davis

San Francisco, spring 1989. Manford Lum, locally renowned on the sidewalk basketball courts of Chinatown, talks his way onto a college team, just before they travel to Beijing for a "friendship" game. His background is a mystery, but he can sink 100 free throws in a row, so who cares? When they arrive, China is in the throes of the post-Cultural Revolution era, and Manford must juggle international politics and his own personal history. There’s more at stake on the court than just who wins or loses. Inspired by events from the life (and short-lived basketball career) of playwright Lauren Yee’s father.

JULY 7 - 9

INSIDE LOOK PLAY WORKSHOPS

THE HOMECOMING QUEEN

by Ngozi Anyanwu

directed by Awoye Timpo

A bestselling novelist returns to Nigeria to care for her ailing father, but before she can bury him, she must relearn the traditions she's long forgotten. Having been absent for over a decade, she must collide with her culture, traumatic past, painful regrets, and the deep, deep love she thought she could never have.

JULY 28 - 30

FREE PUBLIC READINGS IN THE SHIVA

FESTIVAL 1

Saturday, June 24  |  2pm

KID PRINCE AND PABLO

by Brian Quijada

original music by Marvin Quijada

directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh

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Saturday, June 24  |  5pm

IRONWEED

by William Kennedy & Jodie Markell

based on the novel by William Kennedy

directed by Jodie Markell

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Sunday, June 25  |  2pm

LITTLE ORPHAN DANNY

book, music & lyrics by Dan Finnerty

additional music by Dan Lipton

directed by Sean Daniels

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Sunday, June 25  |  5pm

PARIS, ACTORS

by Hamish Linklater

directed by Leigh Silverman

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Saturday, July 15  |  8pm*

JANE SAYS

by Diana Son

directed by Mark Brokaw

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*Please note new date and time.

JUNE 23 - 25

FREE PUBLIC READINGS IN THE SHIVA

FESTIVAL 2

Friday, July 21  |  8pm

SERIOUS MOONLIGHT

written by and based on the film by Adrienne Shelly

co-adapted by Andy Ostroy &

Liz Tuccillo

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Saturday, July 22  |  12pm

ONE GOOD EGG

by Annie Evans

directed by Melia Bensussen

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Saturday, July 22  |  5pm

THE FIT

by Carey Perloff

directed by Daniel Aukin

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Sunday, July 23  |  12pm

AMY & THE ORPHANS

by Lindsey Ferrentino

directed by Scott Ellis

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Sunday, July 23  |  5pm

DIANA

book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro

music and lyrics by David Bryan

directed by Christopher Ashley

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JULY 21 - 23

FREE PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

THE TRAINING COMPANY

Performances of the Classics at the Environmental Cooperative

at the Vassar Barns

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HAMLET

by William Shakespeare

adapted & directed by Emily Mendelsohn

July 14, 15, 16

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CYMBELINE

by William Shakespeare

adapted & directed by Andrew Willis-Woodward

July 21, 22, 23

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Late Night at the Frances Lehman

Loeb Art Center

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SOUNDPAINTING

composed and directed by Max Reuben

July 6, 13, 20, 27

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FREE PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

THE TRAINING COMPANY

Workshop Performances

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12 OPHELIAS

(A PLAY WITH BROKEN SONGS)

by Caridad Svich

directed by Heidi Handelsman

July 23 - 24

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ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL

by members of the training company

July 26

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NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT,

NOT ENOUGH OXYGEN

by Caryl Churchill

directed by members of the training company

July 28

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