MJ Bruder Munafo, artistic and executive director at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, is excited about this season’s productions. And this year’s lineup is quite robust.
Productions on the Patricia Neal Stage begin with public readings on May 15, 16, and 17 of “American Artist Loïs Mailou Jones.” The internationally known artist spent summers on the Vineyard, and is buried in the Oak Bluffs cemetery. The Playhouse commissioned the new play, written by Elaine Savory, who was married to the artist’s nephew and knew Jones well. Munafo will direct the production, which examines how to achieve her goal of becoming a significant American artist, Jones had to battle against racism, sexism, and the conditions of the art market.
In the multimedia show “SEEGER,” from May 29 through 31, iconic folksinger-activist Pete Seeger plays a benefit advocating for an end to the trade embargo with Cuba. He uses his signature songs “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “Guantanamera” to tell his story of being “embargoed” by the blacklist during the McCarthy era. It’s written and performed by Randy Noojin and directed by Mary Beth Easley.
The world premiere of “Dear Edvard,” about the artist Edvard Munch, will run from June 20 through July 5. The play, in equal parts a music theater, performance art, and gallery installation, stars Timothy McDevitt as Munch and Carlyn Connolly as the nurse. “Dear Edvard” is set in Dr. Jacobsen’s Clinic for Nervous Disorders and Alcoholism, where the artist committed himself in 1908. The nurse, now an elderly woman, confesses her long-ago passion for her famous patient, and transports us back to the beginnings of psychoanalysis, sexual liberation, and the birth of modern art. The librettist, Richard Michelson, is a seasonal resident with a house in Oak Bluffs. Kevin Newbury is the director, Steven Schoenberg is the composer, and David Sytkowski is the musical director.
“People kept asking me if we are going to bring that play back again about the deaf community,” Munafo says of “Chilmark,” which premiered in 2018. She is pleased to be able to present it again. Written and directed by Catherine Rush, the production is based on historical events, and runs from July 25 through August 16. It reveals how, in 19th century Chilmark, deafness was not a disability. Some people could hear, others could not, and everyone learned sign language as a matter of course.
The new play “Uncle Chris” will have three public readings, from August 28 through 30. Written by Allison Snyder and directed by Michael Herwitz, the plot takes place between 1982 and 2022 in a building between Lexington and Park Avenues in Manhattan. It centers on a brother and sister who find themselves living together once again. Adapting the play from the letters and diaries of ghostwriter Christopher Hemphill, a gay man during the AIDS epidemic, Snyder tells her uncle’s story in this zany and tender comedy about a family desperate to stay together while staying apart.
“‘Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library’ got rave reviews in New York,” says Munafo. It is written by Jenny Lyn Bader and directed by Ari Laura Kreith. The play stars Ella Dershowitz, Drew Hirshfield, and Brett Temple, and runs from Sept. 5 through 26. Inspired by real events, this fantastical drama delves into the life and mind of one of history’s most profound thinkers. Set in 1933 Berlin, with martial law in effect, political activism has become a capital crime. A young Gestapo officer arrests a young Hannah Arendt, a graduate student suspected of conducting illegal research. The interrogation is challenging as he seeks to determine whether Arendt is innocent or an enemy of the state.
“The Tempest” is this year’s outdoor production at the Tisbury Amphitheater, and will run from July 16 through August 10. Victor Talmadge will star as Prospero in Shakespeare’s play about magic, betrayal, love, and forgiveness.
“I’m very excited about the people coming here to work as actors, directors, and designers,” says Munafo. “It’s an exciting season, because we are doing so many different productions. It’s a dynamic lineup of plays.”
For more information and tickets, visit mvplayhouse.org/theater/patricia-neal-stage.
