Coming off a record-breaking season that was honoured with five nominations at the 2017 Capital Critics Circle Awards, the Classic Theatre Festival in Perth is gearing up for its 9th season of staging professional productions of hits from the golden age of Broadway and the London Stage.
The 2018 mainstage season will open with a rediscovered gem by the author of I Am a Camera (the basis for the musical Cabaret) and Bell, Book & Candle. John Van Druten’s There’s Always Juliet is a story rich in the dialogue and atmosphere that characterized many a 1930s comedy featuring the likes of Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur and Carole Lombard. This tale of love at first sight follows the relationship of a British woman who meets an American businessman at a London tea party. Sparks fly, but how far will things go when the desire to find the perfect mate must face the obstacles of social mores, geography, and our sometimes overprotective sense of discretion?
It’s followed by an eagerly anticipated production of George Bernard Shaw’s wicked satire, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, the ultimate mother-daughter conflict story in which a young woman starts to question the source of her mother’s wealth. Filled with the warmth, humour, and unforgettable comic characters found in Shaw’s best writing, this play was banned for almost a decade by Britain’s Lord Chamberlain, but was celebrated throughout the 20th-century as an insightful and still relevant skewering of gender relations and the limited choices available to women in the workplace.
The season will close with the annual mystery thriller, a nailbiter called Angel Street (also known as Gaslight), by Patrick Hamilton. It’s a psychological thriller that became the source of the term gaslighting (when someone plays with your mind and tries to make you think you are going insane). A 1944 film version, directed by George Cukor, starred Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and a 19-year-old Angela Lansbury.
The Festival will also produce a new version of its morning walking play, Perth through the Ages, this time focused on tales of Perth during the Second World War. The Lonely Ghosts Walk will also return with a brand new walk through the ghostly spirits of Perth’s past.
Festival fans can also look forward to a surprise new show addition which will be announced in January.
The Festival’s annual holiday sale – theatre lovers can enjoy 25% savings and purchase vouchers now and pick their dates next year – is on until December 31, with tickets available at ticketsplease.ca or 1-877-283-1283.