by Team Actors on May 15, 2023

Actors Theatre of Louisville is proud to unveil its 2023-24 season, which includes five live, in-theater productions and more! Executive Artistic Director Robert Barry Fleming shares:

"The artistic collaborators and projects I get the privilege to announce with our five in-person productions are each wildly exciting on their own and breathtakingly exhilarating as a collective. They paint an inspired picture of a number of dynamic communities that truly reflect who we are and what we're about here in Kentucky. The expansive artistry expressed in these chosen works exhibits an exquisite range of what it means to be a part of the divine human comedy, in all the curious collisions we crash into and compromises we tumble into in our short time on this planet. We look forward to celebrating them all, welcoming first timers and welcoming back those who have supported us for years. This storytelling exploration is marked by the many unfathomable realities and unanticipated and bewildering complexities we navigate every day in contemporary life. Never in our lifetimes has the power of the theatre — the ritual sharing of stories in a collective space in real time — had greater potential to create more hope than despair, more resilience than demoralization, more joy in the face of overwhelming sadness. Getting a chance to dream, share, and envision the world through these creatives' artistic lenses will inevitably be a singular experience for our audiences: a place of witnessing our most humane selves, to focus on our potential for care, for love, for the very act of standing in power as accomplices for each other's wellbeing. Daring to live in hope and be together in a brave and beloved community while we have a profound sense of connectedness and belonging."

Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, subtitled A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, will return to the Bingham Theater September 6-17, 2023. Last year’s production, also helmed by returning director Jennifer Pennington, received critical acclaim and played to sold-out houses. Arts-Louisville's Keith Waits wrote, “The play becomes two battlegrounds: one to hunt and kill a vampire, and another to push back against toxic masculinity… One of the strengths of Hamill’s text is the injection of humor in concert with the chills and violence… The audience enthusiastically rose to their feet at the end of this Dracula, greeting the latest transition of this Louisville perennial with a standing ovation.”

The Bingham Signature Shakespeare Series will also return this fall with King John. This fascinating, rarely produced play about a corrupt monarch besieged by threats will run in the Bingham Theater November 8-19, 2023 in association with upstart crow collective, whose mission is to produce classical plays with racially diverse casts of women and non-binary people, reimagining these works for a contemporary audience. “Director Rosa Joshi has a gift for transforming the Bard’s histories into the most riveting theater,” The Portland Observer reports. “Joshi and her artistic partners are not so much saying something about gender as they are capitalizing on what these artists can bring to these hyper-masculine stories about power and violence and intrigue and unchecked ambition… It’s as exciting an experience of theater as one can hope to have.”

December will bring a brand-new holiday offering to Louisville all the way from New Zealand. Actors Theatre partners with Indian Ink Theatre Company to present Mrs Krishnan’s Party, a fun, joyful celebration of Onam – an ancient Indian harvest festival. The performance invites audiences to join the party, dancing and feasting together under colorful garlands in the Victor Jory Theater December 6-17, 2023. Indian Ink blends western theatrical traditions with eastern flavors in pursuit of ‘serious laughter.’ Live music, heightened theatricality, humor, pathos, and great storytelling are hallmarks of their work. Co-founders Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis say they “go to the theatre to be transported by a great story and to enjoy characters that live large in our imaginations. We want the experience to leave an indelible imprint on your hearts. That’s why we’re called Indian Ink!”

The 2024 calendar year will kick off with Loving and Loving by Beto O’Byrne and Meropi Peponides in the Victor Jory Theater February 7-18. This moving love story chronicles the true history of Richard and Mildred Loving, whose groundbreaking Supreme Court victory struck down race-based restrictions on marriage in the United States. The play explores the 21^st-century legacy of the Lovings’ relationship and fight for justice by interweaving the couple's story and interviews with Kentuckiana locals that illuminate their unique mixed identity experiences. This production will be directed by Actors Theatre of Louisville Impact Producer and Co-Director of Artistic Programming, Amelia Acosta Powell.

The spring season will close with an uproariously funny world premiere production of Jonathan Norton’s I AM DELIVERED’T in the Pamela Brown Auditorium March 13-24, 2024. Set in the parking lot of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church on Good Friday, the play centers on members of the church’s usher board who find themselves responsible not only for attending to anyone over-heated with the Holy Spirit, but also for reconciling their very identities with the church’s doctrine. Directed by Executive Artistic Director Robert Barry Fleming, this Queer Black Rom-Com arrives just in time for Easter.

Tickets to all five productions will go on sale to Actors Theatre of Louisville Members on Monday, June 12. Member tickets start at $25. Tickets for the general public will go on sale at later dates in proximity to each production. Learn more about memberships at actorstheatre.org/memberships.

In addition to these productions, the Storytelling (r)Evolution includes additional special events and a growing digital catalog of streaming, gaming, and virtual reality projects. The first of those events will take place on June 10, when The Muhammad Ali Center will host Joy Reid in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre. Following on July 22, Tez of 2Deep will offer a special performance for his new album release in the Bingham Theater. Also, continue to join Actors Theatre of Louisville online for live releases of Louisville Sessions, a series featuring artists throughout Kentucky sharing original music and videos, and stream digital productions such as Where Did We Sit on the Bus?; Still Ready: Originals; and Romeo and Juliet: Louisville 2020. Follow Actors Theatre on social media, join our email list, or check the website for additional exciting event announcements coming soon.

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LIVE ON STAGE:

DRACULA
A Feminist Revenge Fantasy

based on the novel by Bram Stoker
by Kate Hamill
directed by Jennifer Pennington
in the Bingham Theater
September 6-17, 2023

Member On Sale: June 12, 2023
Public On Sale: August 1, 2023

Kate Hamill’s thrilling Dracula is back by popular demand this fall! In this inventive adaptation that bounces between humor and horror, Hamill reimagines Bram Stoker’s vampire classic as a full-throated battle cry against toxic masculinity. No damsels in distress, no romanticized villains—just a gleeful stake through the heart of the patriarchy.

KING JOHN

by William Shakespeare
adapted and directed by Rosa Joshi
produced in association with upstart crow collective
part of the Bingham Signature Shakespeare Series
in the Bingham Theater
November 8-19, 2023

Member On Sale: June 12, 2023
Public On Sale: September 26, 2023

Unfolding in a treacherous world ruled by self-interest, warmongering, and a lack of moral leadership, this fascinating political thriller follows a scheming monarch battling threats from abroad and within. This visually captivating interpretation from director Rosa Joshi and upstart crow collective—a company reimagining the classics with diverse casts of women and non-binary actors—has been called “a knockout” (Seattle Weekly) that evokes “with surprising clarity the misuses of power that plague us in the present” (The Portland Observer).

MRS KRISHNAN'S PARTY

by Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis
directed by Justin Lewis
created by Indian Ink Theatre Company
in the Victor Jory Theater
December 6-17, 2023

Member On Sale: June 12, 2023
Public On Sale: October 24, 2023

Step into the back room of Mrs Krishnan’s convenience store, where garlands decorate the ceiling, music flows, and Mrs Krishnan is throwing a party like no other. Food simmers on the stove, laughter abounds, and strangers become friends in this joyous celebration of life. Watch the actors juggle cooking, music, and guests in an unfolding drama where no two nights are the same. “So different, so original, so creatively fresh, and so much fun no one wanted to go home,” raves the Waikato Times.

LOVING AND LOVING

written by Beto O'Byrne
developed with Meropi Peponides
directed by Amelia Acosta Powell
in the Victor Jory Theater
February 7-18, 2024

Member On Sale: June 12, 2023
Public On Sale: December 19, 2023

Loving and Loving is inspired by the lives of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple from Virginia who were arrested in 1958 for the crime of being married. Told from a distinctly 21^st-century perspective, the play weaves together the story of the Lovings’ landmark civil rights struggle and interviews with mixed-heritage folx in the Kentuckiana community—thoughtfully exploring the joys and challenges of multiracial identity, and exuberantly celebrating our right to love who we choose.

I AM DELIVERED'T

world premiere production
by Jonathan Norton
directed by Robert Barry Fleming
co-produced with Dallas Theater Center
in the Pamela Brown Auditorium
March 13-24, 2024

Member On Sale: June 12, 2023
Public On Sale: January 30, 2024

Good Friday. The New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church's Seven Last Words service is in full swing. But outside—in the church parking lot—another resurrection story is taking shape. Sis, the Vice President of Usher Board Number One, and her protégé Pickles find themselves in a battle royale of romantic quagmires. This joyful new comedy introduces theater audiences to the world of Church Usher Board culture and celebrates same-gender-loving church folks, and the power and joy of being your authentic self. These are the announcements. Let us govern ourselves accordingly.

Join Actors Theatre of Louisville as a Member to receive all upcoming programming and event announcements throughout the year. 

Actors Theatre of Louisville's programming is made possible in partnership with our Major Annual Institutional Funders: Brown-Forman Corporation, Fund for the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Council, and the Shubert Foundation. We'd like to offer special thanks to Yum! Brands for sponsoring our student matinees, as well as gratitude to our members, donors, and volunteers.

Thank you to our individual, corporate, and foundation partners who support our mission.