Christopher Seiler

Antonio's Revenge proves that happily-ever-afters don't always remain so. Breaking from his supposed reformation, the evil Duke Piero resolves again to destroy the relationship of his daughter, Mellida, and her future husband, Antonio - by any means necessary. Writing around the same time as Hamlet, Marston echoes (or foreshadows) Shakespeare's great work with themes of familial betrayal, hauntings, and existential questions that rock us to the core. It's a little bit like Hamlet, a little bit like Quentin Tarantino, a little bit like a weird Italian horror movie, and a whole lot of fun.

Brimming with sharp and elegant wit, The Way of the World, which critics largely consider the greatest of the Restoration comedies, pits a pair of lovers against a host of manipulative characters, including the underhanded (and unhappily-aging) Lady Wishfort, and the villainous Fainall. Rife with satire, this scathing comedy uncovers the over-the-top, and inner-workings of the idle upper-class.

From the Oscar winner who gave us Shakespeare in Love, this wickedly funny companion piece to Hamlet turns Shakespeare inside out and shows the Dane's story from the point of view of Hamlet's school chums. Tom Stoppard serves up a feast of wordplay, wit, and slapstick while exploring the timeless questions about identity, illusion, and toe-nail growing.

Shakespeare's magnificent exploration of the lives and deaths of England's kings is one of his crowning linguistic achievements. Pitting Richard II, a man of words, against Bullingbrook, a man of action, Shakespeare raises the art of language to new heights, while reminding us that rulers "feel want, taste grief, and need friends." ASC veteran Sarah Fallon wears (and gives away) the crown as Richard.

Hamlet struggles to discern reality from illusion in the rotten state of Denmark as he copes with the loss of his father, his mother's remarriage, and life's biggest questions. For centuries, audiences have seen themselves in the remarkable, troubled prince at the center of this ghost story, comedy, seven-murder revenge thriller, and philosopher's gold mine.

Four controlling fathers attempt to engineer advantageous matches for their respective children, but the children in question have their own ideas about love. Mix in four overly-helpful servants, a slew of disguises, a pair of uncomfortably in-love siblings, and a nurse with a big secret, and the fathers’ best-laid plans quickly unravel in this romantic roller-coaster ride.

Larger-than-life characters collide when Brainworm, a clever servant, works to foil the plans of his master, Knowell, through a series of deceptions and disguises that take him all over London. Jonson uses a single day and a single setting to weave a tight picture of everyday life in a bustling Early Modern city comedy.

When the spouses of Vittoria Corombona and the Duke of Brachiano discover their partners’ infidelities, revenge knows no bounds. Ambitious schemes, murderous plots, and devilish double-crosses run rampant in Rome as the lovers attempt to protect their affair. But, their safety is short-lived, and when the past finds them, it leaves a trail of bodies in its wake.

A group of amorous English exiles revel through Naples during Carnival in this witty comedy featuring disguises, thefts, catfights, and lovestruck antics of all kinds. Writing in the wanton atmosphere of the Restoration, Behn was one of England’s first professional female writers, and her voice shines in her heroines, including a reluctant nun, a famous courtesan, and a thieving wench.

This hilarious comedy is much more than a “battle of the sexes”; it is also a profound look at the necessity of “play” in our lives. This production includes Shakespeare’s “Induction,” which presents the Kate and Petruchio story as a play within the play. Blending romantic comedy and outlandish farce, Shakespeare gives us a love story of psychological liberation and the mysteries of being married.