Lauren Ballard

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.

In William Congreve's witty farce, love and money square off as two brothers attempt to follow their hearts without losing their inheritance. Populated by a lover named Valentine; his clever beloved, Angelica; a less-than-virtuous Miss Frail; and a braggart, Tattle, Love for Love takes a satirical and sardonic look into Restoration-era romance.

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.

Rumors abound in this searing comedy of manners, where no one can avoid the stinging bite of gossip – even when the truth is sometimes juicier. A rich guardian tests his wards to choose the worthier heir, but there's more to them than meets the eye. Throw in a few scandal-mongers, a wandering wife, and a sneaky hireling named Snake, and A School for Scandal will have you rolling in you seat. (How undignified.)

Loaded with startling contemporary commentary on politics, politicians, and "the people" politicians represent, Coriolanus gives us a stark look at the triumphs and failures of a tragic hero. With his insightful analysis on the political journey of Rome's most famous military man, Shakespeare highlights the pitfalls of pride and the danger of arrogance in one of his final and most complex tragedies.

Against the backdrop of social intolerance suddenly buffeted by inevitable change, Shakespeare weaves interconnected tales of friendship, love, and family while bringing to life one of his strongest and most resourceful heroines. Mingling dreamy romance with senseless and timeless cultural conflicts, The Merchant of Venice reveals that mercy and love can come from unexpected places.

Judith Shakespeare has one ambition: to be a playwright, just like her famous brother Will. When her debt-ridden father forces her into an engagement, she runs away with the help of dashing actor Ned Alleyn, hoping to join her brother in London. But when Judith arrives in the plague-stricken capital, she finds her brother gone, Ned engaged to another, and her play refused. Judith befriends the women in a local brothel, and together, they decide to stage her play in secret. But Elizabethan London is a dangerous place to perform an unlicensed play. Shakespeare’s Sister is full of ideas and events as relevant to Shakespeare’s London as they are to today’s Virginia: the challenges of making a living, religious extremism, and the conflict between social expectations and individual dreams.

Everybody loves the fair maid, Phillis – or maybe it's just the three smitten Golding brothers. Anthony, Ferdinand, and Frank must battle it out to win her love, and they're not above underhanded tricks and disguises to get her attention. This wickedly witty city comedy pits brother against brother, and shows even in sibling rivalries, somebody has to come out on top. ASC veteran actor René Thornton, Jr. steps into the director/manager chair like Peter Quince in Midsummer to lead the troupe in reviving this show for (we think) the first time in over 400 years.

Inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest, Fletcher and Massinger's homage throws French pirates, Portuguese castaways, and a society of Amazonian women together on a New World island. Replete with shipwrecks, unexpected love, reunions, and a little buried treasure, The Sea Voyage will take audiences on an unforgettable adventure.

Family betrayals, romantic infidelities, and false friendships abound in Women Beware Women, where the ladies of the Florentine court must play to win in a deliciously wicked game of lewdness and lies or else risk the ultimate loss, their lives. Middleton's searingly wicked play is as provocative now as it must have been 400 years ago.

An unblinking look into the way humanity confuses lust and love, goodness and self-righteousness, Measure for Measure explores who sins most in a congregation of murderers, pimps, politicians, whores, nuns, and nobles. Shakespeare's electrifying exploration of the arrogance of power hovers tantalizingly between comedy and tragedy.

Shakespeare's final solo play is a moving fairy tale, a wondrous magic show, and a farewell to the stage that still defines our humanity. From the spectacular storm that opens the play, to the island creatures Ariel and Caliban, to the glistering masque of the spirits, and, finally, to Prospero's last acts of reconciliation and forgiveness, The Tempest  is a beguiling theatrical miracle.

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.