John Doyle Will Direct Dead Poets Society and Pacific Overtures at Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company

Tony winner and incoming Classic Stage Company artistic director John Doyle will helm the world premiere of Dead Poets Society and a revival of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Pacific Overtures for the off-Broadway company’s 2016-17 season. Also on tap is an adaptation of Pierre Corneille’s The Liar by David Ives.

The season kicks off with Dead Poets Society, based on the 1989 film of the same name. Tom Schulman, who won an Oscar for his screenplay, will pen the stage adaptation. Like the movie, the show is set in an all-boys prep school and follows the unconventional Professor Keating as he leads his students to question the status quo and stand on their desks. Nine percent of you told us you wanted a stage adaptation in 2014. Performances will begin in October.

The Liar, directed by Michael Kahn, marks the fifth Ives play presented by CSC. The show centers on Dorante, who cannot tell the truth, and her servant Clinton, who cannot tell a lie.

In April 2017, Doyle will direct Pacific Overtures, marking his second Sondheim production with the company (following Passion). The musical tackles the Westernization of Japan in the mid-19th century. The show premiered on Broadway in 1976.

Additional information, including exact dates and cast, will be announced later.