Mary-Louise Parker & David Cromer to Debut World Premiere by Adam Rapp & More in 2018 Williamstown Theatre Festival Season

Acclaimed actors Mary-Louise Parker, Carmen Cusack and Steven Pasquale and creatives Douglas Carter Beane, Rachel Chavkin, Adam Rapp and David Cromer are among the talents newly announced to take part in the 2018 season of the Berkshires' Williamstown Theatre Festival. The exciting slate of works includes three world premiere plays, a world premiere musical and much more. The 2018 WTF season will run from June 26 through August 19 at the acclaimed Massachusetts theater.

Kicking off the season will be The Closet, a world premiere play by Tony nominee Douglas Carter Beane (The Little Dog Laughed). Tony winner Matthew Broderick (Sylvia) and Tony nominees Jessica Hecht (The Price) and Brooks Ashmanskas (The Prom) will star. Inspired by Francis Veber’s French comedy Le Placard, The Closet centers on Martin O’Reilly (Broderick), who is stuck in Scranton in a dead-end job. His marriage is over and his son won’t return his calls. His only friend is his eternally optimistic co-worker (Hecht), who can’t bake enough muffins to stave off her romantic longings. When a stranger (Ashmanskas) sashays into their world, he drags Martin—and everyone around him—out of their respective closets. Ann Harada (Avenue Q) will also star in the new play directed by Mark Brokaw (Heisenberg). The Closet will run from June 26 through July 14.

Tony and Emmy winner Mary Louise Parker (Heisenberg) will star and David Cromer (The Band's Visit) will direct The Sound Inside, a world premiere from Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp (Red Light Winter), next up at Williamstown. The play centers on Bella Baird (Parker), an accomplished professor at an Ivy League university who prizes her solitude. But when she faces a challenge she cannot tackle alone, she allies herself with a brilliant and mysterious student. The work will run from June 27 through July 8.

Artney Jackson, a world premiere play by James Anthony Tyler (Dolphins and Sharks), is next up in the Williamstown season. The show follows the title character, a devoted mentor, and a respected employee at the local cable company. After 25 years, he is finally up for promotion: he can almost taste the possibility of becoming a manager. Over the course of one week, Artney’s decades-old routine is shattered when his son makes plans to move out of their home, the higher-ups test his resolve to lead and co-workers show their true colors. Williamstown Theatre Festival Associate Artistic Director Laura Savia directs the new play scheduled to run from July 11-22.

Tony nominee Carmen Cusack (Bright Star) will headline the world premiere musical Lempicka, next on the Williamstown docket. Featuring a book and lyrics by Carson Kreitzer (The Slow Drag) and music by Matt Gould (Invisible Thread), Lempicka follows aristocrat Tamara de Lempicka and her beloved husband, Tadeusz, who flee the Russian revolution and are forced to make a new life. In the rising tide of fascism, Tamara takes to painting to survive, and when she meets the free-spirited Rafaela (Cusack), a prostitute on the fringes of Parisian society, she's torn between the life she cherishes with her husband and the passion, ambition and possibility awoken in her by her new muse. Tony nominee Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812) directs. Lempicka will play an engagement from July 19 through August 1.

The next entry at Williamstown is Seared, a new play by Theresa Rebeck (What We're Up Against), starring Steven Pasquale (Junk). In Seared, Chef Harry (Pasquale) is a genius in the kitchen; his scallops are the “it” dish in Brooklyn. His business partner Mike wants to expand their restaurant, but Harry sees that as selling out. When a shrewd consultant is brought in to make the case for expansion, Harry boils over. Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God) directs the work scheduled to run from July 25 through August 4.

A revival of Carson McCullers' play The Member of the Wedding is next up at Williamstown. Broadway alum Tavi Gevinson (The Cherry Orchard) will star in the production directed by Lila Neugebauer (The Wolves). Taking place on the eve of a family wedding in 1945, The Member of the Wedding follows housekeeper Berenice Sadie Brown, who can’t calm the nerves of her 12-year-old charge, Frankie (Gevinson). Berenice has raised Frankie and her cousin John Henry as though they are her own children. But as their companion, playfellow and mother figure, Berenice is suddenly struggling to protect them from the harsh, racially motivated injustices lurking just outside their Southern home. The Member of the Wedding will run from August 5 through August 19.

Closing out the Williamstown Theatre Festival season is the new play Dangerous House by Jen Silverman (The Moors) and directed by Saheem Ali (Sugar in Our Wounds). In Dangerous House, Noxolo is an aspiring footballer from Cape Town who moved to London for a fresh start. With the World Cup coming to South Africa and the mounting sense that her ex-lover is in peril, she is pulled back—but will Noxolo risk her safety to unravel the secrets of a life she swore to leave behind? Dangerous House will run from August 8-August 19.

Since 1955, the Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought America's finest actors, directors, designers and playwrights to the Berkshires. Recent WTF productions that transferred to Broadway include Fool for Love, The Visit, The Elephant Man and The Bridges of Madison County. Additional casting and creative team members for the 2018 Williamstown Theatre Festival season will be announced at a later date.