Production Archives - Mendocino Theatre Company

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (ABRIDGED) by Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor; directed by Ricci Dedola

This fast-paced and hilariously irreverent mash-up of Shakespeare’s entire canon will have you rolling in the aisles!

William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) is the recently discovered manuscript of Shakespeare’s very first play, written in his own hand, and showing all his most famous characters and familiar speeches in a brand-new story. But because it’s one hundred hours long and contains multiple unwieldy story lines, it has been abridged down to a brief ninety minutes. It’s “Shakespeare as you’ve never imagined!”

A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2 by Lucas Hnath; directed by Alex Rapport

In the final scene of Ibsen’s 1879 groundbreaking masterwork, Nora Helmer makes the shocking decision to leave her husband and children, and begin a life on her own. This climactic event—when Nora slams the door on everything in her life—instantly propelled world drama into the modern age. In A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2, many years have passed since Nora’s exit. Now, there’s a knock on that same door. Nora has returned. But why? And what will it mean for those she left behind?

4000 MILES by Amy Herzog; directed by Betty Abramson

A young man takes refuge at his grandmother’s Greenwich Village apartment after experiencing a traumatic loss. Over the course of a single month, these unlikely roommates annoy, bewilder, and ultimately reach each other. 4000 Miles pulls us in to watch how two outsiders find their way in today’s world.

IDEATION by Aaron Loeb; directed by Bob Cohen

In this “ferocious and hilarious” thriller, a company has been hired to present a viable solution to an intricate problem. However, the situation is anything but what it seems, and events unfold which seem to make the ordinary workplace fraught with danger.

LUNA GALE by Rebecca Gilman; directed by Lorry Lepaule

Who decides who is capable of raising a child? Veteran social worker Caroline crosses the line in order to do what it takes to protect baby Luna Gale, the daughter of two meth addicts. But her well-intentioned mission is charged with hidden motives and moral ambiguity. Does the end justify the means?

THEY DON’T PAY? WE WON’T PAY! by by Dario Fo; directed by Katherine Jean Nigh

A classic—and hilarious—political farce from one of Italy’s most beloved playwrights, the Nobel Prize laureate Dario Fo. This fast-paced comedy is a whirlwind of intertwining events that highlight the plight of ordinary Italian workers during the economic crises of the 1970s. This laugh-out-loud comedy is not only tremendous fun but also remarkably relevant.

THE HAPPY JOURNEY by Thornton Wilder; directed by Dan Kozloff

When Thornton Wilder wrote his iconic Our Town, he was attempting to reproduce the style and the beauty of his earlier one-act plays, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden, and The Long Christmas Dinner. All of these feature the central question: “How do you live, knowing that you are mortal?” Included in this production is his provocative comedy, Childhood.

MARJORIE PRIME by Jim Harrison; directed by Debira Branscombe

It’s the age of artificial intelligence, but 86-year-old Marjorie is worried that her memory may be fading. That is until the appearance of Walter, a mysterious and charming young visitor programmed to help Marjorie uncover the intricacies of her own past. As Walter’s true nature is revealed, new levels of complexity emerge, leading to profound questions about the limits of technology and whether memory might be a purely human invention.

BECKY’S NEW CAR by Steven Dietz; directed by Virginia Reed

A fast-paced feminist comedy based on the true story of revolutionary academics and lovers Mary Woolley and Jeanette Marks, spanning from 1899 to 1937. New York City-based director Stephanie C. Cunningham returns to direct the all-female cast of this highly-lauded play written by Mendocino coast native (and Brooklyn resident) Bryna Turner.