Press Releases

Lowell, MA – Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) has announced its 2016-17 Season, the second under Artistic Director Sean Daniels.

The lineup of seven plays includes four world premieres and three plays centered on New England themes. Daniels notes that the season “will feature the same quality, empathy and theatricality that highlighted this year, but it’ll really get to focus on New England stories. What does it mean to be from here? What are the stories that we tell ourselves? What does it really mean to be a New Englander in 2016?”

Merrimack Repertory Theatre is unveiling a newly-expanded Young Company, which will encourage area students’ participation in the theatre and connect them with leading theatre professionals from around the country. The new program begins with a two-week intensive summer program and continues throughout the year with access to MRT’s staff and visiting artists. The Young Company is the first initiative of the recently formed MRT Education Department, led by local theatre educator Amy Menkin.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre continues its 2015-16 Season with the world premiere of “The Realness: a break beat play,” the latest work from renowned playwright and hip-hop artist Idris Goodwin. The love story at the center of “The Realness” lets us view the seismic events of the mid-90’s hip-hop scene insightfully, through a compassionate human lens. Audiences will see this world through the eyes of T.O., who immerses himself in the hip-hop culture he’s only observed from the safety of the suburbs, and falls hard for a captivating MC. Wendy Goldberg, head of the National Playwrights Conference at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, will direct. The production is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Art Works program.

Lowell, MA – Merrimack Repertory Theatre continues its 2015-16 Season with the regional premiere of “Tinker to Evers to Chance,” the touching new work from playwright Mat Smart about mothers, daughters, and baseball. The story spans a century of Chicago Cubs fandom, and resonates with honest questions about love, heartbreak, and hope. MRT Artistic Director Sean Daniels will direct.

Lowell, MA – After successfully piloting a Child Care program this fall, Merrimack Repertory Theatre has announced the dates for the program for the remainder of the 2015-16 Season. Licensed child care providers from Acre Family Child Care will provide age-appropriate activities and supervision for children ages 0 - 10 at no cost to the family during the following performances:

Lowell, MA – Special events for Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s world premiere production of “The White Chip” have recently been announced including post-show discussions and free child care. The post-show discussion schedule includes the return of an artist from earlier in the season: Benjamin Scheuer, the writer and performer of “The Lion,” which opened the 2015-16 Season. Scheuer will join Sean Daniels to discuss autobiographical writing for theatre.

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: December 9, 2015
CONTACT: Kate Brandt, kate.brandt@mrt.org
PR CONTACT PHONE: 978-654-7595
BOX OFFICE: 978-654-4678
ONLINE: mrt.org

Lowell, MA – The first of three world premieres scheduled in Merrimack Repertory Theatre’s 2015-16 Season is set to open early next month. “The White Chip” is a dark comedy about the science of addiction written by Sean Daniels, MRT’s Artistic Director and is based on his own struggles with alcoholism and path to recovery. The autobiographical story will be produced with a creative team that features an impressive list of artists who have many Broadway credits and a total of seven Tony Award nominations and one win between them.

Following its hit productions of “The Lion,” and “I and You,” Merrimack Repertory Theatre prepares to mount “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.” The charming adaptation by Joe Landry presents the story of the classic film as a 1940’s radio drama. George Bailey’s timeless tale of renewal comes to life with five actors gathered around microphones to voice more than 40 characters and create sound effects live onstage, with live “studio” audience response an integral part of the broadcast.
 

Lowell, MA – Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) will begin a new phase of its longtime partnership with the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) next week. The two institutions will be working together to workshop a new play. The play, “Home of the Brave,” is written by Boston playwright Lila Rose Kaplan and will be directed by MRT’s artistic director Sean Daniels. University students will be paired with professional theatre artists as they collectively work through the play over the course of the week-long workshop. The project will culminate with an invited reading on Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 pm in O’Leary Library Room 222 on the University’s South Campus.