Yale Rep announced its 2010-2011 season today and it’s packed with goodies, foremost among them a stage version of the superb 1978 Ingmar Bergman film “Autumn Sonata” (above).
The U.S. premiere of the Bergman piece will be directed by Robert Woodruff, whose “Notes from Underground” was a highlight at Yale Rep last season (Woodruff’s staging of “Battle of Black and Dogs” opens at the Rep next month).
Bergman moved back and forth between screen and stage throughout his long and brilliant career. Many of his movies are chamber dramas that you can easily imagine being done on the stage (I would love to see a company somewhere do a stage version of “Scenes from a Marriage”).
“Autumn Sonata” is about a great female concert pianist who has neglected her relationship with her daughter to achieve artistic success. A reunion between the two women starts well but quickly turns into a powerful debate on career vs. family.
Although the movie focuses on the world of classical music, the theme applies to anyone who has put their work ahead of their private life and family responsibilities. Ingrid Bergman plays the mother in the film and it is one of her finest performances. Late in her life, the actress often spoke of her regrets about leaving her children behind for long periods to pursue her film career, so the material clearly struck a deep chord.
Liv Ullmann delivered one of her fiercest film performances as the angry daughter.
The physically confined material should work well on the stage; I can’t wait to see what Woodruff will do with it.
“Autumn Sonata” will start performances April 15, 2011 and run through May 7.
Yale Rep opened this season with the first full production of the vivid Andy Warhol musical “Pop!” and the fall season will start with another world premiere musical, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” based on the chilling novel by Shirley Jackson (who also wrote the classic supernatural novel, “The Haunting of Hill House”).
Adam Bock is providing the book and co-writing the lyrics with composer Todd Almond. Bock wrote “Drunken City,” one of the funniest and smartest 
off-Broadway comedies of recent vintage. “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” will launch the new Yale Rep season on Sept. 17.
The Rep’s artistic director James Bundy will be staging one of my favorite Edward Albee plays, “A Delciate Balance,” Oct. 22 to Nov. 13.
Although the play won the Pulitzer Prize in the mid-1960s, most critics were underwhelmed by the drama back then and believed the award was given to make up for Albee not receiving the honor for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” a few years earlier (the Pulitzer people thought the George and Martha play was a tad too racy).
The reputation of “A Delicate Balance” went into decline until Lincoln Center Theater put on a sensational mid-1990s revival that won a batch of Tonys, including one for the late great Litchfield actor George Grizzard.
Bundy should be able to assemble a fantastic cast for this ensemble piece in which every role is juicy.
Subscriptions for the new season went on sale today. For a full rundown on the shows and ticket packages go to www.yalerep.org.
