New to the Guthrie

The Guthrie next season will devote its two main stages to plays that have never been produced at the theater.

The 2008-09 slate includes previously announced work by Tony Kushner and a world premiere of "Little House on the Prairie." In addition, plays by Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, William Nicholson and Shakespeare will fill the thrust and proscenium stages.

"It sort of crept up on us," said Guthrie Director Joe Dowling. "Putting together a season is an organic, piecemeal process but when we looked at it at the end, we said 'wow.' It was a happy accident."

The theater also will offer its most ambitious use of the 200-seat studio next season, with five Guthrie productions and one co-production. Four local companies -- Theatre Latté Da, Pillsbury House, Frank Theatre and Live Action Set -- also will be presented in the studio throughout the year: Also noteworthy among the Guthrie studio works are three shows largely devoted to young actors who worked in the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) class and in advanced training programs across the country.

Dowling will stage two shows next season -- "Two Gentlemen of Verona" on the thrust, and William Nicholson's "Shadowlands" on the proscenium. Amazingly, the Shakespeare comedy has never been produced in the theater's 45 years. "Shadowlands" is the love story about writer C.S. Lewis and poet Joy Gresham. A 1993 film starred Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. This marks the first time in the new building that the Guthrie has run a show on the proscenium at the same time as "A Christmas Carol."

"Those are very different audiences," Dowling said. "'Christmas Carol' is a very much a family show and 'Shadowlands' is a theatergoer's play. I doubt there will be much overlap."

Gary Gisselman will direct two works next year. Gisselman, who has staged "A Christmas Carol" since 2001, was given the reins to Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance" in the proscenium. "Balance" is the first of three Pulitizer-winning plays and centers on familiar Albee themes: a wealthy suburban living room, an older couple lubricated with booze and an evening of recriminations.

Ethan McSweeny, who last directed Lee Blessing's "A Body of Water" at the Guthrie Lab in 2005, returns to stage Miller's "A View from the Bridge" to open the thrust season in September. McSweeny previously directed "Romeo and Juliet" and "Six Degrees of Separation" at the old Guthrie. Miller's play deals with a family that harbors illegal Italian immigrants working on the waterfront.

Guthrie associate director John Miller-Stephany will stage J.B. Priestley's 1938 comedy, "When We Are Married," on the thrust in the summer of 2009. Miller-Stephany directed "Jane Eyre," "1776" and "The Constant Wife" recently at the theater.

As already announced, Francesca Zambello will direct the premiere of "Little House on the Prairie" this July on the proscenium. The Guthrie recently offered a sneak peek at the musical, based on the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder with book by Rachel Sheinkin, music by Rachel Portman and lyrics by Donna DiNovelli.

Kushner will be represented on all three stages in the spring of 2009. "Caroline, or Change" will open April 18 on the thrust; the new "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures" will open May 9, and "An Evening of Short Plays" opens May 16 in the studio. Dowling said he anticipates settling on a director for "Caroline" within a month. It will take longer to determine who is needed to help shape "The Intelligent Homosexual."

Also on the proscenium, the Guthrie will present Penumbra Theatre's production of Lorraine Hasberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," directed by Lou Bellamy.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299