'26 Welcome Note from Producing Artistic Director, Katharine Maness:

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SitW’s 6th season is one of “Chaos and Folly” - Friends, what is possible when we weather the storm, finding ways to dream radically, together?

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In a time of crisis and fear in America and beyond, I believe it is vital that our art is bold, takes risks, and pierces through the noise pushing inaction and despair. Theatre is a powerful tool in the face of violence, isolation, and fascism. It is communal by nature, and the very act of people from all walks of life coming together for a shared experience is one of radical defiance. To engage with art, requires us to think, to confront, to empathize - it has the capacity to move us all closer together and reconnect to our shared humanity. It’s no surprise that arts censorship is always one of the first moves fascism makes. We refuse to make it easy for them.

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SitW continues to ground itself in our subversive, queer roots with this season’s offerings. Beth and Jaz’s provocative adaptations of Lear and Merry Wives seek to confront the current moment in the most unexpected, profound (and at times, downright audacious) ways. Our Lear interrogates power and legacy in an unlikely setting, seeking to make sense of the worlds we inherit and the ones we pass on, and how to move forward when it feels like the world is ending. Our Merry Wives drops us into heightened absurdity of peacockery and queer camp that revels in untangling masculinity in revelatory ways and a healthy dash of soap opera dramatic flair. I am thrilled to have Beth bring her singularly edgy style back to SitW for a third season, having previously helmed Coriolanus (2022) & Hamlet (2023), and to have Jaz share their addictively imaginative style with us for the first time. These adaptations have a sense of electric urgency coursing through them that asks audiences to move a little closer and also reinforces what a powerful antidote theatre can be.

I cannot wait for you to join us in Vermont this summer as we gather around art in defiant celebration, together. 

- Katharine

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