By Kira Obolensky, Ten Thousand Things

Next season, Ten Thousand Things will produce three plays, using what’s become a standard rubric for season planning for this unique organization that brings theater to non-traditional and traditional audiences: a play by Shakespeare in the fall; a musical in the winter; and a new play in the spring. For many theaters, season programming involves looking to the rest of the American theater to see what is popular, considering the ways in which a play might be marketed and planning a season that will get the most people to buy tickets. Ten Thousand Things’ process of season planning is connected to the scope, ideas and questions contained in the plays and how those might connect to their diverse audiences.

Artistic Director Michelle Hensley typically puts a Shakespeare play on each season because those plays have many points of entry, a world that requires active imagining to summon, and big ambiguous questions for audiences to wrestle with. When programming Shakespeare, Hensley also takes into account how the director’s interpretation of the play will allow it to connect with various audiences.

The fall production of Romeo and Juliet will be directed by Peter Rothstein, who previously directed Doubt and Once Upon this Island for the theater. And while this classic story of star-crossed lovers from warring families asks lots of questions about fate and love, Rothstein is more interested in framing this production to look at the connection between violence in our worlds, violent actions taken and how love can flourish in such a world. Namir Smallwood will play Romeo; Anna Sundberg is cast as Juliet.

The musical for the winter, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, is considered one of Meredith Willson’s lesser known works, certainly far less popular than his classic The Music Man, which TT produced last year to great response. Molly Brown tells a rags to riches story of a woman who accumulates great wealth and then has to choose between that wealth and a perfect love. While most people might assume that love trumps money, the choice is one that Hensley imagines is more complicated for audience members who have lived in poverty. The play is humorous and Hensley thinks audiences will embrace its ebullient characters and sense of fun. The cast includes Maggie Chestovich as Molly Brown; Tyson FORBES as Johnny Brown Eric Sharp, H. Adam Harris, Max Wojtanowicz, Austene Van and Kimberly Richardson. The final play of the 2014/15 season will be The New Don Juan, a loose adaptation of Odon Von Horvath’s play Don Juan Comes back from the War. The play, written by playwright in residence Kira Obolensky, tells the story of a soldier who returns home to find a changed world; as he searches for a woman he thinks he once loved, he must invent himself and his desires anew in order to feel alive. A diverse group of talented Twin Cities actresses will perform, including Sha Cage, Annie Enneking, Isy Monk, Sun-Mee Comet and Elise Langer, along with Kris Nelson as the returning soldier.

Namir Smallwood will play Romeo in Ten Thousand Things’ fall production of Romeo and Julietphoto by Paula Keller