CCTC/HJT Opens 2024 Season With ‘Reynard The Fox’

It’s that exciting time of year again!

Local theaters are announcing their 2024 seasons, putting their best feet forward with slates of productions which are sure to delight audiences from the first applause on opening night all the way through a dazzling summer and autumn to the end of December’s final curtain.

At Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, new Producing Artistic Director Jenn Pina and her team have curated a season of productions and special events that build on the 73-year-old award-winning multi-generational theater’s tradition of bringing a blend of new and published works to the stage, with something for audiences of all ages.

The season kicks off with “Reynard the Fox, or The Trickster,” an epic beast fable in which anthropomorphic animals parody and satirize the actions, institutions and the very nature of human beings.

Director Fred Sullivan, Jr. described “Reynard the Fox” as a comedy with the flavor of Aesop meets Mel Brooks.

“The fox as trickster and the lion king are archetypes as old as Aesop, but a chronicle of oral folklore featuring a fox and wolf rivalry were common in the region of Lorraine (Northeastern France) as early as the fourth century,” Sullivan said. “Reynard was a peasant hero, an anti-hero. The fox was enigmatic, shadowy, complex, unpredictable and manipulative. He relied on cunning, charm and wit when faced with threats of brute strength or slander or oppressive religious or political power. He became so popular that his name replaced the original French word for fox.”

Sullivan added that Reynard always finds a way out of serious trouble and comes out on top despite overwhelming obstacles. His methods are complicated and questionable but always entertaining.

“This ancient collection of published oral folk tales seems timeless and timely, culturally important and deeply beloved,” Sullivan said.

Directing “Reynard the Fox” at CCTC/HJT brings Sullivan back to a theater home he has known since the age of 6, when he first took part in a drama workshop with HJT founder Betty Bobp, 57 years ago. He fell in love, throwing himself into the theater as a student, then as an instructor, as an actor, and finally as a playwright and director over many years. He is collaborating with longtime friend, director Walt O'Neill, to stage this play.

“Reynard the Fox” will run March 28 through April 20, with a sensory friendly performance on Sunday, April 14. To purchase tickets visit www.capecodtheatrecompany.org or call the CCTC/HJT Box Office at 508-432-2002.

The season will continue after “Reynard the Fox” with offerings to for every audience.

“I'm over the moon that we can continue to be a home for so many new works by local playwrights,” Pina said. “We have three folk tales, each re-imagined by local or regional playwrights: ‘Reynard the Fox, or The Trickster’ by Fred Sullivan, Jr.; ‘Princess and the Pea’ by Kristin Stewart, with original music by Fionn Pina Parker; and ‘Robin Hood’ by Kirsten Peacock and Nick Nudler. I love this aspect of our season: reimagining folktales in a way that brings out their humor by challenging our expectations or pointing to societal norms that may still be surprisingly relevant, or may have shifted over the hundreds of years we've all been sharing those stories, or may still need to shift.”

Pina said that as she worked to create the 2024 season, she looked for pieces that, while being appropriate for broad audiences, might specifically appeal to different age ranges.

“Much of our season this year draws on great literature as source material,” Pina said. “So moving from Mo Willems as an early reader author to ‘The Jungle Book,’ ‘Dracula,’ and ‘A Christmas Carol.’”

On Saturday, April 27 at 7 p.m., The Playwrights at Sisson Road will take their Season One Showcase to the CCTC/HJT indoor stage.

Next up on the indoor stage is a new adaptation of “Princess and the Pea” by CCTC/HJT favorite Kristin Stewart, featuring original music by Fionn Pina Parker. The show will run from May 16 to June 9.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16 “Broadway, Ballet and Beyond” will take to the indoor stage, followed by “The Drowsy Chaperone” June 26 to July 21, by Lisa Lambert, Don McKellar, Bob Martin and Greg Morrison.

An original adaptation of “Robin Hood” will steal the spotlight July 6 to 28 under the summer stars, as the first outdoor stage production of 2024.

“We've been excited to reinvision the possibilities for our outdoor theater,” Pina said. “The Bilezikian Family Foundation and others were so generous in their support to make that a reality during the pandemic. It's been exciting to expand our thinking of what can happen there. Our ‘Robin Hood,’ for example, will take place in our outdoor theater this summer, not just on the stage, but utilizing the whole space. It will be like walking into a Renaissance fair and having the story unfold around you.”

“Elephant & Piggie’s We Are In a Play!” based on the wildly popular Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems, published by Hyperion Books for Children, with script and lyrics by Willems and music by Deborah Wicks La Puma, returns to the indoor stage July 16 to Aug. 8 for Tuesday through Thursday morning matinees.

A new adaptation of “The Jungle Book” by Andy Arden-Reese is next on the indoor stage, running July 31 to Aug. 25.

A workshop production of “Romeo and Juliet” will grace the outdoor stage Aug. 10 to 18.

The Movimento Project returns to the CCTC/HJT indoor stage on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 30 and 31.

“FACB: Lucky 13,” a one-woman show by writer, performer and storyteller Christine Ernst will take the indoor theater stage on Friday, Sept. 13.

Spooky season starts early this year, as “Dracula” swoops onto the indoor stage Sept. 26 to Oct. 20, with script by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, based on the gothic classic by Bram Stoker. The frights continue with a Haunted House at the Arts Center Oct. 24 to 20.

“FACB: The Holiday Edition,” another one-woman show by performer and storyteller Ernst, takes the indoor stage Dec. 7.

The 2024 season ends with holiday specters as “A Christmas Carol” lights up the indoor stage Dec. 5 to 29.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.capecodtheatrecompany.org or the CCTC/HJT Box Office at 508-432-2002.