2019 at a Glance

regional premiere

January 18 - February 16
Wakey, Wakey by Will Eno
Directed by Rachel Rogers

"Is it now? I thought I had more time." The first play of Benchmark’s 2019 season questions why we are here and the journeys that everyone takes to eventually get to the same place, as a man resolves to spend the remainder of his dwindling days celebrating his experiences. In the process, he shares what is worth treasuring and shows how to live a good life in this funny and moving story.

regional premiere

March 15 - April 13
1984 by George Orwell Adapted by Robert Icke & Duncan Macmillan
Directed by Neil Truglio

George Orwell’s ultimate dystopian novel continues to resonate throughout the world. Called “complex, harrowing and ingenious” upon its debut, the multi-award winning Broadway production of this adaptation rocked audiences with its fearlessness and sheer brutality. Winston, living under the totalitarian rule of the Party, has the idea of writing a diary. It is a crime punishable by death and there is no way of knowing if he is being watched. He imagines two futures—in one, a future readership in a free society think of him as a hero; in the other he is caught, executed and forgotten. Perhaps both things are true. He writes the year, so far as he knows it: 1984.

regional premiere

May 31 - June 29
Bull in a China Shop by Bryna Turner

Inspired by the real letters between Mary Woolley and her partner Jeannette Marks over forty years at a New England women's college, this fast-paced comedy chronicles the lives of these two brave women who reimagined and revolutionized education at the turn of the twentieth century. With a modern spin and witty dialogue, this play asks: What is revolution? What does it mean to be at odds with the world? How do we fulfill our potential? And how the hell do we grow old together?

regional premiere

September 14 - October 5
The Quality of Life by Jane Anderson

Filled with compassion, honesty, and humor, this play explores the divide between living and dying and the freedom to decide your own fate. Dinah and Bill, a devout, church-going couple from the Midwest are struggling to keep their lives intact after the loss of their daughter. Dinah is compelled to reconnect with her left-leaning cousins in Northern California who're going through their own trials. Jeannette and Neil have lost their home to a wildfire and Neil has cancer. As the couples reconnect, they learn to heal their wounds through their differences and find a way to move forward despite their grief.

October 25 - November 3
The 3rd Annual Fever Dream Festival (FDF)

Returning for a third year, the 2019 Fever Dream Festival will be the most exciting line-up yet, with two full weeks featuring science fiction, horror, and fantasy themed plays, special events, and workshops.

regional premiere

November 22 - December 21
Parfumerie by Miklós László Translated and Adapted by E.P. Dowdall

A warm, gentle comedy that follows the tangled tale of a Parfumerie’s employees. Just days before Christmas, George Horvath's boss fires him after mistakenly suspecting him to be the lover of his unfaithful wife. Meanwhile, George's own love life goes awry when he discovers that the stranger he has fallen in love with through a secret correspondence is none other than Amalia Balash, a co-worker with whom he constantly feuds. For the employees of the Parfumerie, only the truth can lead to a happy resolution in this old-fashioned, romantic Christmas classic that inspired The Shop Around the Corner, You’ve Got Mail, and She Loves Me.