FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2006

Lantern Theater Company is pleased to announce its 2006/07 season, which will feature two professional Philadelphia premieres, a classic masterpiece of World Theater, and a surprising and innovative Shakespearean comedy. Founded in 1994 by Charles McMahon and Michael Brophy, Lantern Theater Company continues to illuminate the theatrical canon by bringing the best of the classics and new plays to the Philadelphia community. The 2006/07 season at Lantern Theater Company marks the company's thirteenth year of creating high-quality professional theater.

Opening the 2006/07 season at Lantern Theater Company is Athol Fugard's classic masterpiece, "Master Harold"... and the boys. A coming of age story set in 1950s South Africa, "Master Harold"... and the boys is a powerful examination of the impact of apartheid on the relationship between Hally, a young white man, and Sam, the black man who has been his lifelong friend. This searing, haunting, often funny and ultimately redemptive semi-autobiographical drama from South African playwright Athol Fugard is as timely as ever, a triumph of conscience over justice. "Master Harold"... and the boys will run from September 15 - October 8, 2006.

Next in the season, Lantern Theater Company presents the Philadelphia Premiere production of QED by Peter Parnell, which chronicles the journey of Richard Feynman, one of the most curious and colorful personalities of the twentieth century. To his students, he was a beloved professor, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, flirt, and in a student production of South Pacific, the chief of Bali Hai! Feynman's remarkable spirit is captured in this memorable journey through the greatest mysteries of science and human experience. "QED is a seductive mix of science, human affections, moral courage, and comic eccentricity...not to be missed." (New York Magazine). Kathryn Nocero, director of the 2005 production of The Lady from the Sea and the 2004 production of Catalpa, returns to Lantern Theater Company to direct QED. QED will run from November 10 - December 3, 2006.

The month of Valentine's cheer brings the third play in the season - the professional Philadelphia Premiere of La Ronde by Viennese playwright Arthur Schnitzler. Provocative, stylish, and erotic, La Ronde follows a chain of amorous couplings across turn-of-the-century Vienna and will be directed by Lantern Theater Company Artistic Director, Charles McMahon. Exchanging one lover for another, two actors take on ten diverse characters in sexy duets that explore passions, deceptions, and disconnections of modern love. Unflinchingly ahead of its time, La Ronde, in its 1921 premiere, caused one of the greatest scandals in theater history! For mature audiences. La Ronde will run from February 2 - 25, 2007.

Closing the season is a bold new staging of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. An all-male cast gives new energy to the lusty sparring between Katherine, Padua's town shrew, and the capricious, oddball bachelor Petruchio. He insists he will marry her, but can Petruchio tame her? This innovative re-imagining of Shakespeare's famous battle of the sexes returns to the gender-bending roots of Shakespeare's own time at Lantern Theater Company, with hilarious results. Expect the unexpected in this raucous, physical comedy that asks, "What happens after I DO?" People's Light & Theatre Company member Ceal Phelan makes her Lantern Theater Company directorial debut with The Taming of the Shrew, which runs from March 30 - April 22, 2007.

Lantern Theater Company is also pleased to offer several special events throughout its 2006/07 season. Back by popular demand for a special limited engagement run is The Great Divorce, adapted by and starring Anthony Lawton, from the novel by C.S. Lewis. Lewis' own favorite among his works, The Great Divorce is the story of Clive, a hapless professor, and the motley band of discontents who join him on a very curious bus ride. Journeying between Hell and Heaven, Clive crosses a surprising, wildly inventive landscape drawn by Lewis' philosophical imagination. Satirical and comic, The Great Divorce is a wondrous ride filled with dazzling insights and language. The Great Divorce runs December 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 at 7 pm and December 29 and 30 at 2 pm.

During the 2006/07 season, Lantern Theater Company will also continue its Lantern Lecture Series, designed to introduce audiences to the plays in the season before attending the theater. The four-part series is now open for registration and will feature 7pm lectures at St. Stephen's Theater on September 11, October 30, January 22, and March 19. Also on the calendar is the wildly popular Symposia Series, which features post-show discussions with members of the creative team and special guests that are free to ticket holders. Symposia discussions will be held following the matinee performances on October 1, November 26, February 18, and April 15. New this season is another event free to ticket holders - Lantern Theater Company's Director's Discussion, a pre-show conversation with the production director, beginning at 7pm on September 22, November 17, February 9 and April 6.

Four-play subscriptions are available for the 2006/07 season at up to 25% off single ticket prices, with packages ranging in price from $44-$104. Lantern Theater Company is pleased to offer the flexible A La Carte Subscription - a package of four tickets to be used in any combination for any play (excluding The Great Divorce). A La Carte Subscriptions are available only until September 1, 2006 and are $100 for adults, $88 for seniors and $50 for students. Single tickets for the 2006/07 season will be on sale beginning September 1, 2006 and are $15-$30, with student, senior and group rates available. New this season: weekday performances at 7pm and a special 2 pm Wednesday matinee offered once per run. For tickets and information, please contact the Lantern Theater Company box office at 215.829.9002 or visit us online at www.lanterntheater.org. Lantern Theater Company, the resident company at St. Stephen's Theater, is located at 10th and Ludlow Streets in Center City, Philadelphia. All events, dates and times are subject to change.