Harlequin Productions’ new season gives a twist to shows that are tried and true

Chances are you’ve heard of most of the plays in Harlequin Productions’ 2024 season, kicking off Jan. 19 with the twisty mystery “Deathtrap.”

“It’s a fantastic thriller,” said Harlequin artistic director Aaron Lamb, who’s directing the 1978 play by Ira Levin, who also wrote “Rosemary’s Baby” and the novel “The Stepford Wives.” “Thrillers are kind of a lost art.”

“I first saw this show in London in 1978 and fell in love with it,” actor Russ Holm said in a publicity video. “I knew at some point in my life I had to do this show. … This is my third time. … What I enjoy every time I’ve done this is getting that audience reaction.”

Though the play is Broadway’s longest-running comedy-thriller and was adapted into a 1982 Hollywood film, “Deathtrap” might well be among the lesser-known works in a season that also features “Cabaret,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “A Christmas Carol,” which will once again be returning as the company’s holiday tradition.

“Theater companies have been feeling our way in the dark out of the pandemic,” Lamb said. “A lot of theater companies started out thinking, ‘Well, we really need to do work that matters,’ and we do. We do need to do work that matters, but we also need to do work that really engages people.

“We get the largest audiences for something that people have heard of,” he said. “That differs across the country but there are pockets like ours that are seeing that strongly. … The goal is to bring the largest swath of the community back to the arts at this point post pandemic.”

What Harlequin wants to produce, though, is not simply familiar shows but familiar shows made fresh. Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is a good example, Lamb said.

“This is not your mother’s ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ ” he said. “It’s not the BBC’s ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ It’s a very modern take. It’s a lot of fun. It’s very funny. … It has a disco ball. It gives us the opportunity to make artistic choices that we wouldn’t be able to make if we were doing something completely traditional.”

That mix of classic and surprising sounds not so different from Lamb’s own adaptation of “Carol,” returning for the fourth consecutive year. Harlequin is developing a new tradition with the production, which sticks close to Charles Dickens’ story — until it doesn’t, as Lamb likes to say.

Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” is the one new play in the season. The 2017 play, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, takes an in-depth look at the Constitution through the lens of Schreck’s years as a high-school debater and her own family history.

“I found in talking to people that this play is of a lot of interest in this community,” Lamb said. “That’s why it landed in the season.”

Though it deals with serious topics, “Constitution” is also a comedy — and it seems clear that local audiences want laughs as much as they want what they know.

The theater’s season brochure classifies each show by genre or genres. Four of the seven — including “Deathtrap,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Constitution” — are labeled as comedies.

The remaining comedy, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” is perhaps the most unexpected choice for Harlequin: It’s a three-actor parody that’s often staged with little or nothing in the way of costumes, props or sets.

It makes sense, though, given that “Works” will be produced not at Harlequin’s State Theater but in the Black Box at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, a change made to accommodate construction in Harlequin’s State Theater, including new seats and extensive changes to facilities backstage.

“We need a small-scale piece that we can do off site,” Lamb said. “We’ll have fewer seats and a run that we can’t extend. We need something that will be fun and that will be well attended.”

Also happening at the center is “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” The Sondheim classic is a co-production with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, whose musicians will share the stage with the actors. The production also will include singers from Masterworks Choral Ensemble.

“What we’re doing is called an orchestral staging,” Lamb said. “We’ll have the full symphony on stage throughout the performance, and the actors will play sort of in and out of the symphony.”

‘Deathtrap’

• What: Harlequin opens its 2024 with season with the 1978 black comedy/thriller.

• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19-20 plus Jan. 25-27, and Feb. 1-3 and 8-10; 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, plus Jan. 28 and 31 and Feb. 4 and 11.

• Where: State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia

• Tickets: $28-$43. For the Jan. 27 and Feb. 1 shows, pay what you choose. Season tickets are available, too.

• More information: https://harlequinproductions.org

The rest of the season

“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” (March 15-31 in the Black Box at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia): The three-actor comedy condenses and parodies all of the bard’s plays.

“Cabaret” (June 28-July 28 at the State Theater): The famed musical, set in 1929 Berlin, has a lot of parallels with the present, said Harlequin artistic director Aaron Lamb.

“Pride and Prejudice” (Aug. 30-Sept. 22 at the State Theater): Kate Hamill’s adaptation of the Jane Austen classic is bold and surprising — and even has a disco ball.

“What the Constitution Means to Me” (Oct. 18-Nov. 3 at the State Theater): Heidi Schreck’s 2017 play, inspired by her teenage success as a competitive debater, examines and reimagines the Constitution. The Harlequin production will also feature members of local high-school debate teams.

“A Christmas Carol” (Nov. 29-Dec. 24 at the State Theater): Lamb’s popular adaptation of Charles Dickens’ ghost story returns for the holiday season.

Also in 2024

Harlequin and the Olympia Symphony Orchestra are co-producing “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (Oct. 11-13 on the main stage at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts). Not part of the theater’s regular season, the one-weekend-only production of Stephen Sondheim’s Tony winner will put actors on stage with the orchestra and members of Masterworks Choral Ensemble.