A Lesson from Aloes
May 17 – June 10
By Athol Fugard
Directed by Darko Tresnjak
Past Issues
- The Age of Innocence
- Murder on the Orient Express
- Feeding the Dragon
- A Christmas Carol (2017)
- Seder
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Our Great Tchaikovsky
- Heartbreak House
- The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey
- Cloud 9
- The Comedy of Errors
- A Christmas Carol
- The Piano Lesson
- Queens for a Year
- Anastasia
- Having Our Say
- Romeo & Juliet
- The Body of an American
- A Christmas Carol (2015)
- Rear Window
- An Opening in Time
- Kiss Me, Kate
- The Pianist of Willesden Lane
- Reverberation
- Private Lives
- A Christmas Carol (2014)
- Hamlet
- Ether Dome
Meet the Director
Darko Tresnjak discusses A Lesson from Aloes
“It’s a play about three good people and how political and economic injustice affects friendships, marriages and the very sense of self. I think it’s one of the great plays of the 20th century.” Watch Video…
Boycotting Apartheid
Dramaturgy for A Lesson from Aloes
The anti-Apartheid movement was at a high point domestically in the 1950s, with frequent bus boycotts. On January 7, 1957, for instance, a boycott began in Johannesburg and quickly spread. This boycott was prompted by a twenty percent increase in bus fare, though it was driven by general widespread frustration towards the government. Read more…
Meet the Artist
Blair Gulledge, Costume Designer
Costume Designer Blair Gulledge discusses the process of designing and pulling costumes from stock. Watch Video…
Meet the Artist
An Interview with Dialect Coach Ben Furey
Ben Furey is the dialect coach of A Lesson from Aloes. His work has also been heard at Hartford Stage in A Christmas Carol, Heartbreak House and Cloud 9. He has worked on seventeen Broadway productions, including The Children, Michael Moore: The Terms of My Surrender, The Last Ship, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Matilda and Billy Elliot. Read More…
Athol Fugard
A Brief Biography
“I can’t think of a single one of my plays that does not represent a coincidence between an external and an internal event. Something outside of me, outside even my own life, something I read in a newspaper or witness on the street, something I see or hear, fascinates me. I see it for its ‘dramatic’ potential.” Read More…
Sponsor Spotlight
An Interview with Sue Ann Collins
“I’ve been involved with Hartford Stage for about the past 15 years. I attended shows periodically before I started serving on the Board of Directors in 2007.” Read More…
Education @ Hartford Stage
Extended School Hours Program
When ten-year-old Jordan Rodriguez first saw a table with information about Hartford Stage’s afterschool program at his school, he was immediately drawn to a mask of a tiger there. The fifth-grader at Ramon E. Betances STEM Magnet School in Hartford was intrigued by the artistic detail of the blue mask that depicted an animal he saw as fearless. Read More…
Education @ Hartford Stage
Breakdancing Shakespeare Marks 12th Year
For teens in Hartford Stage’s Breakdancing Shakespeare program, the quote, “All the world’s a stage” in Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It has literal meaning. Since its inception 12 years ago, Breakdancing Shakespeare has fused the intricate texts of Shakespearean plays with the language of rap, hip hop and breakdancing. Read More…
Meet the Staff
Athena Ellis, Stage Supervisor
“What I love about my job is that every day can be different. My days run on a six-week cycle, varying depending on if we are loading in, tech-ing or in show run. The typical show run day (assuming I haven’t had production meetings or extraneous events) starts two hours before curtain, when we clean and preset the stage depending on each show’s needs.” Read More…
The Hartford Stage Gala
A Look Back in Photos
The 2018 Hartford Stage Gala, From New York to Newport, was a smashing success. Select photos from the event tell the story. Read More…
Short Takes
News from Hartford Stage
A look at our lobby, subscriptions for the 2018-19 season, Gala recap, Backstage renovations, Education summer preview, Breakdancing Shakespeare, Hartford Stage gives back, Neighborhood Ambassadors recap. Read More…
