Inspired by the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians, Oslo is a deeply personal story about the individuals behind the historic peace negotiation and their all-too-human ambitions. This regional premiere is currently on stage until October 21. Dear Elizabeth, which runs from October 4 to October 28, follows the beautiful and bittersweet friendship between American poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell.

Just in time for the holidays, Northern Stage will offer a production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin. Thirty local young actors will be brought in to perform. Another regional premiere, this Tony Award-winning musical follows the struggles of Matilda against her neglectful parents and cruel headmistress in a heartwarming story of empowerment. It plays from November 14 to January 1.

The New Year will start with plays new to Northern Stage. The sixth annual New Works Now festival offers free staged readings January 18 and 19, 2019. Among the pieces will be the inaugural Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award-winner for Playwriting, Choices People Make by Jessica Andrewartha.

Next, playwright Marisa Smith, author of 2016’s Mad Love, returns with the world premiere of Venus Rising from January 30 to February 17, a mother-daughter comedy about aging gracefully. Venus Rising will be directed by Northern Stage’s new BOLD Associate Artistic Director Jess Chayes. Jess comes to Northern Stage from New York with a wealth of experience as a director and founding co-artistic director of The Assembly, with whom she created and directed ten original productions. She has directed at theaters throughout New York (including Broadway associate directing credits for Peter and the Starcatcher, The Snow Geese, and Misery) and across the country and has developed new work with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Playwrights Center, and New York Theatre Workshop, among others. As a producer, Chayes co-founded the New Georges Jam, a collaboration-based “performance gym” for early-career theater-makers, and co-curated the Jam on Toast Festival in 2014.

Next up at Northern Stage will be the one-man show Buyer & Cellar by Jonathan Tolins, starring Director of Education Eric Love. This comedy about a struggling actor who works in the Malibu basement mini-mall of megastar Barbra Streisand plays February 27 to March 17.

The season concludes with the Tony Award-winning musical Once, featuring a cast of actor-musicians who play their own instruments on stage. Based on the motion picture written and directed by John Carney, Once follows a Dublin street musician about to give up on his dream when a beautiful young woman takes an interest in his haunting love songs. With the book for the musical by Enda Walsh and Oscar-winning music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, this production plays April 10 to May 19.

To secure your tickets for this season, go to northernstage.org.