New Rep offers its first summer show

New Repertory Theatre will put on more productions than ever in its history for the 2007-'08 season.

The theater will produce four shows for its second stage, Downstage @ New Rep , one more than this year. In addition, there will be six productions on its main stage. And for the first time, New Rep will also present a summer show: a version of "Side by Side by Sondheim," in July.

"It's a season about really great writers writing about really strong ideas, both upstairs and down, with really powerful first-person narratives," producing artistic director Rick Lombardo explained yesterday. The season will be announced officially today.

The first-person narratives include a pairing of the one-acts "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" and "To Pay the Price," running March 8 - 30, 2008, in the Downstage Black Box Theater.

"My Name Is Rachel Corrie" is based on the letters of a 23-year-old American killed while attempting to stop an Israeli bulldozer from demolishing a civilian home on the Gaza Strip. The play drew national attention when the New York Theatre Workshop indefinitely postponed its production last year, contending that it didn't have enough time to prepare audiences, its board, and donors for such a controversial play.

"To Pay the Price," a drama by Peter-Adrian Cohen , looks at the 1976 hostage rescue mission at Entebbe Airport in which Israeli commander Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyahu was killed. The play is based on interviews with his family and friends and personal letters.

"We're offering probably the most controversial play in America, one with a pro-Palestinian perspective, and we're pairing it with another play with a pro-Israeli perspective," Lombardo said yesterday. He said he didn't put them together for reasons of political balance, but because he felt the pairing would enrich both plays.

"Price" was submitted for consideration to New Rep about six months ago. "I read it, but it's a short play and I didn't think it was right for a whole evening," Lombardo said. "And for the last year and a half, since I heard about 'Rachel Corrie,' I've been pursuing that. So it was this wonderful confluence."

Other shows in the Black Box Theater include: "tick, tick . . . BOOM!," a musical by Jonathan Larson ("Rent"), running Sept. 22-Oct. 21. "The Santaland Diaries " returns from Dec. 19- 30. From Jan 19- Feb. 10 the theater will feature "An Evening With Pinter," pairing his one-acts "The Lover" and "Ashes to Ashes."

New Rep's main stage season will open with Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire," Sept. 11-Oct. 7. The production marks the 60th anniversary of the play's Broadway debut.

"A House With No Walls," by Thomas Gibbons , follows from Oct. 23-Nov. 18. At George Washington's presidential home, two African-American politicos face off on how best to honor American liberty as well as the memory of nine slaves who lived in tiny quarters at the site.

"Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol," adapted by Lombardo, runs Dec. 9- 23. Moliere's "The Misanthrope" runs Jan. 15-Feb. 10. "Travesties," by Tom Stoppard , directed by Lombardo, runs Feb. 26-March 23.

From April 22- May 18 , 2008, New Rep will offer the New England premiere of "Dessa Rose," a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty ("Ragtime") , adapted from the novel by Sherley Ann Williams . Based on imagined details of real events, the show follows an abandoned upper-class woman and a pregnant slave who attempt to escape their circumstances.

Local favorites Leigh Barrett and Maryanne Zschau will star in the July production of "Side By Side By Sondheim."

Tickets are $25-$50 (for musicals, $30--$55); subscriptions are $100-$285. For more information, call 617-923-8487 or visit newrep.org.