Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced the lineup for its 2024–2025 season, which will feature an array of diverse programming.

Opening the Harman Hall will be two-time Tony winner Matthew Broderick, who will make his STC debut in Babbitt, a new adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ classic satirical novel.

“We are thrilled to reveal the first play in Harman Hall this fall will be Babbitt, starring Matthew Broderick,” shared STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin in a statement. “This new adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’s beloved novel, crafted by Joe DiPietro and led by Matthew’s incredible charisma and talent, is something I can’t wait for our audiences to experience.”

Babbitt, which recently completed a world-premiere run at La Jolla Playhouse, is a satirical comedy centering on the plight of the modern middle-class American man. Based on Lewis’ 1922 novel, Babbitt follows George (Broderick), a successful real estate agent who rebels against the conformity of everyday life. Also coming to STC with this production are Ann Harada (Avenue Q), Matt McGrath (The Legend of Georgia McBride), Chris Myers (STC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and director Christopher Ashley.

The season will begin in the Klein Theatre with Comedy of Errors, directed by Godwin and starring Alex Brightman and David Fynn. The duo, who played Dewey in School of Rock in the Broadway and West End productions, respectively, will play the wayward twins Dromio in Shakespeare's off-kilter mistaken identity comedy.

The holiday period will feature the regional debut of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, in a new co-production with The Huntington. The production will be directed by frequent Stoppard collaborator Carey Perloff.

“My mother is a Viennese refugee who fled the Nazis in March 1938, so Stoppard’s gorgeous and heartbreaking play has enormous resonance for me personally. I’m so honored that STC is giving me the chance to stage the first American production, in the city where I grew up,” shares Perloff. “Leopoldstadt is a family play, a rich story about how we are shaped by politics and history, and as such, it feels like a perfect fit for DC audiences. It is also Stoppard’s most deeply personal play, in which he reckons with the impact of his own Jewish heritage on his life and work, and he will be a crucial part of our collaboration."

2025 will also see Kunene and the King, written by and starring Tony-winning South African actor, activist, and playwright John Kani (Sizwe Banzi Is Dead,The Island) with direction by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (The Piano Lesson, Skeleton Crew). The play centers on the bond between a terminally ill Shakespearean actor and his caregiver Lunga Kunene (played by Kani), set 25 years after the first post-apartheid democratic elections in South Africa.

Penultimately, Godwin will direct Anton Chekhov’s comedy Uncle Vanya, starring Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey). The show will be a co-production with Berkeley Repertory, based on the recent adaptation by Conor McPherson (Girl from the North Country).

The season will conclude with a world-premiere adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, commissioned by STC from National Theatre Associate Director Emily Burns. Burns (Jack Absolute Flies Again) most recently worked with STC on this season’s production of Macbeth.

In addition to the six show mainstage season, STC will also stage the return of Patrick Page in All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, directed by Godwin, as a limited engagement run in December. Currently enjoying a multiple-times extended Off-Broadway run, the D.C. production will be the second engagement in the productions nation tour, returning Page to the Klein Theatre, where Godwin last directed him in King Lear.

“STC has been a partner on this piece since its premiere as a filmed production during Covid,” shared Page. “What a joy to bring it back to DC, fully realized, as part of the next evolution of this show. I’m especially pleased to have Simon Godwin at the helm, following our partnership on King Lear last season. STC has continued to be an artistic home for me, and I look forward to sharing such a personal piece with its audiences in person.”

The season will also include a reading of a new piece commissioned by Shakespeare Theatre Company, based on Ann Petry’s 1953 novel, The Narrows. The novel, which explores intersecting themes of race, class, and gender through a tragic love story, is being adapted by actor and playwright Regina Taylor (Crowns, Drowning Crow). This reading will be an invitation-only event for subscribers and donors.

Visit ShakespeareTheatre.com.