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After 19 years as artistic director at the Guthrie Theater Joe Dowling is leaving with a splash. 

, he will both survey some of the best of his tenure, while also presenting his vision of what the Guthrie is capable of in its three-stage complex on the banks of the Mississippi.

Sitting in his office overlooking the river, Dowling talks about the three plays he'll direct himself.

"The reason that I have chosen these plays is that they to some extent reflect what I have done at the Guthrie," he said.

He'll return to the first play he did as Guthrie artistic director, Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The show was later remounted as a touring production that traveled around the state.

This time Dowling promises something new. He'll co-direct with fellow Irishman David Bolger, who has worked with several Guthrie shows over the years.

"So we'll get a fresh look at it. It's an eternal beauty, that play, and it's some years since we have done it, so it is valuable."

Then Dowling will turn to Arthur Miller's version of the Salem Witch trials, "The Crucible." Dowling says he's loved the play for some time, but this will be his first effort directing the piece.

"I have not had the chance to do it before, and Arthur Miller is very important to the time I have been here," he said. The Guthrie has done "Death of a Salesman" and  "All My Sons" during Dowling's tenure. The playwright even came to the Guthrie for "Resurrection Blues." Dowling says he wanted to honor Miller and his contribution to American theater in his final season.

"And 'Juno and the Paycock' is a play that is part of my DNA," Dowling says of the third production he'll direct. He describes the Sean O'Casey play as one of his signature pieces. He talks about growing up with it in Ireland, mounting a number of productions of the play. He later took a production around the world, directing it on Broadway and in Edinburgh, Israel, Chicago and Washington.

Dowling is also excited about how the entire season has worked out. He stresses it's a complex task to put a season together, and far from an exact science, depending on the availability of performers, plays, and ultimately budgets.

"But I am proud of the fact we have a number of pieces that haven't been seen before, we have a number of writers we haven't done before, and we are bringing in some directors who haven't worked with us before," he said.

"I am very excited to have Mary Zimmerman come here," he said. "I have admired her work for a very long time." Dowling describes the author of "White Snake," which will open the season, as a writer who has found a way of storytelling that is unique and special.

He is also excited about presenting Sarah Ruhl's play "Stage Kiss," which will bring Guthrie alum Casey Stangl back from her new home in Los Angeles, where she has been making a splash for her directing work.

Then there will be the first Guthrie production of "The Music Man" in the summer of 2015. "It's a piece of Americana, a piece of classic musical theater," Dowling said.

When asked about the smaller productions in the Dowling Studio Theater he's proud of, he points to "Choir Boy" by Tarell Alvin McCraney, which will be directed by Peter Rothstein. Pillsbury House theater will also present  "Marcus," the final part of the McCraney trilogy, starting with "The Brothers Size" and "In the Red and Brown Water," pieces it has performed at the Guthrie in recent seasons.

Dowling said he is very pleased that the Dowling stage will continue to present fine productions by visiting theaters, but he's even happier that the Guthrie will be presenting the entire slate of shows on the thrust and proscenium stages.

"I wanted in the last season to state in unequivocal terms ... my vision of what  those two theaters can do," he said. "What I am trying to say is: This is the vision that we always had. This is the kind of range of work that we want to do, and here we are. And we are going to do it, and we'll see what the consequences are in terms of box office, and  we hope it's going to be good!"

The full 2014-2015 Guthrie season rundown is below.

 traces the coming of age of Heidi Holland from high school in the radical '60s to her career as an art historian in the heartless '80s. With wit, grace and authenticity, Wasserstein examines the changing role of women, the progress of a generation, and the trials we as individuals all face as we wrestle with the big question: What should we do with our lives?

by Charles Dickens (adapted by Crispin Whittell)

In addition to the nine plays of the subscription season and studio productions, the Guthrie will present its 40

, the perennial favorite that received a new adaptation by Crispin Whittell in 2010 and continues the Guthrie’s holiday tradition for families across the region.

Joe Dowling collaborates with director and choreographer David Bolger to direct a reimagined take on Shakespeare’s joyous romantic comedy. The play cleverly weaves four stories in a moonlit forest on a midsummer night: the marriage of the Athenian duke to the Amazon queen; the warring Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies; the follies of four lovers in a forest; and the comical efforts of working men and women to stage a play for the royal wedding.

It is 1692 and a dark magic possesses Salem. The God-fearing citizens are on their guard and no one is beyond suspicion. As investigations into witchcraft reach their height, a woman points a finger at Elizabeth, the blameless wife of John Proctor. But Proctor finds he cannot save Elizabeth without unearthing his own black sin. Arthur Miller’s Tony Award-winning play addresses notions of faith and uncertainty, and truth and deception.

(book, music and lyrics by Meredith Willson, story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey)

Fast-talking traveling salesman “Professor” Harold Hill lands in River City, Iowa, ready to charm the locals into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he promises to lead. But his money making scheme crumbles when he falls for Marian the librarian, who transforms him into an honest man. The Tony Award-winning American classic features toe-tapping songs such as “Goodnight, My Someone,” “Gary, Indiana,” “Till There Was You,” and “Seventy-Six Trombones.”

The White Snake                

It’s a beloved ancient Chinese story: girl meets boy and falls head over heels. The only problem is that the girl is a white serpent from the spirit world, and to win her love’s heart she must come down from the mountain and take human form. With live music, puppetry and visual metaphors, Tony Award-winner Mary Zimmerman brings a fable to life in an enchanting theatrical spectacle

It’s the 1970s in Buffalo and John arrives for dinner at his parents’ home carrying the script of his soon-to-be produced play, depicting his uptight, upper-crust WASP family. Just as the martinis flow over a comically extended cocktail session, so do the revelations and recriminations. With booze-fueled banter, A.R. Gurney (

) offers a heartfelt comedy of manners about the ties that bind.

The Guthrie Theater in co-production with American Conservatory Theater presents

by Anne Washburn (score by Michael Friedman, lyrics by Anne Washburn)

What will endure when the cataclysm arrives—when society crumbles and we’re faced with the task of rebuilding? Anne Washburn’s outrageous new comedy, a paean to live theater and to the resilience of Bart Simpson through the ages, is an ingenious exploration of how the pop culture of one era might evolve into the mythology of another. 

 was named one of the Top Ten Plays of 2013 by 

Jack Boyle, known as the “paycock,” is out of work and spends time drinking and playing cards while Juno, the matriarch, attempts to keep the family together amidst political unrest. When they learn of an inheritance from a relative, the money is spent before it arrives. Will they transcend the events that conspire to keep them in their place?

 offers a poetically comic and tragic portrait of a family in Dublin following the Irish Civil War.

Does art imitate life? Or is it the other way around? When two actors with a history are thrown together as romantic leads in a forgotten 1930s melodrama, they quickly lose touch with reality as the story onstage follows them offstage. From Pulitzer finalist Sarah Ruhl (

) comes a charming tale about what happens when lovers share a stage kiss—or when actors share a real one.

The Acting Company in association with the Guthrie Theater presents

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 

adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the novel by Mark Twain

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Euan Kerr

Author

After 19 years as artistic director at the Guthrie Theater Joe Dowling is leaving with a splash. In his farewell season, he will both survey some of the best of his tenure, while also presenting his vision of what the Guthrie is capable of in its three-stage complex on the banks of the Mississippi. Sitting in 

After 19 years as artistic director at the Guthrie Theater Joe Dowling is leaving with a splash. In his farewell season, he will both survey some of the best of his tenure, while also presenting his vision of what the Guthrie is capable of in its three-stage complex on the banks of the Mississippi. Sitting in Read more →


Guthrie’s Dowling announces his final season

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