“Method & Madness” will be the title of the 2026 season at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has scheduled five of the six shows in its 2025 seasons, with its holiday show to be announced at a later date.
The season is:
May 16-June 7: “Private Lives” by Noël Coward
July 11-Aug. 2: “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” by Ken Ludwig
Aug. 14-23: “Shakespeare in the Wild: The Merry Wives of Windsor” by William Shakespeare
Sept. 5-27: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee
Oct. 10-Nov. 15: “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare
Dec. 5-31: Holiday show TBA
As in 2025, there will be no outdoor summertime production. All shows will be at The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison.
The season is titled “Method & Madness.” “We invite audiences to revel in the exhilaration — sometimes funny, sometimes dangerous — of what happens when control and chaos collide on stage and in the human heart,” said artistic director Brian B. Crowe, in a press release.
The season title refers to the “Hamlet” line, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t,” which is said by Polonius, suspecting an ulterior motive behind Hamlet’s erratic behavior.
In the press release, the “Shakespeare in the Wild” show is described as a “Season Add-On,” and explained this way:
Harkening back to original Shakespearean practices, Shakespeare in the Wild is theatre at its most daring. With no director and only a week of rehearsal, performers come in memorized and dive straight into the work, trusting their instincts and the brilliance of Shakespeare’s language to guide them. The result is an edge-of-your-seat experience — unfiltered, unpredictable, and wildly alive. This season, a troupe of talented Shakespeare Theatre actors will be set loose on The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare’s fast-paced comedy bursting with mischief and unforgettable hijinks. When the boastful Sir John Falstaff is outsmarted by two clever women, chaos ensues in this joyful tale of comic revenge. Filled with wordplay, disguises, and unexpected twists, it’s a timeless celebration of ribaldry and charm.
For information and season subscriptions, visit shakespearenj.org.
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