The Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong will write new songs for Yale Repertory Theater’s production of “These Paper Bullets,†a rock ‘n’ roll updating of “Much Ado About Nothing†that will have its world premiere next March, the theater announced on Thursday.
The play, adapted by Rolin Jones (“The Jammerâ€) and directed by Jackson Gay, centers on a band from Liverpool dealing with romance and the music industry in London. The project marks a return to theater for Mr. Armstrong, who was a key creative force behind the 2010 Broadway musical “American Idiot,†which was based on Green Day songs, and who is resuming a band tour this month after treatment for substance abus..
“These Paper Bullets†is one of six productions unveiled for Yale Rep’s 2013-14 season, which will include another premiere, “The House That Will Not Stand,†written by Marcus Gardley (“dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memoryâ€) and directed by Patricia McGregor (“Hurt Villageâ€). Mr. Gardley’s play, which will begin performances in April 2014, delves into the tribulations of a free woman of color and her three daughters in 1836 New Orleans.
The Yale Rep season will also feature productions of Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire,†Caryl Churchill’s “Owners,†and Dario Fo’s “Accidental Death of an Anarchist,†as well as Meg Miroshnik’s play “The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls,†which was a finalist for the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
