RECOMMENDED

Bailiwick Repertory’s annual Directors Festival turns 21 this year and it is getting a makeover and branching out.  The festival, intended to showcase rising directorial talent, will no longer play as a summer series.  The format will extend throughout the year, running in both January and May.  Its scope will also widen to more actively include other performance disciplines.  For festival dates in January, Program Director Matthew Trucano and the team at Bailiwick have asked directors and choreographers to create original works that utilize movement and music.  The four pieces selected vary in style as much as their respective source materials.  In Group A (January 14-16), director/composer Jessica Jackson brings “Porphyria’s Lover” based on Robert Browning’s poem of the same name. Director Brandon Hayes brings “La Commedia e Finita” by David Alex, a commedia dell’arte derivation of Leoncavallo’s opera, “Pagliacci.”  In Group B (January 21-23) Zach Zube creates “(R)Evolution,” a movement piece inspired by the overwhelming conditions of our crowded world.  Director Ira Spector brings “Bethiah Sings” by Lisa Hall, an exploration of non-traditional sexual behavior.   And if that is not enough, stay tuned.  Directors tackle adaptations this Spring. (William Scott)

At the Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 West Belmont, (773)883-1090. This production is now closed.