Robert Schenkkan’s ‘Bob & Jean: A Love Story’ Opens Bay Street’s Mainstage Season

The upcoming 2025 mainstage season at Bay Street Theater will dive into a summer of love, deception and impossible choices. Curated by artistic director Scott Schwartz, from a true-life World War II romance to a period-set psychological thriller and a musical that charges toward legend, the upcoming three summer productions will deliver unforgettable storytelling.

The season opens with “Bob & Jean: A Love Story,” a play that is as personal as it is powerful. Directed by Matt August and co-produced with Arizona Theater Company, the world premiere play will run at Bay Street from May 27 to June 15. Written by Sag Harbor resident and Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winner Robert Schenkkan, it tells the true story of Schenkkan’s parents falling in love through letters exchanged across the ocean during World War II.

At the center of “Bob & Jean” are two people navigating separation, war and uncertainty, held together by words and a sense of something just out of reach. The result is both grounded and luminous — a story that reveals how connection can form before two people have even touched.

The journey of “Bob & Jean: A Love Story” to the Bay Street Theater stage began with a call from Schenkkan.

“I have this brand-new play,” Schenkkan told Schwartz. “It’s different. Very personal. It’s the love story of my parents.

“‘I love Bay Street. I happen to live here, for God’s sake,’” Schenkkan continued. “I said to Scott, ‘And this play is perfect for your theater.’”

“That’s great, Robert,” Schwartz responded, “but I still have to read it.”

He did, and then called Schenkkan back to say, “You’re right. I love it. And yes, it’s perfect for Bay Street.”

The play comes to Bay Street fresh from its March and April run at the Arizona Theater Company in Tucson. The cast includes Mary Mattison as Jean, who originated Elizabeth Bennet in the world premiere of “Pride and Prejudice” earning a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. Jake Bentley Young plays Bob, with credits in “The Karate Kid,” “Jersey Boys” and “RENT” and Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming film “Caught Stealing.” Tony Award nominee Scott Wentworth plays The Narrator. His credits include “Lost in Yonkers,” “Macbeth,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and “The Lehman Trilogy.”

The second play of the summer at Bay Street will be “Deceived,” which runs June 24 to July 10 and will be directed by Sheryl Kaller. A period piece by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson, the script is adapted from Patrick Hamilton’s “Gaslight” and set in a world where facts bend, trust disappears and one woman must fight to hold on to what’s real.

The final play of the season will be “Bonnie & Clyde: The Musical,” running July 29 through August 30. With a score by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black and a book by Ivan Menchell, the show captures the rush of rebellion, the intimacy of co-dependence and the slow unraveling of two people moving too fast to turn around. Schwartz will direct the production.

Previews of “Bob & Jean: A Love Story,” begin on Tuesday, May 27, at 7 p.m.. Opening night is Saturday, May 31, at 8 p.m., with a red-carpet event starting at 7 p.m. The run continues through Sunday, June 15. The full service lobby bar will open one hour before showtime. For tickets, visit baystreet.org. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.