CONTACT: Gerry Cornez
(212) 258-3111
gcornez@theactingcompany.org
The Acting Company in association with The Guthrie Theater presents a
national tour of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Et tu, Brute? Friends, Romans, countrymen…
The Acting Company proudly announces its 39th national tour featuring a new
production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, one of the greatest political
dramas of all time. The tour will begin in January at the Guthrie in Minneapolis
and travel to 31 communities in 21 states plus Ontario, Canada.
With Americans looking at, questioning and demanding transparency from civic
leaders, we chose Julius Caesar with the belief that this 400 year old play
powerfully displays the power of rhetoric – that what you say can have a
profound and chilling effect on the country without burden of proof or, too often,
measured consideration.
Today’s public discourse on leaders and candidates is accepted as fact by too
many and explodes across our press and television headlines without debate or
discovery. Although Shakespeare was a student of history, he was also deeply
concerned with connecting history to his contemporary audience. Our production
will also be rooted in details from contemporary America, so that our audiences
can easily relate to and understand some of the history that is often missed in a
more traditional production.
Julius Caesar has been notoriously used to make one-sided political points about
current events. To do so goes against the spirit of Shakespeare’s centuries-old
play as well as flies in the face of the discourse so many Americans are
demanding. Using modern dress allows for greater accessibility for audiences
and their engagement with Shakespeare’s story. We will not recreate
Shakespeare’s story; it stands on its own merits and demands us to explore and
question as much today as when it was written.
Rob Melrose, artistic director of San Francisco’s Cutting Ball Theatre, will direct.
Called by Stage and Cinema a “theatrical marvel,” Mr. Melrose will develop a
work whose production quality will equal what we predict will be a profound and
lasting impact on audiences nationally.
The superb cast, trained at the leading acting conservatories in the country
includes Earnest Bentley, Ashley Bryant, Caleb Carlson, Ray Chapman, Bjorn
DuPaty, Zack Fine, Whitney Hudson, Joseph Midyett, Kevin Orton, Sid Solomon,
William Sturdivant, Brian Tichnell and Kathleen Wise.
Since its founding in 1972 by the legendary John Houseman and current
Producing Artistic Director Margot Harley, The Acting Company has performed
136 productions touring to 48 states and ten foreign countries and is America’s
most respected and praised touring repertory theater. It’s innovative education
programs are provided in conjunction with the tour and include student matinees,
Learning Through Theater artistic residencies, master classes, workshops and
Shakespeare for Teachers professional training workshops designed to make the
classics more accessible to teacher and students alike.
Rainn Wilson, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Jesse L. Martin, Frances Conroy, David
Ogden Stiers and Keith David are but a handful of actors who began their
careers on tour with The Acting Company. Honored by the TONY® Awards for
Excellence in Theater, The Company has won the Obie, Audelco, Citibank’s
Excellence in Education and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.
The Guthrie Theater, founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963, is one of America’s
leading regional theaters and is widely recognized as an American center for
theater performance, production and professional training. In addition to plays
presented on the Guthrie’s mainstage, the theater provides an additional season
of new works by contemporary playwrights such as Arthur Miller, Edward Albee
and Warren Leight at the Guthrie Lab.
Under the directorship of Joe Dowling, the Guthrie has built one of the finest
multistage theater centers of our time including a classic thrust for grand scale
classics, a proscenium for more intimate productions and a studio for developing
new works. In 1982, the Guthrie received a TONY Award acknowledging its
outstanding contribution to the American Theater.
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