| Performances begin in 2 Weeks for "The Merchant of Venice" featuring T.R. Knight, Richard Topol, and Alexandra Silber at Classic Stage Company | |
| Last Edit: Official_Press_Release 11:05 am EST 11/08/24 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 11:00 am EST 11/08/24 | |
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| THE MERCHANT OF VENICE a comedy, performed nightly for a live audience by William Shakespeare Adapted & Directed by Igor Golyak Lynn F. Angelson Theater, Classic Stage Company Limited Engagement begins November 22 Opening Night is November 25 Starring Richard Topol as Shylock Alexandra Silber as Portia & T.R. Knight as Antonio Featuring Gus Birney, Tess Goldwyn, José Espinosa, Stephen Ochsner, Delilah Napier, Noah Pacht, Elan Zafir Performances of The Merchant of Venice, directed and adapted by Igor Golyak (Our Class; The Orchard), begin in two weeks on November 22 at The Lynn F. Angelson Theater, Classic Stage Company (CSC). The play opens on November 25. In a nightclub environment akin to a late-night comedy show, this Merchant brings Shakespeare’s “festival” setting for the play into our modern world. Superheroes and their archenemies battle it out to protect good in the face of evil. Will love, justice and order prevail? Who defines love, justice and order? The audience and cast wrestle with these questions and their dead-serious consequences. The Merchant of Venice is produced by Arlekin Players Theatre & MART Foundation in association with Jadow Productions. There will be a “Meet The Cast” press event with performances excerpts, photos, and interview opportunities on November 13 at 11am at CSC. Please email Logan Metzler at logan@ksa-pr.com. T.R. Knight (Grey's Anatomy, Parade, Noises Off, Tartuffe), will play Antonio, the ring-leader and emcee, who encourages the live audience to laugh, sing along, boo, and ultimately face the surprising, tragic twist of an ending. "Getting to work with Igor and the troupe behind his production of Our Class, a production that is heartbreakingly inventive and rearranged my molecules, is thrilling,” said T.R. Knight. “I’m grateful and honored to be a part of Igor’s production of The Merchant of Venice.” Joining Knight are Richard Topol (Indecent, Our Class, Godfather of Harlem) as Shylock and Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof, Our Class, Carousel) as Portia along with Gus Birney (Jessica/Ensemble), Tess Goldwyn (Nerisa/Ensemble), José Espinosa (Bassanio/Ensemble), Stephen Ochsner (Launcelot Gobbo/Ensemble), Delilah Napier (Understudy), Noah Pacht (Lorenzo/Ensemble) and Elan Zafir (Understudy). The Merchant of Venice has scenic design by Jan Pappelbaum of the Schaubuehne, costume and props design by Sasha Ageeva, lighting design by Seth Reiser, and sound design by Fedor Zhuravlev, who has also composed music for the production. Golyak is designing projections. Kyra Bowie is the production stage manager, John Lant /Write Act is production manager, general management is by Martin Platt/Perry Street Theatricals, and The Merchant of Venice is co-presented by Sofia Kapkova/MART Foundation, and executive produced by Sara Stackhouse/Arlekin Players Theatre. "The first Quarto published in1600 titled this play “The most excellent historie of the merchant of Venice with the extreame crueltie of Shylocke the Jewe towards the sayd merchant, in cutting a just pound of his flesh: and the obtayning of Portia by the choyse of three chests.” That’s a mouthful.” says director Igor Golyak. “It casts Shylock as a cruel villain and sets the expectation of a love story, a comedy, and a ruinous tragedy all wrapped into one. We are true to this in our production and we deliver all of it - an undercurrent of bias, a comedy, romance, action and escapades - a real romp of a performance. But antisemitism is a light sleeper, and as the story plays out, it inevitably awakens and the result is devastating. It mirrors who we are, the times we live in, and how quickly the tides can turn. It’s a wild ride." This is the second of two Arlekin productions at Classic Stage this fall, part of Arlekin’s residency there through December 22. The first was the acclaimed Our Class, also directed by Golyak, which ran through November 3 after premiering at BAM in January. The show received Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations following the BAM production. Executive Producer Sara Stackhouse said, “It is a dream come true to bring these two powerhouse productions — Our Class and Merchant of Venice — to New York back-to-back. Our fearless director, Igor Golyak, has worked his magic with this ensemble of special actors and our international design team to create two vastly different experiences for the audience. The shows both center around antisemitism and are about how alliances between people can turn on a dime with shocking consequences. The vibe of Merchant of Venice couldn’t be more different than the world of Our Class, and the 1-2 punch of these shows, one following the other, is powerful, and needed in this moment. We are grateful to MART Foundation and Classic Stage Company for partnering to make this dream a reality.” Tickets for The Merchant of Venice, priced from $59-$119, as well as the performance schedule, are available at www.MerchantOfVenicePlay.com. Golyak, founder of Boston’s Arlekin Players Theatre, was born in Kyiv and came to the US as a Jewish refugee at age 11. The New York Times praised him, saying “Igor Golyak is among the most inventive directors working in the United States”, and The Forward called Igor “a visionary theater maker [who] never thought he’d be ‘Jewish Director’ — then the times demanded it.’’ In 2022, Golyak conceived and directed The Orchard at Baryshnikov Arts Center starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jessica Hecht. Golyak received global acclaim during the pandemic as he conceived and directed WITNESS, chekhovOS/an experimental game/ and State vs. Natasha Banina, each playing virtually around the world and receiving multiple New York Times Critics’ Picks. The Merchant of Venice is one of two productions Presented by MART Foundation as part of ARLEKIN in Residence at Classic Stage Company Our Class & The Merchant of Venice Arlekin Players Theatre Arlekin Players Theatre was founded in Boston by Ukrainian-born artistic director Igor Golyak in 2009 and is now led by Golyak and producing director Sara Stackhouse. Arlekin launched its (zero-G) Virtual Theater Lab in 2020. Arlekin most recently produced the US premiere of a new adaptation of The Dybbuk at the historic Vilna Shul in Boston, starring Andrey Burkovskiy, and co-produced Our Class at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in January 2024. They produced The Orchard featuring Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov in 2022, both off-Broadway in New York and in Boston, The Gaaga, US premiere, by Ukrainian playwright Sasha Denisova, and Just Tell No One at Lincoln Center with Bill Irwin, Jessica Hecht and David Krumholz in partnership with the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project. Arlekin received worldwide acclaim, including two New York Times Critics’ Picks, for their virtual projects during the pandemic, including WITNESS, State vs Natasha Banina, and chekhovOS /an experimental game/ featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov as Anton Chekhov. Arlekin has received numerous awards including multiple Elliot Norton Awards from the Boston Theater Critics Association, including The Gaaga, The Stone, The Seagull, The Orchard, and a Special Citation for innovation during the pandemic. A company of immigrants, Arlekin has toured internationally, and performs works that explore identity, culture, antisemitism, home, belonging, tradition, and finding common humanity and themes that unite us. The company makes its home in Needham, MA. Classic Stage Company Classic Stage Company (CSC) challenges the traditional perception of classic work by exploring and reimagining great stories across the world’s repertoire that illuminate our common humanity. As a home for the classics, CSC collaborates with artists to produce work that is inclusive, relevant, and accessible. CSC believes that theater can both reflect and improve society by reaching across cultural divides in order to foster shared empathy and understanding. In 1967, director Christopher Martin founded CSC Repertory in a 100-seat theater at Rutgers Presbyterian Church on West 73rd Street. Following short stints in small spaces, CSC grew to the point where it needed a permanent home. In 1973, the theater moved to its present premises on 13th Street, an intimate space that was formerly an East Village carriage house. In the 55 years since, CSC has become a leading Off-Broadway theater that is a home for new and established artists, as well as audiences seeking epic stories intimately told. Productions have been cited by all major Off-Broadway theater awards including the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work. MART Foundation MART Foundation is an American nonprofit organization that produces and supports contemporary performing arts programs globally. With a special focus on co-productions, MART co-produced the New York premiere of Our Class at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sharon Eyal’s Into The Hairy, Kirill Serebrennikov’s Outside with The Avignon Festival, Summer Snow for Batsheva Dance Company, and a digital version of the Song of Songs (SOS) cantata for the Baryshnikov Art Center. MART presented projects at Carnegie Hall, Sadler’s Wells, and the Barbican Centre, supported a new premieres program at the Israel Festival, and NDT 2 tour in Israel. Currently, MART is producing Akram Khan’s first full-length duet, featuring renowned artists from the world of classical ballet. By curating an inventive and varied arts program, MART strives to showcase the very best of contemporary theater, music, and dance. |
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