Commonwealth Shakespeare Company to Debut CSC2 with ROMEO & JULIET

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) announces the inaugural production for its CSC2 ensemble--Shakespeare's universal and timeless love story Romeo & Juliet--at The Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road in Dorchester. Community performances are Friday, May 29, 7:30 p. m.; and Saturday, May 30 at 2:00 p. m. (ASL Interpreted), with an Open House with tours of The Strand and free workshops starting at 12:30 p.m. All tickets are $5. For more information, visit commshakes.org or call 617 426-0863. Special thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, the City of Boston, Xfinity, and Dorchester Reporter.

CSC2 is a young, diverse company of 12 non-Equity early-career actors, with some professional experience, working with CSC on an extended basis. As both a distinct ensemble focused on peer learning, and alongside the professional actors and artists of the mainstage company, CSC2 will perform in a variety of productions, including CSC's Free Shakespeare on the Common production of King Lear this summer.

Perhaps the world's best-known story of love against insurmountable odds, Romeo & Juliet takes us to Verona, where a violent feud between rival families, the Montagues and Capulets, shatters the peace of everyday life. As this bloodshed pushes the city to the brink of martial law, the teenage children of each family, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, discover in each other a forbidden love so consuming and powerful, it could end the familial strife--until ill-timed circumstances escalate the conflict, fueling vengeance, and hasty choices that ultimately push each of them to desperate measures.

"The pressures young people face are tremendous," says director Adam Sanders, CSC's Associate Artistic Director. "But these characters find in their relationship something to believe in, without any doubts, and pursue it with ferocity. It's thoroughly tragic the way that reality consumes them, for what otherwise should be so simple and satisfying."

"Reading the play as an adult, I'm reminded of all the things that were confusing and challenging for me growing up. How to talk to girls? How to relate to my peers? How to behave 'like a man' (meaning 'adult' and 'male')? How to reconcile my family among others? What I admire about Romeo and Juliet is the sense of clarity and purpose in their actions-that is the thing, I think, that many young people search for the most."

The production also marks the debut of Shakespeare OFF the Common, an innovative three-part arts program designed to foster community interaction, created in collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events, and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts "Our Town" grant.

The CSC2 Romeo & Juliet cast features Avery Bargar (Lord Montague/Friar John)

Sophia Blum (Lady Capulet), Matt Giampietro (Tybalt/Apothecary), Charlotte Kinder (Juliet), Kelsey Lidsky (Nurse/Prince), Brennan Lowry (Lord Capulet), Chris Olmsted (Peter), Marc Pierre (Benvolio), Eliott Purcell (Romeo), Arisael Rivera (Friar Lawrence), Jacob Rosenbaum (Paris/Samson) and Addison Williams (Mercutio/Apothecary). Photos and Bios

The creative team includes Brynna Bloomfield (Sets), Yo-el Cassell (Movement), Nile Hawver (Fight Choreography), Scott Pinkney (Lights), Adam Sanders (Director) Brooke Stanton (Costumes), Colin Thurmond (Sound), and Victoria Townsend (Assistant Director).

In addition to the two community performances, six free student matinees will be performed at The Strand for Boston and area schools on: Thursday, May 21; Friday, May 22; Wednesday, May 27; Thursday, May 28; and Friday, May 29 at 10 a. m., and on Tuesday, May 26 at 11 a.m. To register a class for one of these performances, as well as educational workshops, contact CSC's Community Education Coordinator Marissa Friedman at mfriedman@commshakes.org.

The Strand Theatre's mission is to serve as a cultural and educational resource to artists and audiences regardless of race or cultural background, age, ability, gender, economic level, or sexual orientation. Central to the Strand's mission is the development and implementation of youth arts educations programs. The Strand Theatre has a special commitment to the surrounding communities of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.

For more information about CSC and CSC2, please visit commshakes.org.

EDITOR NOTE - Shakespeare OFF the Common

At the end of the run, the production will be reduced to a one-hour traveling work that will become the focal point for three neighborhood arts festivals, called the Fair Verona Festivals. CSC has partnered with three Boys & Girls Clubs in Boston neighborhoods to curate open-air Fair Verona Festivals, which will focus on different themes from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. The clubs will promote the festivals to their constituents and provide key infrastructure for the event. Each festival will be held in parks and outdoor spaces adjacent to the following clubs:

West End House Boys & Girls Club (Ringer Park: 105 Allston Street, Allston)

Date: Friday, July 10, 2015, 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Theme: Recklessness vs. Responsibility

Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club (Harambee Park: 15 Talbot Avenue, Dorchester) Date: Saturday, July 11, 2015, 4:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Theme: Family Dynamics

Yawkey Boys & Girls Club of Roxbury (Baseball Field: 115 Warren St., Roxbury) Date: Friday, July 17, 2015, 3:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. Theme: Fate and Free Will

Based on these themes, each Fair Verona Festival will have a rotating mainstage as well as tents and booths showcasing the work of CSC2, work from host Boys & Girls Clubs, as well as local artists. Festivals will include workshops in the visual and performing arts, and interactive outdoor activities, including, but not limited to, painting, drawing, , dancing, fight choreography, improvisation, and theater games. To date, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Urbanity Dance and Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals have committed to participating and CSC is talking to other local arts groups about participating. CSC is also pursuing in-kind donations from local businesses. All Fair Verona Festivals will be FREE and open to the public.

Shakespeare OFF the Common is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts "Our Town" grant program.