Elements Theatre to Crown Summer 2016 with Shakespeare's KING LEAR

Crowning its year-long tribute to Shakespeare's 400th anniversary, Elements Theatre Company presents King Lear under the direction of Danielle Dwyer, CJ. In the striking outdoor setting of the Atrium of the Church of the Transfiguration, the members of Elements Theatre Company bring all of their passionate dedication and expertise to the Bard's riveting portrayal of a kingdom and families torn apart. Press night is Opening night, August 12, 7:00pm guest lecture Dr. Kathryn Moncrief, followed by outdoor performance 8:00pm.

The elemental, almost mythic quality of the story will be enhanced by original set and costume design featuring Celtic and Viking inspiration, and by the environment of the Atrium itself, with its stone walls and pillars, open sky and stars above, and nearby ocean. Authentic stage combat, choreographed by the company's award-winning fight director Nick Sandys Pullin, supports the brutal and bloody nature of this tale of betrayal, revenge, and hard-won reconciliation.

Elements Theatre Company presents King Lear, August 12, 13, 14, 19, 20 & 21, at 8 pm at the Church of the Transfiguration, 5 Bay View Drive, Orleans, MA. Pre-performance lectures will be held at 7:00pm on August 12 by Kathryn Moncrief, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of English at Washington College, and August 19 by Tina Packer actor, playwright, and Founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA. Pre-performance gourmet dinner served August 13 & 20 at 6 pm (reservations required).

For tickets call 508-240-2400, visit elementstheatre.org, or purchase at the door.

About Danielle Dwyer, CJ, Artistic Director - A founding member of Elements Theatre Company, Sr. Danielle Dwyer has either directed or performed in nearly seventy productions since the company's inception. Classically trained but also skilled in contemporary drama, Sr. Danielle earned her Master of Arts Degree from England's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the University of London. She also studied voice, acting, and writing with Joanna Weir at Central School of Speech and Drama (London, England); David Male of Cambridge University (Cambridge, England); and Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA); and studied Shakespeare at the Stella Adler Studio in New York City. Sr. Danielle's directorial experience ranges from the timeless humanity of Shakespeare (Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar) and Chekhov (The Cherry Orchard) to the biting comedy of Oscar Wilde (Lady Windermere's Fan) and Yasmina Reza (God of Carnage) to the razor-sharp wit and deeply felt humanity of Alan Bennett (Talking Heads).

As an actress, Sr. Danielle has received comparable critical acclaim. Recent roles include Merchant of Venice, Shylock; Talking Heads, Irene Ruddock; Julius Caesar, Calpurnia; God of Carnage, Annette Raleigh; Pillars of the Community, Lona Hessel; Twelfth Night, Malvolio; The Cherry Orchard, Ranevskaya; Lady Windermere's Fan, Mrs. Erlynne; The Lion in Winter, Eleanor; Doctor Faustus, Mephistopheles; Richard III, Queen Elizabeth; Everyman, Everyman; and Lettice and Lovage, Lettice Douffet. Sr. Danielle is also the author of several performance pieces, including short stories and plays, video scripts, poetic monologues, and narratives for worship and meditation.

About Nick Sandys Pullin, the company's Fight Director - Nick Sandys Pullen is an award-winning actor, director, and fight choreographer, now based in Chicago, though originally from northern England. He became the Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company in 2012, where he has been an Artistic Associate since 2002. He has directed Seascape, Fiction, American Ethnic, and 365 Days / 365 Plays for the company and his acting credits include The Goat Or Who Is Sylvia? (Jeff Nomination 2011, Chicago Magazine's Best Actor Award 2011), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Jeff Nomination 2010), Old Times, The Marriage of Figaro, The Real Thing (Jeff Nomination 2007), Tartuffe, Arcadia, Money, The Secret Rapture (After Dark Award 2003), No Man's Land, and Hapgood. Other directing credits include: Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth (First Folio-Artistic Associate); Bedroom Farce (Eclipse Theatre); Twelfth Night (Noble Fool Theatricals); Persuasion, The Consul (Chamber Opera Chicago); Taming Of The Shrew, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Merry Wives Of Windsor (Fort Worth Shakespeare in the Park); Breaking The Code, I'm Not Rappaport, Walk In The Woods, Zoo Story (Stage West, TX); Separation, Goodnight Desdemona Goodmorning Juliet (Circle Theatre, TX), among others. His other acting credits include The 39 Steps (Cleveland Play House/Syracuse Stage); Turn of the Screw, Blithe Spirit (Jeff Nomination 2011), Twelfth Night (Jeff Nomination 2010), Much Ado About Nothing (Jeff Nomination 2008),Richard III, Midsummer Night's Dream (First Folio Theatre); Camelot, My Fair Lady (Light Opera Works); Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Pride & Prejudice (Northlight Theatre); Oedipus Complex (Goodman Theatre); Around The World in 80 Days (Lookingglass); Othello, Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Misanthrope (Jeff Nomination 2004) (Next Theatre); and productions at Chamber Opera Chicago, Marriott Theatre, Writers' Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, and Irish Repertory Theatre, as well as regionally and Off-Broadway. Nick is a certified Fight Director with The Society of American Fight Directors, his choreography appearing on Broadway (Steppenwolf's Tony-winning Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), at The Metropolitan Opera, Goodman Theatre (over 25 productions), Lyric Opera (over 35 productions), Northlight, Shattered Globe (Jeff Award 2008), Northlight, Victory Gardens, Remy Bumppo, Timeline, and at The Theatre School at DePaul University (adjunct since 1995). He has received twelve Joseph Jefferson Nominations, six of them for Actor in a Leading Role, and winning in 2008 for his fight choreography, as well as an After Dark Award, and a Dallas Critics Circle Award. He holds MAs in English Literature from both Cambridge University and Loyola University, Chicago. And he is the recipient of a 2011 Achievement Award from The Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Charitable Foundation for the Arts.

About Kathryn Moncrief, PhD. - Kathryn Moncrief, PhD., is Professor and Chair of English at Washington College in Chesterton, Maryland and is the recipient of Washington College's Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching. She currently serves as co-editor of the Shakespeare Life and Times for the Internet Shakespeare Editions. She is co-editor of Shakespeare Expressed: Page, Stage and Classroom in Early Modern Drama (Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2013); Performing Pedagogy in Early Modern England; Gender, Instruction and Performance (Ashgate, 2011); and Performing Maternity in Early Modern England, (Ashgate, 2007). She is the author of articles published in book collections and journals, including Shaping Shakespeare for Performance, Metaliterary in Practice, Gender and Early Modern Constructions of Childhood, Renaissance Quarterly, and others and is author of Competitive Figure Skating for Girls (Rosen, 2001). She also works as a dramaturg.

About Tina Packer - Tina Packer, (Actor/Playwright) is the founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. She has directed most of Shakespeare's plays, acted in seven of them and taught the whole canon one way or another at over thirty colleges in the U.S. including Harvard, M.I.T. and NYU. She has received the state of Massachusetts' highest honor, The Commonwealth Award, and has six honorary degrees. During the mid-90's, Tina conceived the idea for Women of Will, and subsequently received grants from the Guggenheim and Bunting fellowships to fund the project.

About Elements Theatre Company - Elements Theatre Company is a non-profit, professional theatre ensemble of 16 artists-in-residence who perform both classical and classically rooted modern works year-round in Orleans, Massachusetts. Founded in 1992, Elements has performed and studied at home and abroad, touring in North America, Europe, and South Africa. Performance highlights of the past decade include The Merchant of Venice, Talking Heads, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Cherry Orchard, Pillars of the Community, A Christmas Carol, God of Carnage, The Dining Room, Rumors, Lion in Winter and Lady Windermere's Fan. The company maintains an active, ongoing training program, with intensive professional studies in London, New York, Chicago and at home. Past teachers include Patsy Rodenberg, Joanna Weir-Ouston, Glynn MacDonald, Sue Lefton, Louis Colaianni, Jane Nichols, Lenard Petit, Daniela Varon, Christine Adaire, Patrice Eggleston, Kestutis Nakas, Nick Sandys-Pullin and Rachel Slavick.