Hartford Stage Announces Cast for Breakdancing Shakespeare AS YOU LIKE IT

Hartford Stage, in conjunction with the Greater Hartford Arts Council's Neighborhood Studios, has announced the cast for Breakdancing Shakespeare: As You Like It.

The cast of Breakdancing Shakespeare: As You Like It includes Isaiah Artis, 15, Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts in Hartford, as Oliver; Patrick Beebe, 15, Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts in Hartford, as Duke Senior; Kalonji Daley, 15, University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford, as Silvius; Kateri Fitzsimons, 14, Greater Hartford Classical Magnet School in Hartford, as Adam; Auna Foster, 16, Wethersfield High School, as Celia; Tamara Graham, 16, Bloomfield High School, as Duke Frederick; Asaundra Hill, 18, a Bloomfield High School graduate entering Howard University in the fall, as Touchstone; Emily Langin, 14, Simsbury High School, as Rosalind; Madison Lynch, 14, Simsbury High School, as Forest Dance Company Member; Yashmere Moore, 14, Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy (CIBA) in East Hartford, as Corin; Alana Morgan, 18, a Global Communications Academy (Hartford) graduate entering Drexel University in the fall, as Jacques; Diego Pichay, 16, South Windsor High School, as Orlando; Noah Pichay, 14, South Windsor High School, as Forest Dance Company Member; Shantall Teran, 15, Wethersfield High School, as Forest Dance Company Member; Jamieson Vick, 14, East Granby High School, as Audley/Forest Dance Company Member; Emma Webb, 18, a Canton High School graduate attending the University of Connecticut, as Phebe; and Travis Wroten, 15, R.J. Kinsella Magnet School in Hartford, as La Beau.

William Shakespeare's As You Like It is the story of a diverse cast of characters thrown together by misfortune into a desolate place where they find they are nevertheless able to grow friendship, love, and forgiveness. The cast of Breakdancing Shakespeare will create a modern hip-hop telling of this 400-year-old story complete with Shakespeare's original text and contemporary music/dance.

"This is the ultimate summer vacation story of young people who escape a buttoned-up-world of rules and authority to reinvent themselves in a fresher, freer place. In doing so, they discover new friends who are very different from themselves and new challenges that broaden their horizons allowing them to eventually reconnect with an even truer sense of who they really are," said Nina Pinchin, Associate Director of Education for Hartford Stage and Director of Breakdancing Shakespeare: As You Like It. "In some ways, I expect the rehearsal process - bringing together this group of teenagers from different schools and communities to rehearse a difficult text with challenging dances - will, for many, become a microcosm of the journey that their characters will take in the play."

The script for Breakdancing Shakespeare: As You Like It is adapted by Scott Bartelson, Hartford Stage Management Associate. Pinchin will helm the production, assisted by former Breakdancing Shakespeare cast members Brandon Couloute as choreographer and Gina Salvatore as stage manager. Arienne Davey is the production coordinator.

Performances of Breakdancing Shakespeare: As You Like It will be at Hartford Stage on Thursday, August 3, and Friday, August 4, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, August 5, at 2 p.m., with a benefit performance at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 5. General admission tickets for the Thursday evening, Friday evening, and Saturday afternoon performances are $10. Tickets for the Saturday evening benefit performance are $30, $50, and $100. Tickets can be purchased through the Hartford Stage Box Office at 860-527-5151 or online at http://www.hartfordstage.org/education/bds.

To learn more about Breakdancing Shakespeare, visit http://www.hartfordstage.org/education/bds or contact Robert Reader, Education Programs Manager, at 860-520-7263 or rreader@hartfordstage.org. To learn more about Neighborhood Studios, visit https://letsgoarts.org/NeighborhoodStudios.