Long Wharf Theatre Will Present Fiasco's MEASURE FOR MEASURE

Long Wharf Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents the Fiasco Theater production of Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, from November 25 through December 20, 2015.

The production will take place on the Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Theatre. Tickets start at $25. The press opening will take place on Wednesday, December 2 at 730 pm.

The cast includes Jessie Austrian (Escalus/Mariana), Noah Brody (Co-director/Pompey/Claudio), Paul L. Coffey (Angelo/Elbow), Andy Grotelueschen (Duke), Ben Steinfeld (Co-director/Lucio/Froth), and Emily Young (Isabela/Mistress Overdone). The creative team includes Derek McLane (sets), Whitney Locher (costumes), Christopher Akerlund (lights), Matthew Melchiorre (stage manager).

New York's Fiasco Theater sheds new light on one of Shakespeare's darkest comedies with live music and moxie. When the Duke of Vienna disguises himself as a friar among his people, he finds the city unraveling in an ethical free fall. Before he reclaims his dukedom, can he help the chaste Isabella save her brother from the condemnation of the villain Angelo? Fiasco's creative and collaborative ensemble colors complex characters and illuminates perplexing plots to tell this singular tale of morality and manipulation in Measure for Measure. "A most charming new production ... that's right, I said charming" wrote Ben Brantley in the New York Times.

Fiasco Theater was formed by a group of Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA graduates in 2007. The friends had descended upon New York City to begin their careers, and while finding work, they were not finding the satisfaction that came from their graduate school efforts. "We were getting some gigs and yearning to work in the way that we had done in graduate school, which was very collaborative and taking responsibility for all aspects of theater-making. That wasn't our experience by and large in shows we were getting," Noah Brody, one of the company's three artistic directors, told Theatermania in an interview.

The company garnered attention and critical acclaim for its 2009 production of Cymbeline. An excellent New York Times review boosted the play from a small showcase to a full off-Broadway production at Theater for a New Audience, allowing the company access to designers and teachers who helped round out the show. Fiasco also produced a much lauded production of Into the Woods, reimagining the musical for 11 actors who perform all of the music live.

"We're trying to listen to the play as much as we can and tease out what we think is going on thematically," said Ben Steinfeld, co-founder of the company along with Jessie Austrian and Noah Brody. "Once we've hooked into what the underlying vocabulary and architecture is, then we can talk about

the handful of things that we think are really going on in a show and decide how to try to capitalize on that with the way we put it on stage."

For more information about Measure for Measure or to purchase tickets, visit www.longwharf.org or call 203-787-4282.

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