CalArts Presents HENRY V At Ensemble Theater

Director Mary Lou Rosato transports the CalArts School of Theater back to the intrigue of fifteenth century England in her latest rendition of William Shakespeare's Henry V. Henry V will run at CalArts Ensemble Theater, E407, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia CA, 91355. Preview performances are on Wednesday and Thursday, February 24-25 at 7:45 pm. Henry V performance dates are Friday, February 26, and Monday, March 1 through Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 7:45 pm. Seating is limited. Admission is free and by reservation only. Ticket reservations can be made online at www.calarts.edu/events.

Rosato's Henry V is a brash and visceral exploration of the impetus that drives both king and thief. Guided by a three-person Chorus, Henry V tells the tale of young Henry, who ascends the throne of England after a series of bitter civil wars. Henry must win his people's confidence and overcome their memory of his adolescence, which he spent in the company of Falstaff with thieves and drunkards. Claiming his right to rule part of France, Henry gathers an army and invades France, determined to capture not only the disputed territory, but also the hand of the French princess, Catherine.

Mary Lou Rosato (Director) has performed on stage for over thirty years. Rosato is currently one of the Heads of BFA Acting at CalArts. She has taught acting at New York University's Tisch Graduate School. Rosato is on the Actors Advisory Board and the Producers Board of The Acting Company as well as a founding member. She was in Group 1, the first graduating class of the Juilliard Theatre School under the direction of John Houseman. She most recently appeared in UCLA Live's Medea and New York's Lincoln Center Festival production of My Life As A Fairy Tale, which also performed at the Aarhus Festival in Denmark.

Her other credits include, REDCAT: Peach Blossom Fan, Center for New Theater at CalArts': Earl of Kent King, Lear at Brewery in Los Angeles and the Frictions Festival in France, Godmother, Smoke, Lilies and Jade, Mark Taper Forum: Flamania, Changes Of Heart (1996 best actress nomination Ovation and LA Drama Critics Circle Award). Broadway at the National Actors Theater: Lady Sneerwell School For Scandal, off-Broadway with The Acting Company: Lady Sneerwell School For Scandal (Drama Desk Award). She received a Joseph Jefferson Award for her role in Curse Of An Aching Heart. She has appeared in every major regional theater in the country including Yale Repertory, The Guthrie, The American Repertory Theater, The Shakespeare Theater, Seattle Repertory, the McCarter, the Globe in San Diego, South Coast Pacific Repertory and the Williamstown Theater Festival.

CalArts is recognized internationally as a leading laboratory for the visual, performing, media and literary arts. Housing six schools--Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater--CalArts educates professional artists in an intensive learning environment founded on artmaking excellence, creative experimentation, cross-pollination among diverse artistic disciplines, and a broad context of social and cultural understanding. CalArts also operates the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles.