CYMBELINE Previews At Barrow Street 8/27

Two sold-out weeks last January for Fiasco Theater's production of Cymbeline wasn't nearly long enough to satisfy the demands of a theatre-going public hungry for, as Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, "the comedy, poignancy and unlikely magic of Cymbeline."

Preview performances begin Saturday, August 27, at 7:30pm for an opening Thursday, September 8, at 7:00pm.at the Barrow Street Theatre http://www.barrowstreettheatre.com, 27 Barrow Street at Seventh Avenue.

The magic and comedy and music of what New York Magazine's Scott Brown called this "small masterpiece" will definitely be back when six actors and a fabulous trunk take on the 14 roles in one of William Shakespeare's wild and witty romances. Theatre for a New Audience, Jeffrey Horowitz, Artistic Director, Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian and Tom Wirtshafter are presenting Fiasco Theater's production of Cymbeline for an 18-week engagement

In this lightning-paced production, a plain white cloth becomes a sail, a bed sheet, and a toga and a "fabulous" trunk becomes a bed, a throne and a cave. The transformations are magical and playful and true to the play, deepening its themes of illusion, deception and belief.

Co-directed by Fiasco Theater's Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, Cymbeline's 14 roles are performed by the original company: Jessie Austrian, Paul L. Coffey, Andy Grotelueschen, Emily Young and Messrs. Brody and Steinfeld.

The music created by Fiasco for Cymbeline contains some of Shakespeare's most haunting lyrics and sets Shakespeare's words to original compositions and traditional sources. Performed live by the company, the music ranges from Renaissance madrigals to bluegrass and Appalachian folk tunes. Scott Brown described the music as "a billowing quilt of Thomas Tallis, Carter Stanley, and startlingly catchy folk-pop originals." John Schaefer of WNYC gave the music an hour of his Soundcheck program last winter. It can still be heard on the web at http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/2011/jan/20/cymbeline-song/.

As dizzyingly eventful a drama as Shakespeare ever conceived, Cymbeline tells of a beautiful princess separated from her beloved, the cruel step-mother who tries to kill her, a credulous husband duped by an adversary, an exiled nobleman who kidnaps a king's sons and a Roman invasion of Britain.

Fiasco Theater www.fiascotheater.com/ is an ensemble based in New York City, founded in 2007 by Jessie Austrian, Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld. In addition to Austrian, Brody and Steinfeld, the ensemble is Paul L. Coffey, Andy Grotelueschen and Emily Young.

Box Office

Tickets are $75.00 and may be purchased by phone at 212-868-4444; online by clicking www.smarttix.com or in person at the Barrow Street Theatre box office, Barrow Street (on the corner of Seventh Avenue, one block south of Christopher Street). The box office opens at 1:00pm daily.

The Cymbeline performance schedule: Tuesday - Friday at 7:30PM, Saturday and Sunday at 2:30PM & 7:30PM, with the exception that there are only evening performances on Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28. Tickets are priced at $75 and are available through SmartTix (212) 868-4444, www.smarttix.com, or at the Barrow Street Theatre box office (open at 1:00 p.m. daily). Student tickets at $20 are available on the day of performance only at the box office, cash only, based on availability. For group sales, email boxoffice@barrowstreettheatre.com.

The Barrow Street Theatre is located at 27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue South in the heart of Greenwich Village. Nearby subway stops are the 1 at Christopher Street (walk 1 block South on 7th Avenue to Barrow) and the A, C, E, B, D, F and M at West 4th (walk West on 4th Street, left on Barrow).

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