Shakespeare & Company News

Peter Brook is one of the world's most respected and revolutionary directors of contemporary theatre. To help his actors achieve extraordinary performances, he has a special exercise, called 'the Tightrope,' which evolved over decades of experimentation and practice into a process of transformation that makes theatre real and new for actor and audience alike. In this quietly eloquent and unique film, director Simon Brook - Peter's son - reveals how the Tightrope works its dramatic alchemy.

Meet Broadway's newest MATILDAS in today's Wall Street Journal where Ava Ulloa, Gabriella Pizzolo, Paige Brady and Ripley Sobo talk to reporter Sophia Hollander about their experience joining the Broadway smash, MATILDA THE MUSICAL. Check out their interview below!

Christopher Sieber, who will be Broadway's newest Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, will have to wait to play the tyrant headmistress on stage .During rehearsals for his debut as Miss Trunchbull in MATILDA THE MUSICAL last month, Sieber fractured a bone in his hand. He is now expected to begin performances on Tuesday April 8 if his hand is fully healed. Cast member Ben Thompson will perform the role beginning this Tuesday March 18 when Mr. Sieber had hoped to begin performances in the show.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson announced today eight productions of the upcoming 2014/15 Season, which includes four major Shakespearean titles, plus a sequel to Shakespeare's epic tragedy and a world premiere musical based on a classic novel.

Cutting Ball Theater closes its 15th season with the American Premiere of COMMUNIQUE N°10 by French playwright Samuel Gallet, in a translation by Cutting Ball Artistic director Rob Melrose, who also helms this new work. Featuring Damien Seperi, Ponder Goddard, Maura Halloran, Wiley Naman Strasser, Paris Hunter Paul, Hugo Cabajal, and Aaron Malberg, COMMUNIQUE N°10 plays April 25 through May 25 (Press opening: May 1) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco.

Drive Theatre Company will present the World Premiere of Allison Volk's 'Rite of Seymour' from tonight, March 14 through March 30, 2014 at the Son of Semele Theater in Silver Lake, with a preview performance March 13.

Feral Tale Theatricals in association with the Rudy Foundation present Intimate Feral: A Close and Personal Cabaret tonight, March 14th, beginning 7 p.m. at the Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center.

The City Shakespeare Company is kicking off its 2014 season with a bash. The Santa Monica-based theater company is hosting a red carpet masquerade ball on opening night, Thursday, March 27.

Plymouth's Spire Center for Performing Arts presents their premiere grand opening with a Gala Variety Show and reception on Friday, April 11, 7 pm at 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth. The event kicks off a 2-month long celebration of concerts, performances and Plymouth's first ever Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival.

The National Theatre's award-winning comedy directed by Nicholas Hytner, One Man, Two Guvnors comes to the King's Theatre Glasgow on Monday 30 June until Saturday 5 July as part of a thirty-seven city tour of the UK & Ireland.

The third play in MALIBU PLAYHOUSE's 2013-2014 season will be The Vortex by Noel Coward, opening Friday, April 11, 2014. The play will be directed by Artistic Director Gene Franklin Smith and stars Shannon Holt and Craig Robert Young. Tickets are $30, and may be purchased through the box office, online at http://www.malibuplayhouse.org or by calling 323-960-7711. There will be previews on April 9th and 10th for $20. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 3 PM. Malibu Playhouse is located at 29243 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90265 (near Zuma Beach, between Kanan-Dume Road and Morning View Drive, near Heathercliff Road).

Theater for the New City, Crystal Field, Executive Director presents Nicholas Nickleby, A New Musical based on the classic Charles Dickens novel with book by Robert Sickinger, music and lyrics by Alaric Jans. Performances will be staged Off-Broadway at the Joyce and Seward Johnson Theater at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (bet. 9th and 10th Streets), New York, NY 10003 from April 17-May 5, 2014.

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts has now added a third and final week of performances for the world premiere of THE TEMPEST, which will now play April 6-27, with special preview performances April 1-4. The opening night celebration will take place on Saturday, April 5. Produced in association with the American Reparatory Theater (A.R.T.), THE TEMPEST is adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus. THE TEMPEST will perform at The Smith Center's Donald W. Reynolds Symphony Park in a 500-seat climate-controlled tent. Tickets start at $35 for regular performances and $25 for preview performances. Tickets for the opening night celebration are $150 and include an exclusive post-show reception. All tickets are on sale now at The Smith Center box office, online at www.TheSmithCenter.com or by phone at (702) 749-2000.

The University Musical Society (UMS) presents a diverse April line-up featuring four uplifting performances to close out the 2013/2014 season of live performances. The first weekend marks the return of the UMS Choral Union and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jerry Blackstone, in a powerful rendition of Brahms' German Requiem (Friday, April 4).

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Diane Paulus, Artistic Director and William Russo, Managing Director; announced today the company for the last production of its 2013/14 Season, THE TEMPEST, adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus.

What do you get when a born freak, a former beauty queen, and an award-winning maverick director take on a classic romance? From today, March 13-­31, Abrons Art Center will present Beauty and the Beast, starring Mat Fraser and Julie Atlas Muz, directed by Improbable's Phelim McDermott. Fraser, the consistently inventive, provocative and entertaining British disabled actor/writer and Muz, the Downtown NYC performance legend and former Miss Coney Island, breath complexity and life into the eponymous characters, weaving an adult fairytale like no other.

The Old Globe today announced it will present two Shakespeare-themed events. On Monday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m., Tony Award winner Roger Rees will return to the Globe for a one-night-only engagement of What You Will, his hysterical (and somewhat historical) 90-minute gallop through the world of Shakespeare. On Saturday, May 3 at 11:00 a.m., Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein will offer an encore of Thinking Shakespeare Live!, his 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare. This fast-paced, funny, and altogether fascinating program based on Edelstein's book, Thinking Shakespeare: A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard, reveals a performer's approach to Shakespearean language so audiences may easily understand the poetry of the Bard.