Quintessence Theatre Announces 2010-2011 Season

Quintessence Theatre Group announces their inaugural 2010-2011 season. The lineup includes Shakespeare's HENRY V, Plato's APOLOGY, Moliere's DON JUAN and Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. Quintessence Theatre Group will ignite each of these four masterworks, transforming classical drama into visceral Contemporary Theatre. Quintessence Theatre Group will bring together the best professional theatre artists from Philadelphia and across the United States, dusting off established drama to produce a thrilling experience more akin to a rock concert than a visit to a museum. The establishment of Quintessence Theatre Group at the historic Sedgwick Theater, located on Mt. Airy's bustling, redeveloped Germantown Avenue, represents a renaissance for the arts in Mt. Airy. As the newest member of the Mt. Airy arts community, Quintessence Theatre Group will promote the vitality of this thriving and diverse neighborhood located in northwest Philadelphia.

QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP'S 2010-2011 SEASON

HENRY V
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Alexander Burns
September 22 - October 17, 2010
Opening Night: September 25th, 2010

"This story shall the good man teach his son."

Fearing factious lords and civil turmoil, King Henry the Fifth of England looks to foreign wars to unify his country. Claiming better lineage to the French crown than Charles, King of France, Henry rallies his people and invades the confident neighboring country. Surrounded by the French army and finding his soldiers sick and wound-weary, Henry learns what it is to be a king and realizes the most stunning victory of all: the capacity of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle. Quintessence will start its season with the final play Shakespeare wrote for his British history cycle, presenting an all-male production of this adrenaline-pumped epic war play. Directed by Artistic Director Alexander Burns and staring Josh Carpenter as Henry V, this production promises to be an unforgettable theatrical event, more like a football match than a play.

APOLOGY
by Plato
Adapted for the stage and directed by Alexander Burns
November 3 - November 21, 2010
Opening Night: November 6th, 2010

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

The great city state of Athens has lost the Peloponnesian War to neighboring Sparta. Humiliated, Athens questions the success of its democracy and the nature of justice. Socrates the philosopher, proclaimed to be the wisest man in Athens, continues to play his part as the gadfly, challenging the men of Athens as social and moral critic. His reward? To be put on trial for "corrupting the youth of the city." In this crisp ninety minute adaptation of Plato's dialogue, the audience will experience the thrilling theatrics of the Socratic Method as Socrates defends his life against those Athenians who want so desperately to extinguish his ideas.

DON JUAN
by Molière
February 16 - March 13, 2011
Opening Night: February 19th, 2011

"Nothing can withstand the impetuousness of my desire."

Don Juan, the greatest lover in history, and his weary servant Sganarelle, are making their way through the Italian countryside, wooing and winning every beautiful woman who crosses Don Juan's path. Pursued by past conquests, jealous rivals, and an angry father, Don Juan rejects all attempts to curb or change his ways. Can a man live entirely for pleasure? Will God permit one man to so openly mock his moral laws? Come try to resist temptation in Moliere's sensuous satire, Don Juan.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
by Oscar Wilde
April 20 - May 15, 2011
Opening Night: April 23rd, 2011

"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."

Ernest Worthing lives a double life. While in London he is Ernest, the lively urban bachelor. While in the country with his ward Cecily, he is Jack, the serious, morally minded suburban gentleman. The inscription in a forgotten cigarette case reveals Jack's deception to his close London friend Algernon who, while calling out his friend's impropriety, admits to having his own nom de folie. Chaos ensues as Ernest proposes marriage to Algernon's cousin Gwendolen, and Algernon pursues Ernest's ward Cecily. Come revel in the wit of Wilde's most celebrated play, which is as stingingly comic and relevant today as it was at its premiere in 1895.

About Quintessence Theatre Group at the Sedgwick Theater

Quintessence Theatre Group is Philadelphia's new professional classical theatre company, dedicated to the performance and adaptation of epic works of classical drama and literature for the Contemporary Stage. Rooted in the traditions of classic drama, we explore what is essential in theatre and human nature, igniting the minds of artists and audiences through the power of the live actor, design and the spoken word.

In May of 2010 Quintessence Theatre Group presented its inaugural production, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Over the next five years Quintessence Theatre will work to establish an acting ensemble and a rotating repertory at the historic Sedgwick Theater in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. As Quintessence Theatre's home, the Sedgwick Theater, a 1928 art deco movie palace designed by William Lee, will regain its place as a jewel in Philadelphia's cultural landscape.

Quintessence Theatre Group is located at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119.

Subscriptions to the Quintessence Theatre Group's 2010-2011 season go on sale August 4, 2010. For more information visit our website at www.QuintessenceTheatre.org or contact the Box Office at 212.868.4444, or Toll Free at 877.238.5596.

For more information please call Quintessence Theatre Group directly at 215.240.6055.

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