We Players to Present THE CAPULET BALL

We Players (Artistic Director, Ava Roy; Managing Director, Lauren D. Chavez), will present Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet at the historic Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park in Sonoma County throughout August/September 2016. A milestone season, it's both We Players' Sweet Sixteen and Shakespeare 400 when companies around the world commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death in 1616. We Players honors both occasions with a return to Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, it's own very first production in 2000. We Players will celebrate with a season of Romeo & Juliet inspired events. Prior to the full-scale production of the play at this California State Park, We Players will present the elaborate prelude and elegant masquerade ball - The Capulet Ball - at several unique and stunning venues throughout the greater Bay Area. The Capulet Ball is conceived as a performance integrated party where guests are invited to the Capulet's home for a masquerade ball complete with delicious drinks, edibles, live music, and dancing. Guests are invited to bring their own masks, or be decked out by We Players, and join the Capulet family (along with the masquerade crashing Mercutio, Benvolio and Romeo) on the dance floor. Attire is festive and fabulous!

PERFORMANCE INTEGRATED PARTY:

A combined party and theatrical event, the evening will envelop our guests in the grandeur, romance, and beauty of a sensuous masquerade. Action from Shakespeare's Act I and the famous balcony scene will be played out during the course of the night. Ending on a high note just before the plot takes a turn for the worse, party goers will enjoy the story of the young lovers ­steeped in hope and joy. After the poetic exchange of boundless love, the party will continue and our guests will enjoy dessert and conversation with the performers. In keeping with We Players' penchant for fully-immersive experiences, the story will unfold not in front of, but around and with our guests. In each spectacular setting, guests will have the opportunity to party with Mercutio, raise a glass with Lord Capulet, join the festive group dance - We Players' spicy version of the pavane, flirt with fellow masked revelers, and share in the age-old Capulet Family Candle Ceremony before the night is through.

Capulet Ball Event Schedule:

Saturday May 7 at The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco

Saturday May 14 at a stunning private residence in San Anselmo

Saturday June 4 at Impact Hub Oakland

Saturday June 18 at the incredible Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga

The Capulet Ball is a 21+ event

THE 2016 SEASON OF ROMEO AND JULIET WILL INCLUDE:

Mask Making Salons - presentation + hands on mask making workshop; January - April

Sword Fights & Sandwiches - performance, workshop, and social gathering; May & June

The Capulet Ball - masquerade ball and performance; May & June

Romeo & Juliet - full scale production at Rancho Petaluma Adobe; August & September

Romeo & Juliet - full scale production adapted for Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, CA; October

EXPERIENCING THE BAY AREA WITH WE PLAYERS

As with recent and ongoing collaborations at other National Park Sites (Alcatraz Island 2009-2011, Fort Point 2013-2014, SF Maritime 2011-2017, Marin Headlands 2014, Sutro Baths/ Land's End 2015, Fort Mason Center 2015) We Players entices visitors to environmentally rich, historically and culturally charged sites, and invites guests to experience these places with their senses awakened. "An essential goal of our work is to inspire in our audience personal relationships with the places in which we play," says Artistic Director Ava Roy. This May, We Players will embark on a season of love and intrigue, exploring Romeo & Juliet in several unique iterations and settings, culminating with a large-scale, fully site-integrated production at historic Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park in Sonoma County.

ABOUT WE PLAYERS

We Players was recently recognized by Backstage.com as one of seven companies around the globe producing groundbreaking immersive theatre. We Players was featured in American Theatre Magazine's cover story on immersive theatre and was honored by San Francisco Magazine with the "Best of the Bay" pick for their unique site-specific performance work noting, "We Players didn't just break the fourth wall, it toppled the whole playhouse." We Players has received several "Best of Bay" awards from the SF Weekly, including this mention in their 2015 award, "We Players actors have the ability to draw power out of their surroundings, channeling it into spectacular, immersive experiences for audience members unlike anything you'll see on Broadway."

We Players creates site-integrated performances that transform public spaces into realms of participatory theatre, in an effort to engage with history and the environment, build community, and activate personal relationships with place. Our work inspires, awakens the senses, and connects people with each other and the landscape. We Players is a Bay Area arts non-profit founded in 2000 at Stanford University by Ava Roy, and managed by Ava Roy and Lauren Dietrich Chavez since 2009. For more information about We Players, please visit www.weplayers.org.

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