Shakespeare Theatre Opens THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR Tonight, 9/13

The Shakespeare Theatre Company, recipient of the 2012 Regional Theatre Tony Award, announces casting for the first mainstage production of its 2012-2013 Season. The Government Inspector, running from tonight, September 13 – October 28 at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street NW), features new and familiar faces to STC's stages.

STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn directs Nikolai Gogol's satire The Government Inspector, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher. The first Russian play to grace the STC mainstage, its cast includes STC Affiliated Artists Floyd King as the Postmaster, Nancy Robinette as Anna, David Sabin as the Judge, Derek Smith as Hlestakov and Tom Story as the Doctor. Rounding out the cast are Claire Brownell as Marya, Liam Craig as Osip, Rick Foucheux as the Mayor, Sarah Marshall as Grusha/Innkeeper's Wife/Corporal's Widow, Hugh Nees as Bobchinsky, Lawrence Redmond as the Hospital Director, Craig Wallace as the School Principal and Harry Winter as Dobchinsky.

In Gogol's hilarious satire of provincial Russian bureaucracy, Hlestakov, a civil servant who is running out of money, travels from Saint Petersburg to a small town where his imagination runs rampant. When bumbling town officials mistake him for an incognito inspector investigating them for corruption, a comedy of errors begins and chaos ensues. The Government Inspector satirizes corruption and self deception.

To reserve tickets or for more information, call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org.

*Complete company including creative team will be announced at a later date. Artists and dates subject to change.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has become one of the nation's leading theatre companies. Today, STC is synonymous with artistic excellence and making classical theatre more accessible. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Kahn and Managing Director Chris Jennings, STC's innovative approach to Shakespeare and other classic playwrights has earned it the reputation as the nation's premier classical theatre company. By focusing on works with profound themes, complex characters and poetic language written by Shakespeare, his contemporaries and the playwrights he influenced, the Company's artistic mission is unique among theatre companies: to present theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights' language and intentions while viewing their work through a 21st-century lens.

A leader in arts education, STC has a stable of initiatives that teach and excite learners of all ages, from school programs and acting classes to discussion series as well as accessible programs like the annual Free For All, one of STC's most beloved annual traditions, allowing audiences to experience Shakespeare at no charge.

Located in our nation's capital, STC performs in two theatres, the Lansburgh Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall in downtown Washington, D.C., creating a dynamic, cultural hub of activity that showcases STC as well as outstanding local performing arts groups and nationally renowned organizations. STC moved into the 451-seat Lansburgh Theatre in March 1992, after six years in residency in the Folger Library's Elizabethan theatre. At that time the Penn Quarter neighborhood was not considered desirable by many; since then, STC has helped drive its revitalization. The 774-seat Sidney Harman Hall opened in October 2007.