TWELFTH NIGHT & RICHARD III with Mark Rylance Opens Tonight on Broadway

Two-time Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance stars in TWELFTH NIGHT and RICHARD III, two startlingly different performances in repertory, as the suddenly love struck noblewoman Olivia in Twelfth Night and as the ruthless and conniving title monarch in Richard III. The critically heralded all-male Shakespeare's Globe productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, which delighted audiences and broke all box office records in London's West End earlier this year, opens tonight, Sunday, November 10 at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street).

Twelfth Night and Richard III are both presented with an extraordinary all-male company playing both male and female roles, as the plays were originally staged in Shakespeare's day. The productions are filled with music, played live by seven musicians on traditional Elizabethan instruments in a gallery above the stage, and are lit almost exclusively by the glow of 100 on-stage candles, adding to the intimate and authentic atmosphere. Entering the theatre, audiences will also witness the pre-show ritual of actors dressing and preparing their make-up on stage, adding to the unique and immersive theatrical experience.

The plays, which will mark the Broadway debut for London's world-famous Shakespeare's Globe, will be staged in repertory, with six performances of Twelfth Night and two performances of Richard III a week (post opening), with the opportunity to see the two productions in one day on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

$25 SEATING: 250 seats at every performance are set aside to be sold for $25. These seats include the balcony, as well as selected seats in the orchestra, mezzanine, boxes and on stage. Over 20,000 $25 tickets will be made available throughout the run.

"It is important to us that Twelfth Night and Richard III are accessible to all audiences, so we are thrilled to offer 250 seats at $25 for every performance, in all areas of the house including the orchestra, bookable in advance, throughout the engagement," the producers commented.

SHAKESPEARE'S PRACTICES: Twelfth Night and Richard III are both presented with an extraordinary all-male company playing both male and female roles, as the plays were originally staged in Shakespeare's day. The productions are filled with music, played live by seven musicians on traditional Elizabethan instruments in a gallery above the stage, and are lit almost exclusively by the glow of 100 on-stage candles, adding to the intimate and authentic atmosphere. Entering the theatre, audiences will also witness the pre-show ritual of actors dressing and preparing their make-up on stage, adding to the unique and immersive theatrical experience.

"These productions show how laugh-out-loud funny, thrillingly theatrical and immediate Shakespeare plays can be," the producers commented. "To see Mark Rylance, who is one of the world's greatest, most accomplished and acclaimed stage actors, and the remarkable Shakespeare's Globe company in these two uniquely staged extraordinary productions is an unforgettable experience."

The plays, which will mark the Broadway debut for London's world-famous Shakespeare's Globe, will be staged in repertory, with six performances of Twelfth Night and two performances of Richard III a week (post opening), with the opportunity to see the two productions in one day on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

TWELFTH NIGHT: Outrageous high comedy ensues as the pangs of unrequited love affect the unforgettable characters of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. While the lovelorn Duke Orsino plots to win the heart of the mourning Olivia (Mark Rylance), an alliance of servants and hangers-on scheme against the high handedness of Olivia's steward, the pompous Malvolio (Stephen Fry). When Orsino engages the cross-dressed Viola (Samuel Barnett), who has disguised herself as a young man under the name Cesario, to plead with Olivia on his behalf, a bittersweet and hilarious chain of events follows.

RICHARD III: Richard Duke of Gloucester (Mark Rylance) is determined that he should wear the crown of England. He has already dispatched one king and that king's son; now all that stands in his way are two credulous brothers and two helpless nephews - the Princes in the Tower. And woe betide those - the women he wrongs, the henchmen he betrays - who dare to raise a voice against him. Monstrous, but theatrically electric, Richard is Shakespeare's most charismatic, self-delighting villain, reveling at every moment in his homicidal, hypocritical journey to absolute power.

SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE: Founded by the pioneering American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare's Globe is a vibrant organization and reconstructed open-air theatre on the banks of the River Thames dedicated to the exploration of Shakespearean, Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Contemporary Theatre. Through an ambitious and lively theatre season, a dynamic and varied education program and a rich and interesting exhibition, the Globe has become a significant part of the national and interNational Theatre landscape. Under the Globe's first artistic director, Mark Rylance, and now its second, Dominic Dromgoole, the theatre has worked its way through Shakespeare's canon, providing a huge wealth of insight into each play when it is produced afresh within the architecture for which Shakespeare originally wrote. The Globe has always been an international story, having been built by an American; welcoming international audiences into its oak embrace throughout its life and taking its work back out into the world including many theatre tours and workshops in the US. In January 2014, Shakespeare's Globe will present the first season of plays in its newly constructed Sam Wanamaker Playhouse - a Jacobean archetype of an early indoor theatre, completely unique amongst London venues and enabling Shakespeare's Globe to present theatre productions all year round.

Twelfth Night and Richard III will be produced on Broadway by Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis, Roger Berlind, Glass Half Full Productions/Just for Laughs Theatricals, 1001 Nights Productions, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Jane Bergère, Paula Marie Black, Rupert Gavin, Stephanie P. McClelland, Shakespeare's Globe Centre USA, Max Cooper, Tanya Link Productions and Shakespeare Road.

Tickets are on sale through www.telecharge.com.

Photo Credit: Simon Annand