CSC Announces Faran Tahir To Play RICHARD III At Annual Gala

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) is pleased to announce that its Annual Gala, held at the Taj Hotel in Boston on Saturday, April 7, raised $230,000 to support this summer's Free Shakespeare on the Common production of Richard III. At the Gala it was announced that charismatic film and stage actor Faran Tahir will be playing the title role of Richard; Mr. Tahir regaled the assembled guests with Richard's monologue "Now is the winter of our discontent..." from the play. Gala chairs were Ricardo Rodriguez and Michael Kelley, and the guests included Councilor Josh Zakim, Representative Aaron Michlewitz, former Attorney General Martha Coakley, Bryan Rafanelli, Tonya Mezrich, Red Sox Senior VP and CSC President David Friedman, Christy Cashman, Amber D'Amelio, producers Spring Sirkin and Heni Koenigsberg, among many others.

Faran Tahir returns to Boston where he was first seen as Oberon in the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's very first production of "Free Shakespeare on the Common" - A Midsummer Night's Dream - at Copley Square. He has recently played the title role of Othello at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC to rave reviews, and has performed in over 50 roles in major theaters across the US in classical and contemporary roles, including the A.R.T. The Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Manhattan Theatre Club. He has also appeared in 20 films and over 75 television roles. Recent film credits include the President in Elysium (2013), with Matt Damon and Jodi Foster; Escape Plan (2013), starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone; Star Trek (2009); and as the unforgettably vicious nemesis in Iron Man (2008), opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. Tahir's work on television spans across all genres, with recurring roles on Scandal, Prison Break, Once Upon a Time, 12 Monkeys, American Crime, Satisfaction, Dallas and Warehouse 13, and guest lead appearances on series such as Shameless, The Magicians, Supergirl, Blacklist, Criminal Minds, Elementary, Supernatural, Lost, NYPD Blue, Grey's Anatomy, among many others. He is a graduate of the A.R.T Institute for Advance Theatre Training at Harvard University.

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC), best known for its annual free performances on Boston Common, is a non-profit theater company founded in 1996, dedicated to artistic excellence, accessibility, and education. CSC's Free Shakespeare on the Common has served over one million audience members over its 23-year history and has become a beloved summer tradition enjoyed by nearly 75,000 people annually, including last summer's highly acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet. In 2013, CSC became the Theatre-in-Residence at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. In addition to the annual Boston Common production, CSC now presents fully staged productions at the Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson, including the recent Old Money, Death and the Maiden, the world premiere of Our American Hamlet and Becket in Brief; "Theatre in the Rough," semi- staged readings including Fear and Misery in the Third Reich featuring Tony Shalhoub, Brooke Adams and local actors; as well as "Shakespeare & the Law," and "Shakespeare & Leadership." CSC fulfills its educational mission with actor-training programs for pre-professional and professional actors through the summer Apprentice program and CSC2. To learn more about these programs, visit www.commshakes.org.

In photo: Faran Tahir performing a scene from Richard III at CSC Gala

Photo credit Nile Scott Hawver