Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Sets 2016 Season LOVE ON THE ROCKS

Mayor Martin J. Walsh joins Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler to announce CSC's 2016 Season of programming in Boston and at Babson College, where CSC is the Theater in Residence. Coming off the heels of a highly successful and celebrated 20th Anniversary Season, CSC's 2016 Season will focus on the many facets of love: from the naive and ardent love of the young in A Midsummer Night's Dream to the "green-eyed monster" of jealousy that causes the demise of Othello, to the struggles of love and marriage in times of civic strife.

The season's highlights include CSC's highly anticipated annual Free Shakespeare on the Common. This summer one of the Bard's early comedies Love's Labour's Losttakes up residency on Boston Common in July/August. In Love's Labour's Lost, friendship and loyalty amongst four young men and four young women are put to the test when romantic youthful notions of love encounter the challenges of adulthood.

"Love's Labour's Lost for me is about growing up, about leaving behind adolescent attitudes towards love and gaining an understanding of the power and responsibility of loving another person," says Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler. "Though it's an early play, it has terrific language and indelible characters. Many of the themes, characters and situations in the play are explored in Shakespeare's later plays, so you get to see the young Shakespeare at work in Love's Labour's Lost. The play for me became an anchor for the 2016 season as we explore refractions and reflections on the enigmatic, magical and effervescent mystery of love."

"Boston's cultural and arts community is thriving, and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company has played a major role in making great programming accessible to the public," said Mayor Walsh. "I want to thank them for their continued leadership and commitment to providing this wonderful culture experience for our city and its people."

At Babson College, CSC will present its 3rd annual performance of Shakespeare & Leadership in March, where professional actors and some of Boston's most prominent business leaders take the stage together for a staged reading and panel discussion of Shakespeare's tragedy Othello. Past participants include Phyllis Yale, Paul Grogan, Jim Roosevelt, Sylvia Ferrell-Jones, Richard Holbrook, Jim Rooney, Fay Donohue, Jarrett Barrios, Roger Berkowitz, and William "Mo" Cowan, to name a few.

April brings "The Best Party of the Year" - CSC's Annual Gala at the Mandarin Oriental, Boston. This celebration of CSC is a spectacular evening of food and entertainment with one of the hippest crowds on the social circuit. It's an unforgettable night that helps support the great work of the company in the community.

Also in April, CSC is thrilled to welcome back Pedro Pascal (Horatio in the 2005 Hamlet) to play the mysterious and malevolent Dr. Miranda in Ariel Dorfman's riveting and searing drama Death and the Maiden, this season's installment of Theater in the Rough, a script-in-hand reading series. Pedro's film credits include The Adjustment Bureau and the upcoming The Great Wall, directed by Zhang Yimou and co-starring Matt Damon. He has had a number of memorable recurring roles on The Good Wife,Game of Thrones, Graceland, and The Mentalist. He is currently starring in Netflix's Narcos.

The season includes school and community performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream by CSC2, a cohort of young professional actors that train and perform with CSC for six months. Performances will be at Babson College in May; the production will be directed by CSC Associate Artistic Director Adam Sanders.

The season concludes with an extraordinary evening at the DCR's Memorial Hatch Shell in late August as CSC again collaborates with Boston Landmarks Orchestra. A perfect end to the summer, this performance brings together the spectacular musicianship of LO's Conductor/Music Director Christopher Wilkins and the Landmarks Orchestra with CSC actors and singers for a celebration of music and theater. The title of this year's collaboration will be announced at a later date.

CSC 2016 PERFORMANCE AND EVENT SCHEDULE

Shakespeare & Leadership: Othello

March 2016 - Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College

Jealousy rules the motives of nearly every character in Othello, and creates a world where what people are and what they seems to be become indistinguishable. The Shakespeare and Leadership series features a staged reading of a Shakespeare play performed by business leaders from the corporate world alongside professional actors. The reading is followed by a panel discussion featuring the participants addressing leadership questions and themes raised in the text.

CSC Gala 2016 - Saturday, April 16 at 6pm - Mandarin Oriental, Boston

Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden with Pedro Pascal, as a part of the Theatre in the Rough, a script-in-hand series

April 2016 - Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College

While an unnamed country must confront with the atrocities of its former totalitarian regime, a woman comes face to face with her own painful history. The country's new government tries to gloss over its country's shameful past while the woman unapologetically confronts the man who may or may not be the source of her pain.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - performed by CSC2

May 4 - 10, 2016 School and Community performances

Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College

Friendship, romance and duty collide in Shakespeare's romping comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.

CSC Apprentice performances

August. Various Dates and locations in Newton, Boston, Arlington, Wellesley

The CSC Apprentice Program is an intensive summer training program for young professionals who are actively pursuing a career in theatre.

Shakespeare on the Common: Love's Labour's Lost

July and August Boston Common - Free

Four eligible young men and four eligible young women begin their cat-and-mouse courting games with one complication: the men have sworn off all distractions, including the company of ladies, for two years. Directed by Steven Maler.

CSC Collaboration with Boston Landmarks Orchestra - August - DCR's Memorial Hatch Shell - Under the musical direction of Christopher Wilkins.