White Heron Theatre Co. to Present GRAVEDIGGER'S TALE ON NANTUCKET

The White Heron Theatre Company announces a one-of-a-kind pop-up theatre experience with the opening ofGravedigger's Tale, a new, interactive, one-man play conceived and directed by Robert Richmond and produced in tandem with the Folger Theatre.

The one-man show, featuring Folger Theatre acting mainstay Louis Butelli as the Gravedigger, premieres at The Samuel Owen Gallery at the Seven Seas building, 46 Center Street in the heart of downtown Nantucket, on Sunday, July 26th at 7 pm. Encore performances will be showcased at Something Natural, 50 Cliff Road on Nantucket, on July 29th and 30th at 5 pm. Biking and riding The Wave are encouraged! Admission to these performances is free. Donations will be accepted.

Traveling in conjunction with the First Folio Tour, this play is the story of Hamlet, as told by the play's Gravedigger in William Shakespeare's moving words and with a little help from the audience. The Gravedigger appears to have much more knowledge about court life in Elsinore than originally thought. He arrives with a trunk and a book and responds to questions from the audience using the text from Hamlet.

Louis Butelli has performed in several Folger Theatre productions, including Mary Stuart, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night (for which he received a Helen Hayes nomination), Henry VIII (for which he won the Helen Hayes Award), Henry V, and Othello. Butelli has also appeared Off-Broadway in Much Ado About Nothing,The Comedy of Errors, Agamemnon, Othello and Twelfth Night. Butelli has also appeared on television in such shows as The Knick, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Unusuals, and All My Children.

An Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina Theatre and Dance Department, Head of Undergraduate Performance, Robert Richmond has directed several productions for the Folger Theatre, including Julius Caesar, Richard III, Twelfth Night, Henry V, Othello, and Henry VIII.

Home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the Folger Shakespeare Library is a world-renowned center for scholarship, learning, culture and the arts. Theater, music, poetry, exhibits, lectures, and family programs connect broader audiences to its collections and support the living legacy of Shakespeare in contemporary life.

Led since 1991 by Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin, Folger Theatre has received 135 nominations and 23 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production. During the recent seasons, Folger Theatre has received the Outstanding Resident Play Award for its productions ofMeasure for Measure in 2007, Hamlet in 2011 and The Taming of the Shrew in 2013.

"We're thrilled to partner with the Folger Theatre on the Gravedigger's Tale. This interactive piece, using only the Shakespeare text, allows audiences to participate in Hamlet's story," said Lynne Bolton, Co-Artistic Director of White Heron and President of the Nantucket Theatre Institute. "Nantucket audiences have a chance to see this new play here before it travels around the country."

For more details about the Gravedigger's Tale, please visit www.whiteherontheatre.org.

Tickets to White Heron's productions, including Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, are on sale and available for purchase through the company's website or box office at 508-825-5268. To get the latest news about White Heron's new theatre, and learn when performances will occur, please follow the White Heron Theatre Company on social media and their newsletter.

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