3DaysPrior Kicks Off with ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD

Following an official launch party at The Silverlight Tavern, the newly-founded production company 3DaysPrior has announced its first endeavor- a production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Performances will take place at The Upstairs Theater at Saint Paul's Church (334 South 5th Street) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The production will be directed by Rachel B. Karp, and star co-artistic directors Sydney Tennant (the upcoming film "The Secret," opposite Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas) and Ziggy Schulting as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

3DaysPrior was founded by Schulting and Tennant with the objective of "creating an inclusive web of individuals willing to empower each other and our communities to embrace and honor our shared humanity." With a dedication to intersectionality and diversity, they strive to support work from early career professionals of all performance mediums in an honest and affordable way. It is being produced by Schulting and Tennant alongside founding members Sam Grant, Rachel B. Karp, Lily Kamp, and Erica Schnitzer.

Advance tickets for the production are on sale now.

Acclaimed as a modern dramatic masterpiece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is the fabulously inventive tale of Hamlet as told from the worm's-eye view of the bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters in Shakespeare's play. In Tom Stoppard's best-known work, this Shakespearean Laurel and Hardy finally get a chance to take the lead role, but do so in a world where echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, where reality and illusion intermix, and where fate leads our two heroes to a tragic but inevitable end.

Ms. Karp, whose version of the play is gender-bent, writes of the production: "By placing "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" in our contemporary moment, with a gender-bent cast, we aim to simultaneously illuminate the confusion and terror of being a human in this world and satirize the cis-white-male patterns of logic that have so devastatingly failed our nation. By casting women to play traditionally male roles, such as Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Hamlet, and the Player, we aim to interrogate the nature of gender and masculinity and its intersection with privilege and class.."

The show currently features Schulting (Rosencrantz), Tennant (Guildenstern), Lucy Consagra (The Player), Maya Bowman (Hamlet), Becca Gracey (Claudius), Molly Burdick (Polonius), Madison Caan (Gertrude), Kyle Thomas (Ophelia/Tragedian); Jared Scott Miller (Alfred/Tragedian), and David Schechter (Tragedian).

The production will feature fight choreography by Madeleine Emerick and Dispatch Combat Collective.

Scenic and prop design is by Nola Donkin. Costume Design is by Laura McCullagh. Lighting design is by Taylor Lilly. Sound design is by Nicola Citera.

Tickets are available via www.artful.ly/3daysprior. They can also be found through the company website at 3daysprior.com.