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Antaeus Theatre Company, currently preparing to transition from its current space in NoHo to its new home in Glendale, has announced five fully partner-cast productions for 2016-17:
? Cloud Nine: Caryl Churchill's Obie Award-winning, wickedly comic farce of gender and sexual politics will be directed by Casey Stangl
? Hedda Gabler: Henrik Ibsen's study of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, her tormented desire for escape, and her yearning for individual and spiritual freedom will be directed by Steven Robman.
? Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, filled to the brim with sex, lies, greed and dark secrets, will be directed by Cameron Watson.
? As You Like It: William Shakespeare's gender-bending romantic comedy will be directed by Larissa Kokernot.
? The West Coast premiere of Native Son, adapted by Nambi E. Kelley from Richard Wright's iconic novel about oppression, freedom and justice, will be directed by Nataki Garrett.
"These plays all speak about desperate longings," wrote co-artistic directors Bill Brochtrup, Rob Nagle and John Sloan in a statement to the company. "Deep yearnings and dark desires - sometimes buried, sometimes not. They encourage us to examine our shared humanity, to investigate the primal nature within us all - and the longing to break free."
As part of the transition to the new space, Antaeus will convert from a calendar-year season to a more traditional September through August season. The first two plays, Cloud Nine and Hedda Gabler, will open at the company's present location at 5112 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood on March 10 and June 2 of 2016, respectively. The first full season in the company's new home, at 110 East Broadway in Glendale, will kick off with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Sept. 15, 2016 and continue with As You Like It and Native Son in March and June of 2017.
"This is such an exciting time for Antaeus," Brochtrup says. "We are all working hard to raise the money and awareness needed to make the move to our new home a resounding success. We've already raised more than half the funds needed, and I'm confident that our community will come forward with the support we still need to fulfill our goal of building a new cultural arts center. This dream has been a long time coming."
Antaeus is a multiple award-winning cooperative theater ensemble founded to empower the actor and to bring classical theater to Southern California. The company exists to create a family of artists and audiences and is dedicated to exploring stories with enduring themes. Renowned for its practice of "partner casting" all of its productions, audience members never see an understudy and frequently return to see the same play in the hands of an equally gifted but very different set of actors. Signature programs include Antaeus' ClassicsFest reading series, Playwrights Lab, and acclaimed arts education and outreach programs for students, educators and audience members that connect the essentially human elements in classical texts to contemporary issues and ideas.
For more information about the Antaeus Theatre Company, call 818-506-5436 or visit online at www.antaeus.org.
