Red Bull Theater Continues Its 20th Anniversary Festival With The NY Premiere of GOD'S SPIES

Red Bull Theater has announced details for the next presentation of its 20th Anniversary Festival, the New York Premiere of God's Spies by Bill Cain, directed by Nathan Winkelstein, and featuring Zainab Jah (Mining Tribe Elder in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Eclipsed – Broadway, Public Theater [Obie Award,  Outer Critics Circle Award nomination]; Boesman and Lena - Signature Theatre Company [Drama Desk, Award, & Drama League award nominations]; School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play - MCC Theater; The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner - Atlantic Theater Company; A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Trojan Women, Electra, King Lear, Macbeth, Medea, Caligula - Classical Theatre of Harlem); Zachary Lopez Roa (Off-Broadway debut!), and Nick Westrate (Broadway: Bernhardt/Hamlet, Casa Valentina, A Moon for the Misbegotten; Off-Broadway: Tribes, Nassim -  Barrow Street; A Delicate Ship - Playwrights Realm; Galileo,  Unnatural Acts - Classic Stage Company;  Love's Labor's Lost - the Public, Ivo van Hove's The Little Foxes - NYTW, The Boys in the Band [Drama Desk nomination] - Transport Group; for Red Bull Theater: Loot, Love's Sacrifice. Special Drama Desk Award for his versatility in performance and Actors Equity Award: The St. Clair Bayfield Award).

What do you write after you have written the world's greatest play? Hopefully, not another Timon of Athens. Fortunately for Shakespeare, he is caught in the middle of the pandemic of 1603 and theaters are closed for a year. The plague opens his eyes to the mysteries of life and death when he is quarantined with a young Puritan lawyer and a mature streetwise prostitute. Will Shakespeare thrive creatively? Will his follow up play be as disappointing as his last? Or will he write his masterpiece?

April 23rd will mark Shakespeare's 460th birthday, and what better way to honor his life and legacy? “Bill Cain has taken an interesting historical footnote and turned it into an insightful and passionate thriller. – I can't wait to hear it aloud with this crackerjack cast, and you will be glad if you can be there too!,” said founder and artistic director Jesse Berger.

This in-person only event will take place April 23rd at 7:30pm at Sheen Center Shiner Theatre, 18 Bleecker Street. For tickets and more information, visit redbulltheater.com/gods-spies.

Bill Cain  is a writer for theater and television. His works for television have won the Peabody Award, the Writers' Guild Award, the Humanitas Award, etc. His recent writing for television includes work for Netflix "House of Cards," "Bloodlines," and for Showtime, "Your Honor." His work for theater has won best play/best production awards across the country including Helen Hayes Awards in Washington DC, Ovation Awards in Los Angeles, and the Joseph A. Callaway Award for his work on Broadway. He is the only writer ever to win back-to-back Steinberg/American Critics' Awards. He founded and, for seven years, directed the Boston Shakespeare Company which performed the works of Shakespeare in year-long repertory. His most recent book – The Diary of Jesus Christ – was a best-selling title for Orbis Books. His new book – The Book of Cain – was recently published – also by Orbis. Cain is a Jesuit priest.

Nathan Winkelstein has been with Red Bull Theater for eight years, and Associate Artistic Director for three. He is the Producing Director of the Revelation Reading series as well as the host of Red Bull Theater Podcast, the Director of Education and the Casting Associate for Red Bull. Nathan has acted or directed for numerous companies around the country, including The Alley, NYU Grad, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Shakespeare Theater Company, LCT, The Folger, American Shakespeare Center and others. Dubbed 'The Pied Piper of Shakespeare' Nathan provides private acting coaching to select clients and has taught for Red Bull, STC, LCT, TGS and Maggie Flanagan Studio. Nathan received his BA in Theater from the University at Buffalo and his MFA in Classical Acting from the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the UK. Nathan is a proud member of Actors Equity.

About Red Bull Theater

Red Bull Theater is New York City's destination for dynamic performances of great plays that stand the test of time as well as new works that are in conversation with the classics. A home for artists, scholars and students, With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, Red Bull Theater strives to make work that is accessible, diverse, and welcoming to all theater-goers while keeping a rich and vital tradition thriving.  Red Bull Theater believes in the power of great classic stories and plays of heightened language to deepen our understanding of the human condition, in the special ability of live theater to create unique collective experiences, and in the limitless capacity of classical theater to illuminate the events of our times. 

Red Bull Theater,brings rarely seen classic plays to dynamic new life for contemporary audiences, uniting a respect for tradition with a modern sensibility. Named for the rowdy Jacobean playhouse that illegally performed plays in England during the years of Puritan rule, Red Bull Theater is New York City's home for dynamic performances of great plays that stand the test of time. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, the company also produces new works that are in conversation with the classics. A home for artists, scholars, and students, Red Bull Theater delights and engages the intellect and imagination of audiences, and strives to make its work accessible, diverse, and welcoming to all. We value and practice inclusiveness, equity, and diversity in all of our activities, and are committed to antiracist action. Red Bull Theater believes in the power of great classic stories and plays of heightened language to deepen our understanding of the human condition, in the special ability of live theater to create unique, collective experiences, and in the timeless capacity of classical theater to illuminate the events of our times. Variety agreed, hailing Red Bull's work as: “Proof that classical theater can still be surprising after hundreds of years.” 

Since its debut in 2003 with a production of Shakespeare's Pericles starring Daniel Breaker, Red Bull Theater has served adventurous theatergoers with Off-Broadway productions, Revelation Readings, and the annual Short New Play Festival. The company also offers outreach programs including Shakespeare in Schools bringing professional actors and teaching artists into public school classrooms; Bull Sessions, free post-play discussions with top scholars; and Classical Acting Intensives led by veteran theater professionals. During the pandemic, Red Bull created several new and ongoing programs to serve audiences and artists with our mission: the Red Bull Theater Podcast, Online Readings, Seminars, and more. "The classics-shaking Red Bull Theater,” as Time Out NY has called it, has produced 24 Off-Broadway productions and over 200 Revelation Readings of rarely seen classics, serving a community of more than 5,000 artists and providing quality artistic programming to an audience of over 65,000. The company's unique programming has received ongoing critical acclaim and has been recognized with Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League, Callaway, Off-Broadway Alliance, and OBIE nominations and Awards. 

For more information about the 20th Anniversary Festival, or any of Red Bull Theater's programs, visit www.redbulltheater.com.

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