Theatre for a New Audience's production of William Shakespeare's PERICLES directed by Trevor Nunn, featuring OBIE Award-winner Christian Camargo in the title role and leading a diverse company of 22 actors, Jeffrey Horowitz, opens tonight, February 25, for a run through March 27, 2016.
PERICLES marks Mr. Camargo's third Shakespeare title role for Theatre for a New Audience, and the first time not only that
Trevor Nunn has directed this play, but the first time he has directed a Shakespeare with a U.S. company.
The complete cast is
Oberon K.A. Adjepong (Thaliard/Pandar),
Earl Baker Jr. (Antiochus/Cerimon),
Christian Camargo (PERICLES),
Philip Casnoff (Helicanus),
Gia Crovatin (Thaisa),
Lilly Englert (Marina),
Nina Hellman(Dionyza),
Zachary Infante (Leonine/2nd Fisherman),
Patrice Johnson Chevannes (Bawd/Lychorida),
John Keating (Boult/1st Fisherman),
Ian Lassiter (Lysimachus),
Sam Morales (Daughter/Handmaid),
John Rothman (Simonides),
Will Swenson (Cleon),
Raphael Nash Thompson (Gower), and PigPen Theatre Co.(Players and Musicians), with
Alex Falberg,
Ben Ferguson,
Curtis Gillen,
Ryan Melia,
Matt Nuernberger,
Arya Shahi, and
Dan Weschler.
PERICLES, one of Shakespeare's 'Late Plays,' is part of Theatre for a New Audience's season-long celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death (April 23, 1616).
PERICLES relates a surging adventure story - a hero wanders Odysseus-like through the world of the Mediterranean - and climaxes with events that are seemingly miraculous. An original score written by Tony-nominated Irish composer
Shaun Davey (with whom
Trevor Nunn has worked six times, including his film of Twelfth Night) will help in telling the story and conveying the mystery and magic of the ending. The acclaimed storyteller-musicians of PigPen Theatre Co. will lend their voices and instrumentation to the production, playing Mr. Davey's score and performing various roles throughout.
Scenic design for
PERICLES is by
Robert Jones, who has designed numerous productions for Broadway and the West End and more than 15 productions for the
Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as Mr. Nunn's Rock 'n' Roll on Broadway. Costume design is by
Constance Hoffman, the acclaimed opera, dance, and theatre designer whose previous work with Theatre for a New Audience includes Titus Andronicus, The Green Bird,Much Ado About Nothing, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lighting design is by
Stephen Strawbridge, whose credits include more than 200 productions on and Off Broadway, including Theatre for a New Audience's Souls of Naples. Sound design is by
Daniel Kluger, whose credits include work with Roundabout Theatre Company,
Atlantic Theater Company, and
Lincoln Center Theater.
Brian Brooks, whose choreography has toured nationally and internationally since 2002 and who collaborated on A Midsummer Night's Dream, is the choreographer.
Renee Lutz is the production stage manager.
Trevor Nunn's most recent production in New York was in 2013 --
Samuel Beckett's All That Fall. A four-time Tony and Olivier Award-winner and former Artistic Director of the
Royal Shakespeare Company and
Royal National Theatre, he's "as celebrated for his staging of blockbuster musicals (Cats, LES MISERABLES) as for his revitalizing of classic texts," wrote
Ben Brantley, The New York Times.
Though
Christian Camargo will be making his first appearance on the Polonsky Shakespeare Center's stage in PERICLES, he performed with Theatre for a New Audience before the company had its own home: he starred in Coriolanus (2005) directed by
Karin Coonrod, and Hamlet (2009, Drama League Nomination and Obie Award) directed by
David Esbjornson. Mr. Camargo's Shakespearean resume includes Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, and also (for The Bridge Project in Brooklyn, in London, and on a world-wide tour) Orlando in As You Like It and Ariel in The Tempest. Other Shakespearean roles on either side of the Atlantic include major parts inTimon of Athens and Henry V. Mr. Camargo's major films include Twilight: Breaking Dawn Parts I and II, directed by
Bill Condon, The Hurt Locker and K19: The Widowmaker, directed by
Kathryn Bigelow, and
National Treasure: Book of Secrets, directed by
Jon Turteltaub. His TV work includes recurring roles in Penny Dreadful, House of Cards, Haven, and Dexter.
Photo Credit: Gerry Goodstein
