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The Pearl Theatre Company recently announced the third production of its 25th Anniversary Season, Shakespeare’s capricious comedy, Twelfth Night (Or What You Will). The opening night of The Pearl Theatre Company’s production will be on February 2nd, the same day as the first recorded performance of the play in 1602.
A harrowing shipwreck separates twins Viola and Sebastian—but tragedy turns to comedy when they wash up on the shores of Illyria, a land turned upside-down by passion and a colorful cast of joyful, melancholy characters. In The Pearl Theatre Company's production of Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s madcap dance of mistaken identities, cunning plans, and miraculous discoveries, the only real mistake to make is not to love at all. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare ponders love lost and found and explores the troubled relationship between disguise and desire. Washed up on distant shores, Viola mourns for a brother drowned in a shipwreck she herself narrowly escaped. Viola, however, is no languisher and quickly improvises a plan, disguising herself as the young man “Cesario,” taking service with Duke Orsino…and shaking the foundations of this strange world. Twelfth Night offers us a world lush and joyful, but twilit, where not everyone can participate in happily ever after—a world that ends in What You Will, the subtitle that reminds the audience not to take it all too seriously—it is a comedy after all. And as such it must be both what we want, and what we make of it. As is love.
The cast features 2008-2009 Resident Acting Company members Rachel Botchan (Olivia), Robin Leslie Brown (Maria), Bradford Cover (Sir Toby Belch) , Dominic Cuskern (Malvolio), TJ Edwards (Fabian), and Sean McNall (Feste) who are joined by guest artists Ali Ahn (Viola), Michael Gabriel Goodfriend (Orsino), Joseph Midyett (Sebastian), Kila Packett (Curio), Jay Stratton (Antonio), and David L. Townsend (Sir Andrew Agucheek). J.R. Sullivan, director of The Pearl’s acclaimed 2008 production of The Importance of Being Earnest, helms the production and design team which includes: scenic design by Harry Feiner; costume design by Liz Covey; lighting design by Stephen Petrilli; sound design and original music by Amy Altadonna; fight director Rod Kinter; stage manager Dale Smallwood; dramaturge Kate Farrington. Founded in 1984, The Pearl Theatre Company is an Off-Broadway classical theatre that nurtures an ongoing resident company of actors, a structure which is both important and rare. The Pearl believes that a resident company, made up of a cohesive and experienced community of actors, is best equipped to keep vital our rich tradition and to keep fresh the wisdom, wit, and craft of the classics. As founding Artistic Director, Shepard Sobel explains, “The Pearl produces a classical repertory because the great plays of the last 2500 years provide a context, a perspective, by which we here in America in 2008 may see ourselves more clearly. We can – and have an obligation to – design the strength and character of the future only by knowing the character of the past.”
Its 25th Anniversary season began in ancient Greece with a family caught in the web of their own legacy in The Oedipus Cycle. The New York Times proclaimed, “Mr. Sobel and his cast pull off a difficult feat,” and Backstage heralded the production as “brave” and “ambitious.” For the holidays, they journeyed to Jerusalem during the Christian Crusades to discover if religious tolerance and understanding are possible in Nathan the Wise. Twelfth Night now brings them to Illyria where whimsy, fancy, and love distract and delight us. They then land in decadent Paris where we witness both the humor and harm of blind faith in Tartuffe. Finally they arrive at a dilapidated boarding house in New Orleans, where Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carré challenges them to seek light in even the darkest of places.
Its Resident Acting Company consists of veterans of the New York and Regional stages including: Jolly Abraham, Rachel Botchan, Robin Leslie Brown, Joanne Camp, Bradford Cover, Dominic Cuskern, TJ Edwards, Robert Hock, Sean McNall, Carol Schultz, and Edward Seamon. The 2008/2009 resident stage managers are Lisa Ledwich and Dale Smallwood. The Pearl Theatre Company offers several packages for audiences to discover the 25th Anniversary Season. A variety of ticketing and subscription packages are all currently available for the remaining three shows of the season by contacting our box office at 212-598-9802 or in person at The Pearl Theatre Company located at the historic Theatre 80 on the corner of 1st Avenue and St. Marks Place in New York’s vibrant East Village. Box office hours are 12PM - 6PM Monday thru Saturday and 12PM - 3PM on Sunday. Performances are on the following schedule: Tuesday at 7PM; Wednesday at 2PM; Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8PM; Saturday and Sunday at 2PM. Previews begin January 20, 2009. Opening night is Monday, February 2, 2009, the same date of the first recorded performance of Twelfth Night in 1602.
There is no performance on Tuesday, February 3, 2009. There is an additional performance on Wednesday, February 4th at 8 PM.
Ticket prices are as follows: $25 for all preview performances; $45 for performances on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; $55 for performances on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. $23 weekdays and $28 weekends. Remaining tickets at each performance can be purchased at a reduced price by people 24 and younger or 65 and older on the day of performance, one half-hour prior to curtain, subject to availability. Valid for 1 ticket only per ID in person at the box office. Remaining tickets for Thursday evening performances are available for $10 fifteen minutes prior to curtain.
Special events will also be taking place:
Tuesday Talk Post-Performance Discussion: The discussions will give audiences the opportunity to participate in intimate talk-backs led by published scholars and experts within their fields. Tuesday Talks during Twelfth Night will take place following the performances on February 10th and 17th.
First Thursday Pizza Party: Join The Pearl Theatre Company on Thursday, January 22nd for our popular “First Thursday Pizza Party.” Sponsored by Two Boots Pizza, this event is geared toward audience members under the age of 24. Participants are welcome to partake in free pizza, with the purchase of their ticket to the performance, while mingling with the company members and production staff of Twelfth Night. First Thursday Pizza Parties begin at 6:30PM in the lobby of The Pearl Theatre Company.
The company performs at Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark’s Place at 1st Avenue. The Pearl can be reached by taking the R/W train to 8th Street, 6 train to Astor Place, L train to First Avenue, or the F train to Second Avenue. By bus the M15 to 9th Street or the M8 to First Avenue.
