Quintessence Theatre Group Sets Fall 2014 Repertory - AS YOU LIKE IT and RICHARD II

Quintessence Theatre Group launches its fifth season of progressive classic theatre with an all-male Shakespeare repertory: AS YOU LIKE IT presented in rotating repertory with RICHARD II. Bringing together the best professional actors and designers from Philadelphia and across the country, Artistic Director Alexander Burns leads this collective of artists on a mission to ignite the classics through visceral, actor-focused and text-driven productions. AS YOU LIKE IT will begin previews on Wednesday, October 1 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 4 at 8pm. RICHARD II will begin previews on Thursday, October 9 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 18 at 8pm. All performances are at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave in Mt Airy, Philadelphia, PA.

AS YOU LIKE IT

October 1 - November 8, 2014; Opening Night: October 4, 2014

A romance, a rollicking comedy of intrigue, disguise and miracles... Quintessence returns to all-male Shakespeare to present its first Shakespearean comedy. Quintessence ensemble members Alexander Harvey as Rosalind and Sean Close as Touchstone will be joined by Alan Brincks as Orlando, Matt Tallman as Oliver and Andrew Betz as Celia. Come escape to the Forest of Arden for a theatrical delight that will make you believe in the power of love and laughter, just as you like it.

RICHARD II

October 9 - November 9, 2014; Opening Night: October 18, 2014

The usurpation and regicide of the poet King Richard II begins a hundred year cycle of uncertainty and violence in England. The political thriller you have never seen... Led by actors James Patrick Davis as Richard II, Stephen Novelli as John of Gaunt and Paul Hebron as the Duke of York, Quintessence will bring to the stage Shakespeare's greatest verse poetry and question the prerequisites of leadership, the power of language over force, and the existence of God.

AS YOU LIKE IT plays October 1 - November 8. A special PAY WHAT YOU CAN preview will be presented on Wednesday, October 1 at 7:00pm. Post-show talkbacks with the cast and director will take place on Sunday, October 19 and Thursday, October 30. RICHARD II plays October 9 - November 9. A special PAY WHAT YOU CAN preview will be presented on Thursday, October 9 at 7:00pm. Post-show talkbacks with the cast and director will take place on Thursday, October 23 and Sunday, October 26.

Performances take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. There will also be two special Saturday matinees at 2pm so that both productions can be experienced in one day. Check the repertory performance schedule at www.QuintessenceTheatre.org for exact performance times and dates.

Tickets are $34 - $27 general admission, $25 for seniors (65 and over), $15 for youth (21 and under). Group discounts and weekday student matinees are available. Season V Subscription packages are still available. To purchase tickets or subscriptions, visit www.QuintessenceTheatre.org or call 1.215.987.4450. For ticket information, email BoxOffice@QuintessenceTheatre.org.

QUINTESSENCE: A CLASSIC REPERTORY ENSEMBLE FOR PHILADELPHIA - Quintessence Theatre Group is a professional classic theatre, dedicated to the performance and adaptation of epic works of classic literature and drama for the contemporary stage, which ignites the mind, body and soul through the power of the actor, design and spoken word.

SEASON V - Now in its fifth season, Quintessence continues to work towards the establishment of an acting ensemble and a rotating repertory at the historic Sedgwick Theater in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. As Quintessence Theatre's home, the Sedgwick Theater, a 1928 art deco movie palace designed by William Lee, will regain its place as a jewel in Philadelphia's cultural landscape.

In Season V, Quintessence will expand its offering to five productions of epic classics for the contemporary stage. The season will also include Simon Reade's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's ALICE's ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, Steven Berkoff's adaptation of Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS, directed by Applied Mechanich's artistic director Rebecca Wright, and a new adaptation of Dumas' THE THREE MUSKETEERS.

Quintessence Theatre Group is a nominee for the 2014 Wolfson Award for an Evolving Theatre, which recognizes, promotes and rewards the creativity, growth and excellence of evolving theatres within the Greater Philadelphia community.

THE ENSEMBLE:

ANDREW BETZ (Celia / Green, Westminster): Quintessence: Henry V. National Tour: Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Regional: Hair (White Plains PAC), The Boyfriend (Princeton Festival), The Secret Garden (Utah Shakespeare Festival). Training: Otterbein College, Musical Theatre (BFA).

ALAN BRINCKS (Orlando / Mowbray, Ross, Fitzwater): Quintessence: Mourning Becomes Electra. New York: Henry V (Gallery Players), Macbeth (What Dreams May Co.), Hamlet (What Dreams May Co.), Street Scene (Brave New World Rep), Othello (Wandering Bark Theatre Co.) Regional credits: Green Eyes (Company One-Boston) A Midsummer Night?s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet (Nebraska Shakespeare), A Christmas Carol, U/S: Around the World in 80 Days (Virginia Stage Company). Film: The Poet (Tom White). Training: BFA-Nebraska Wesleyan University, Shakespeare's Globe London.

CARLO CAMPBELL (Charles / Northumberland): Philadelphia: Death of a Salesman (Go Kash Productions), The Brother's Size (Simpatico Theatre). An MC, poet and teaching artist.

ASHTON CARTER (Phoebe / Baggot): Training: Middle Tennessee State University (BA), Acting Apprentice, Walnut Street Theatre.

SEAN CLOSE (Touchstone / Aumerle): Quintessence: The Wind in the Willows, The Misanthrope, Arms and the Man, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, The Venetian Twins, The Importance of Being Earnest, Henry V. Philadelphia: Arden Theatre Company, Delaware Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery Theater, Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company, Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Iron Age Theatre, South Camden Theatre Company, B. Someday Productions, Bootless Stageworks. Training: College of William and Mary.

LEE CORTOPASSI (Amiens / Bullingbrook): Quintessence: The Seagull. Training: The William Esper Acting Studio.

JAMES-PATRICK DAVIS* (Jacques / Richard II): Broadway: The House of Blue Leaves; New York: Hamlet (The Pearl Theatre), We are Proud to Present... (Soho Rep), Much Ado About Nothing (Boomerang Theatre), The More Loving One (Fringe NYC-Best Overall Production of a Play), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Poortom Productions), What Happened When (Rising Phoenix Rep); Regional: Clybourne Park (Long Wharf), American Buffalo (Studio Theater, DC), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Theatre, DC), Othello (New Harmony), The Greeks, Part One: The Wars, Shakespeare's R&J, Pretty Theft (Juilliard). Film: Muckland, Dyl (a short), Henry and Henry (a short). Training: Julliard.

CONNOR HAMMOND (Silvius / Queen, Henry Percy): Quintessence: Henry V. Education: Florida Atlantic University (MFA), Brenau University (BA).

ALEXANDER HARVEY (Rosalind / Bushy, Scroop): Quintessence: Henry V, The Venetian Twins, The Merchant of Venice, Antigone, The Seagull, Othello, Hamlet, She Stoops To Conquer. New York: The Waves (Old American Can Factory), Long Day's Journey Into Night (Theatre Row); A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear (ShakespeareNYC); The Merchant of Venice, The Jew of Malta (YSC); Lear in King Lear (Producer's Club); Mrs. Warren's Profession (Compassion Theater Co.); To Walk In Darkness (Times Square Art Center). Regional: Taming of The Shrew, Our Town, Knight of The Burning Pestle (Theater At Monmouth); Doubt , Hip/Shake (Syracuse Stage). UK: The Merchant of Venice w/s (Shakespeare's Globe); Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest (new vic). Film/TV: Side Effects, Blood Ties, Boardwalk Empire, Royal Pains. Training: RADA, Bristol Old Vic and Syracuse University.

PAUL HEBRON* (Duke Senior, Duke Fredrick / Duke of York): Quintessence: Henry V, The Importance Of Being Ernest (The Quintessence Theatre Group); Philadelphia: Jakes Women, Rumors (Walnut St. Theatre). Broadway: Born Yesterday (Richard Rogers Theatre); Uncle Vanya (Circle In The Square). Off­Broadway: The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew (Riverside Shakespeare). National Tours: Born Yesterday (J. Fuchs & Assoc's); Much Ado About Nothing, Kabuki Macbeth (The Acting Company). Regional: The History Boys (Schwartz Center/Cornell Univ.); Seasons Greetings, A Christmas Carol (The Denver Center); The Philadelphia Story (The Cleveland Play House); Inherit The Wind (Cincinnati Playhouse); Twelfth Night, Dracula, Henry VIII, Travels With My Aunt, Timon of Athens, Coriolanus, King Lear, King John, Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, Antony and Cleopatra (Alabama ShakespeareFestival). Television: One Life To Live, Law and Order.

STEPHEN NOVELLI* (Adam, Corin / John of Gaunt): Philadelphia: People's Light & Theatre: Most recently: Georg Friedrich Kaufmann in Bach at Leipzig, where he currently serves as Artistic Associate and has been a company member since 1974. Judge in Inherit The Wind at Bristol Riverside Theatre, Camillo in The Winter's Tale at PL&T, Roy Cohn in Angels in America at The Wilma Theater and Mick Dowd in A Skull in Connemara at The Lantern Theatre.

MATT TALLMAN (Oliver / Salisbury, Duchess of York): Quintessence: Antigone. Philadelphia: Act II Playhouse, 1812 Productions, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Play Penn, Mauckingbird Theatre Company, Hedgerow Theatre, and Azuka Theatre; Regional: Dallas Theater Center, American Players Theatre, and the Utah, Delaware, Milwaukee, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festivals. Training: Southern Methodist University (MFA).

RYAN WALTER (Aubrey / Duchess of Gloucester, Willoughby, Carlisle): Philadelphia: Krogstad in A Dolls House (Ebaneezer Maxwell Mansion), Birdboot in The Real Inspector Hound (Curio Theatre Company), Rob Debree/others in The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (Quince Productions), Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare in Clark Park), and Mason in Take Me Out (Plays & Players). Founding member/drag queen in the Corner Queens Cabaret. Teaching artist with Philadelphia Young Playwrights and Lantern Theatre Company. Training: Vassar College.

ALEXANDER BURNS (Director/Artistic Director): Quintessence: Mourning Becomes Electra, The Wind In The Willows, Hamlet, She Stoops To Conquer, The Misanthrope, Arms and the Man, The Diary of a Madman, Othello, The Seagull, Antigone, The Merchant of Venice, The Venetian Twins, The Importance of Being Earnest, Don Juan, Apology, Henry V, Measure for Measure. Alexander was a Directing Fellow at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. As an assistant director Alexander has worked at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Old Globe, Steppenwolf Theater, The Goodman Theatre, The Flea Theatre, The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Syracuse Stage, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater; assisting directors Frank Galati, Michael Kahn, Gale Edwards, Robert Moss, and Ethan McSweeny. Training: Northwestern University, LCT Directors Lab, the Jack O'Brien Directors Lab.

*Actors appear courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.