Empty Chair Theatre Company Presents Titus Andronicus at Folger Theater

Empty Chair Theatre Company, an ensemble-based, collaborative theatre group created by and for young artists in the metropolitan Washington, DC area, will perform Titus Andronicus on stage at the historic Folger Shakespeare Library in a special benefit performance on July 16, 2011. Tickets are available on the Empty Chair website and range from 25.00-115.00. A portion of ticket prices for the evening's event are tax deductible.

One of Shakespeare's earliest and bloodiest plays, Titus is the story of Tamora, Queen of the Goth's pursuit of vengeance on the family of her captor, Titus Andronicus. But according to Empty Chair Founder and Executive Director Julia Sears Titus is also a story about a group of people trying to heal. "The characters in the play do terrible things to one another but their motivations lie in desperate and misguided attempts to be at peace with their situation. I believe this story resonates with our culture's understanding of the tragedy conceived by violence. I want to invite our audiences to take just a small step back from their own lives and look at how the characters of Titus are not so different from ourselves," she says.

Empty Chair was co-founded in 2007 by Julia Sears and Elizabeth Nearing who were both local high school juniors. While still in high school both girls attended Folger Education's High School Fellowship Program, a competitive educational program for motivated high school student interested in Shakespeare and other early modern literature. Both are now rising college seniors.

The evening at the Folger will begin when the house opens at 6:30PM with the show beginning at 7:30PM. After the show, guests will be invited to a catered reception with the cast and crew. In addition to this event, Empty Chair is presenting Twelfth Night at Theatre On The Run in Arlington, VA from June 15-19, and the regular performances of Titus Andronicus at Theatre On The Run from July 14-30. For more information, please visit www.emptychairtheatre.org.