American Shakespeare Center celebrates 35th season and joins Folio400 celebration
Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost life in Ruhl’s wildly imaginative bittersweet comedy, "Eurydice."
Complicated love lives lead to four weddings and happy endings in Shakespeare's beloved comedy, "As You Like It."
STAUNTON — American Shakespeare Center celebrates its 35th anniversary season in 2023, and joins the worldwide Folio400 Celebration, in honor of the 400th anniversary of the first printing of Shakespeare’s works.
All five of the Shakespeare plays in ASC’s 2023 artistic year were published in the First Folio, including four which had never been published before, according to a press release.
In addition to the five Shakespeare titles — "As You Like It," "Hamlet," "Measure for Measure," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Coriolanus" — ASC will also stage Sarah Ruhl’s ethereal comedy "Eurydice," Lauren Gunderson’s witty and moving recounting of the creation of the First Folio, "The Book of Will" and the holiday favorite, Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol."
Spring season on sale now
American Shakespeare Center’s 2023 artistic year begins with a pair of comedies: Shakespeare’s "As You Like It" (Feb. 17-May 14) and Sarah Ruhl’s "Eurydice" (Feb. 24-May 13).
One of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, "As You Like It" weaves a web of complicated love lives in the Forest of Arden, where disguised lovers on the run meet cute, and happy endings including four — count them, four — weddings ensue.
Ruhl’s wildly imaginative bittersweet comedy "Eurydice" reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice not through Orpheus’s infamous pilgrimage to retrieve his bride, but through the eyes of its heroine.
Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost life. With contemporary characters and plot twists to rival Shakespeare’s most twisted plot lines, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story, the release said.
Both plays will be performed in repertory, with a shared cast of actors who “double” in multiple roles, just as they did in Shakespeare’s time.
Veterans and debuts comprise Spring season theater company
The spring season sees the return of ASC veterans Topher Embrey, Summer England, Michael Manocchio, Annabelle Rollison and Constance Swain; and celebrates the ASC debuts of Kayla Carter and Kenzie Ross.
Constance Swain (Utah Shakespeare Festival, several seasons at ASC), returns as the feisty heroine Rosalind in "As You Like It."
Topher Embrey (Denver Center for the Performing Arts, several seasons at ASC) returns as Orephus in "Eurydice" and Duke Senior in "As You Like It."
The title role in "Eurydice" (and the role of Orlando in "As You Like It") will be played by Kayla Carter (Goodman Theatre, FOX, NBC).
Spring season welcomes two directors new to American Shakespeare Center
From the 2019 Off Broadway production of "Dog Man: The Musical," Brooklyn based director/choreographer Jen Wineman will direct "As You Like It."
New York based Nana Dakin will direct "Eurydice." A core member of Thailand’s most highly awarded theatre company, B-Floor Theatre, Dakin was the first Thai theatre director to direct at the Royal Court Theatre in London (Anchuli Felicia King’s "White Pearl").
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American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse
The American Shakespeare Center recovers the joys and accessibility of Shakespeare’s theatre, language and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and its practices through performance and education.
Beyond the Playhouse, ASC is a hub for Shakespeare education and scholarship and with a long history of touring nationally from Texas to Maine — currently on hiatus due to COVID.
Founded in 1988 as Shenandoah Shakespeare Express, the organization became the American Shakespeare Center in 2005. ASC programming is sponsored in part by the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, The Shubert Foundation, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, the Krongard Foundation and the generosity of countless donors.
Tickets
Tickets for "As You Like It" and "Eurydice" are on sale now and can be purchased online at americanshakespearecenter.com or by calling 1-877-MUCH-ADO (1-877-682-4236).
Reporter Monique Calello can be reached at mcalello@newsleader.com. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com to keep reading the stories you care about the most.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Folio400: American Shakespeare Center celebrates 35th season
