The Guthrie Theater Joins the Acting Company S 36Th National Tour with a Co-Production

CONTACT: Gerry Cornez

(212) 258-3111

The Acting Company in association with The Guthrie Theater presents a

national tour of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Et tu, Brute? Friends, Romans, countrymen…

The Acting Company proudly announces its 39th national tour featuring a new production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, one of the greatest political dramas of all time. The tour will begin in January at the Guthrie in Minneapolis and travel to 31 communities in 21 states plus Ontario, Canada.

With Americans looking at, questioning and demanding transparency from civic leaders, we chose Julius Caesar with the belief that this 400 year old play powerfully displays the power of rhetoric – that what you say can have a profound and chilling effect on the country without burden of proof or, too often, measured consideration.

Today’s public discourse on leaders and candidates is accepted as fact by too many and explodes across our press and television headlines without debate or discovery. Although Shakespeare was a student of history, he was also deeply concerned with connecting history to his contemporary audience. Our production will also be rooted in details from contemporary America, so that our audiences can easily relate to and understand some of the history that is often missed in a more traditional production.

Julius Caesar has been notoriously used to make one-sided political points about current events. To do so goes against the spirit of Shakespeare’s centuries-old play as well as flies in the face of the discourse so many Americans are demanding. Using modern dress allows for greater accessibility for audiences and their engagement with Shakespeare’s story. We will not recreate Shakespeare’s story; it stands on its own merits and demands us to explore and question as much today as when it was written.

Rob Melrose, artistic director of San Francisco’s Cutting Ball Theatre, will direct. Called by Stage and Cinema a “theatrical marvel,” Mr. Melrose will develop a work whose production quality will equal what we predict will be a profound and lasting impact on audiences nationally.

The superb cast, trained at the leading acting conservatories in the country includes Ernest Bentley, Kaliswa Brewster, Caleb Carlson, Ray Chapman, Bjorn DuPaty, Zachary Fine, Whitney Hudson, Joseph Midyett, Kevin Orton, Noah Putterman, Sid Solomon, William Sturdivant and Kathleen Wise.

Since its founding in 1972 by the legendary John Houseman and current Producing Artistic Director Margot Harley, The Acting Company has performed 136 productions touring to 48 states and ten foreign countries and is America’s most respected and praised touring repertory theater. It’s innovative education programs are provided in conjunction with the tour and include student matinees, Learning Through Theater artistic residencies, master classes, workshops and Shakespeare for Teachers professional training workshops designed to make the classics more accessible to teacher and students alike.

Rainn Wilson, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Jesse L. Martin, Frances Conroy, David Ogden Stiers and Keith David are but a handful of actors who began their careers on tour with The Acting Company. Honored by the TONY® Awards for Excellence in Theater, The Company has won the Obie, Audelco, Citibank’s Excellence in Education and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.

The Guthrie Theater, founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963, is one of America’s leading regional theaters and is widely recognized as an American center for theater performance, production and professional training. In addition to plays presented on the Guthrie’s mainstage, the theater provides an additional season of new works by contemporary playwrights such as Arthur Miller, Edward Albee and Warren Leight at the Guthrie Lab.
Under the directorship of Joe Dowling, the Guthrie has built one of the finest multistage theater centers of our time including a classic thrust for grand scale classics, a proscenium for more intimate productions and a studio for developing new works. In 1982, the Guthrie received a TONY Award acknowledging its outstanding contribution to the American Theater.

# # #