CSC Announces 2008-09 Season Starting Patinkin

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, has announced details for their upcoming 2008-09 season. The esteemed downtown theatre company just concluded its 40th anniversary season, the most successful in its history, with such acclaimed productions as The Seagull starring Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming, and David Ives' New Jerusalem, directed by Walter Bobbie, starring Richard Easton and Jeremy Strong.

The new season begins in September with Tony Award-winning actor Mandy Patinkin starring in Shakespeare's The Tempest, directed by Brian Kulick.  Performances begin Wednesday, September 3, for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 12. Patinkin will perform the role of Prospero, master of a magical isle where shipwrecks, fantastical creatures, mystery, music and romance abound in this redemptive tale that is the capstone of Shakespeare's legacy.

In January, CSC will continue its commitment to the exploration of the works of Anton Chekhov when it presents Tony Award winner Denis O'Hare in Uncle Vanya, the Russian master's tragicomic masterpiece of dashed dreams, thwarted love and eternal longing. Uncle Vanya will be directed by Austin Pendleton, who directed a landmark production of the play at Williamstown in 1972.  Uncle Vanya begins performances Wednesday, January 14 for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 22.  O'Hare last appeared at CSC in Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play in 2007.

In March, CSC will present the world premiere of An Oresteia from the pen of acclaimed poet Anne Carson whose work Susan Sontag hailed as "a spellbinding achievement." This ambitious two part theatrical event gathers together the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides to tell the epic story of the fall of the House of Atreus.  Part One will be directed by CSC Artistic Director Brian Kulick with Gisela Cardinas who received a Drama Desk nomination for her direction of Agamemnon in 2006.  Part II will be directed by Paul Lazar whose recent production of Major Bang was a Critic's Choice for both The New York Times and Village Voice.  

The 2008-2009 season will also include the company's popular First Look Festival.  This year First Look turns its gaze to the work of Bertolt Brecht, with one night only staged readings of four of Brecht's plays:  The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Good Person of Szechuan, In the Jungle of Cities and Life of Galileo, presented on September 15, 22, 29 and October 6, 2008 respectively.  

The new season will also mark the return of CSC's highly-popular Open Rehearsal Series, at which audiences can experience different acting approaches and directorial interpretations of a classic work. This season CSC will feature Shakespeare's Othello, on January 16, 26 and February 2 and 9, 2009. Monday Night Othello is presented in association with the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation and The Shakespeare Society.

CSC will also reunite with the Graduate Acting Program of the Columbia University School of the Arts for the fourth year of The Young Company, CSC'S unique Education and Outreach initiative that has greatly impacted the lives of young audiences throughout the five boroughs.  This season The Young Company will present Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, directed by Tony Speciale, February 23 through March 8.

CSC's The Young Company is the proud recipient of the prestigious Shakespeare in American Communities Grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and Arts Midwest.

The new season will also feature the inauguration of CSC's new Adaptation Series, The Proust Project, with a set of staged readings based on Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.  Each of these adaptations can stand on its own as an independent evening or be experienced together as a cycle, giving audiences a unique guided tour through one of the 20th Century's greatest novels. Each evening will include a live string quartet, a post-performance symposium with Proust scholars and a free madeleine cookie to inspire your memory.  The Proust Project will be performed March 23 & 30 and April 6, 2009.

Entering its 41st season as one of New York's most exciting Off-Broadway theaters, Classic Stage Company is the award-winning Off-Broadway theatre committed to re-imagining the classical repertory for a contemporary American audience.

CSC presents plays from the past that speak directly to the issues of today. As we return to works of the past, we endeavor to keep a clear eye on the future, particularly in terms of the next generation of artists and audiences. Classic Stage's artists are the best-established and emerging theater practitioners working in this country. Highly respected and widely regarded as a major force in New York and American theater, Classic Stage has been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards: Obies, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and 1999 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.

Memberships to Classic Stage Company productions are available at various price levels, including the flexible Masterpass membership, which in addition to prime seats, entitles members to participate in CSC special series, including their sold out Open Rehearsal events.  

For further information on Classic Stage Company, call (212) 352-3101, visit the theatre in person at 136 East 13th Street, or go to www.classicstage.org.

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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