New Rep On Tour presents Macbeth
February 28, 2006
Contact:
Cory Elizabeth Nelson, Artistic Associate
617.923.7060 x204, corynelson@newrep.org
New Rep On Tour continues its sixth season with one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Macbeth. Directed by Brendan Hughes, Macbeth will hold one benefit performance at New Repertory Theatre on March 13, 2006 at 7:00 PM. Macbeth, supported by Bank of America, will tour to over 20 area schools through April 14.
New Rep On Tour brings professional theatrical productions onto the stages of local high schools and middle schools. Following each performance, the artists lead a talkback session, allowing students to ask questions and discuss the important topics of the play. The tour was founded to provide in-school performances of the highest quality; earlier this season, New Rep On Tour’s production of The Glass Menagerie visited 15 schools. Last season alone, the programming reached over 12,000 students, many of them in under-served communities. Teachers have come to rely on the tour as an annual event in their schools, and student testimonials describe the widespread enthusiasm for these productions.
Brendan Hughes, an acclaimed Boston artist, directs Macbeth. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Mr. Hughes is the founder and former Producing Artistic Director of The Theatre Cooperative, which is now in its ninth season. His extensive directing credits include productions with Sugan Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, American Stage, Triptych Theatre, Burning Coal Theatre, Yale, and Harvard.
The New Rep On Tour production of Macbeth will be an energetic, 90-minute adaptation in which seven actors portray all the characters in Shakespeare’s classic tale of greed, ambition, and destiny. Christopher Brophy, a newcomer to New Rep, leads the cast in the title role. His previous credits include Take Me Out and Five By Tenn (SpeakEasy Stage), and later this season, he will appear at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in Rebecca Gilman’s The Sweetest Swing in Baseball. Ellen Adair, also working for the first time with New Rep, plays Lady Macbeth, after appearing in critically-acclaimed productions of Arcadia with the Publick Theatre and Five by Tenn with SpeakEasy Stage. Will Keary plays Macduff and other characters; his previous New Rep credits include the season opener, Romeo and Juliet, and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Risher Reddick (Malcolm et al), another cast member of Romeo and Juliet, has regional credits with American Repertory Theatre, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, and the Publick Theatre. Cristi Miles (Lady Macduff et al) returns for her third New Rep On Tour production, having played Emily Webb in the spring, 2005 tour of Our Town and Laura Wingfield in this fall’s The Glass Menagerie. Harold Withee (Banquo et al) was last seen in Promises, Promises (Animus Ensemble) and, later this season, will appear in Wheelock Family Theatre’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Keith Mascoll (Duncan et al) was nominated for an IRNE for his work in Love Jones with New African Company and also starred in Company One’s production of Den of Thieves.
For tickets to the benefit performance of Macbeth, call 617.923.8487. The suggested donation is $20, and all proceeds support the work of New Rep On Tour. To book an in-school performance, contact SerahRose Roth at 617.923.7060, extension 206. Macbeth tours through April 14, 2006.
New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience. New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S. New Rep has received Elliot Norton Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, direction, and production. Programming at New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
New Repertory Theatre can offer its vital touring program thanks to the generosity of individuals and support from Bank of America, National Endowment for the Arts, The Boston Foundation, The Clarks Companies, The Ariel Group, Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Local Cultural Councils of Belmont, Everett, Franklin, Lawrence, Mattapoisett, Northbridge, Reading, Watertown, Whittinsville, Wilbraham, and Wilmington.