Anne Hathaway Cast In Shakespeare in the Park Twelfth Night; Daniel Sullivan to Direct

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that the 2009 Shakespeare in the Park summer season will begin in June with a new production of William Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT directed by Daniel Sullivan and featuring Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway as Viola. TWELFTH NIGHT will run June 9-July 12 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In August, JoAnne Akalaitis will return to direct Euripides's THE BACCHAE, translated by Nicholas Rudall, and featuring original music by Philip Glass. THE BACCHAE will run August 11-September 6.

This summer kicks off with a powerhouse production of one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies. The Public welcomes Academy Award Nominee Anne Hathaway as she makes her Public Theater debut playing Viola, one of the canon's most charming heroines. This beguiling comedy follows the romantic adventures of Viola and her identical twin Sebastian, both shipwrecked in the enchanted dukedom of Illyria. At the helm of this time-honored story of cross-dressing and mistaken identity, all in the name of love, is Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan.

TWELFTH NIGHT has been produced by The Public Theater in Central Park six times since 1958. The first production was directed by Joseph Papp with a cast that included Maria Tucci, William Windom and Peter Bogdanovich.

The second Shakespeare in the Park production will be Euripides's THE BACCHAE, translated by Nicholas Rudall, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis, and featuring original music by Philip Glass. THE BACCHAE will run August 11-30.

THE BACCHAE will be presented as it was always meant to be seen - in the open air of the city. Akalaitis' visionary interpretation, featuring a lush choral score by Glass, re-imagines the classic story about what happens when a government attempts to outlaw desire.

"With Shakespeare's most glittering comedy paired with the greatest of the Greek tragedies, the full range of human experience will be in the park this summer," said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "Anne Hathaway, one of our most brilliant young actresses, will be making her Public Theater debut under the inspired direction of Daniel Sullivan; and JoAnne Akalaitis, whose long history with the Public stretches over 30 years, will be returning for the first time in 15 years to create theater in the open air of the city with one of the greatest composers of our time, Philip Glass."

Anne Hathaway (Viola) has been nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, an Independent Spirit Award, and a SAG Award for her performance in Jonathan Demme's film Rachel Getting Married. Her stage credits include the lead role in the critically acclaimed 2002 City Center Encores production of Carnival! and Paper Mill Playhouse productions of Jane Eyre and Gigi. She is best-known for playing leading roles in the films Bride Wars, Brokeback Mountain (SAG Outstanding Ensemble nomination), The Devil Wears Prada, Get Smart, Ella Enchanted, Passengers, The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Becoming Jane.

Daniel Sullivan (Twelfth Night Director) has directed A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007), Stuff Happens (2006), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (1994) for The Public Theater. His Broadway credits include The Homecoming; Prelude to a Kiss; Rabbit Hole; After the Night and the Music; Julius Caesar; Brooklyn Boy; Sight Unseen; The Retreat From Moscow; Morning's at Seven; Proof; Major Barbara; A Moon for the Misbegotten; Ah, Wilderness!; An American Daughter; The Sisters Rosensweig; Conversations With My Father; The Heidi Chronicles; and I'm Not Rappaport. Off-Broadway credits include Intimate Apparel, In Real Life, Dinner With Friends, Proof, Ten Unknowns, Ancestral Voices and Spinning Into Butter. Most recent regional credits are Julius Caesar, Cymbeline and Romeo and Juliet at The Old Globe. From 1981 to 1997, Mr. Sullivan served as Artistic Director of Seattle Repertory Theatre, where he directed more than 60 productions. His film and television credits include The Substance of Fire and "Far East."

JoAnne Akalaitis (The Bacchae Director) is the winner of five Obie Awards for direction (and sustained achievement) and founder of the critically acclaimed Mabou Mines in New York. A former Artistic Director of The Public, she has staged works by Euripides, Shakespeare, Strindberg, Schiller, Beckett, Genet, Williams, Philip Glass, Janacek, and her own work at Lincoln Center Theatre, New York City Opera, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Court Theatre, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and The Guthrie Theater. She is the former Artistic Director of The Public and was artist-in-residence at the Court Theatre. Ms. Akalaitis was the Andrew Mellon Co-chair of the Directing Program at Juilliard School, and is currently the Wallace Benjamin Flint and L. May Hawver Flint Professor of Theater at Bard College. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants, Edwin Booth Award, Rosamund Gilder Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre, and Pew Charitable Trusts National Theatre Artist Residency Program grant.

Philip Glass (The Bacchae Composer). Distinguished as one of the greatest composers of our time, Philip Glass' repertoire includes opera, dance, theatre, orchestra and film. Lauded for Einstein on the Beach and Music in Twelve Parts, Glass is also renown for the score of Koyaanisqatsi and the Academy Award-nominatEd Kundun, directed by Martin Scorsese. Premieres in 2002 include Symphony No. 6 (Plutonian Ode) with text by Allen Ginsberg and the opera Galileo, Galilei directed by Mary Zimmerman; his other works for opera include The Voyage, featuring a libretto by David Henry Hwang, and Satyagraha (revived at the Metropolitan Opera in 2008).

Summer Supporter tickets for TWELFTH NIGHT and THE BACCHAE are available for a tax-deductible contribution of $170. These reserved seats are only available for a limited time to ensure that the highest number of free seats will be available to distribute to the general public on the day of the show. Summer Supporter tickets help to underwrite production expenses. Supporter tickets are available at The Public Theater Box Office at 425 Lafayette Street; online at publictheater.org; or by calling (212) 967-7555.

For additional information about Shakespeare in the Park, visit The Public Theater website at www.publictheater.org