Measure for Measure Begins Previews February 23 at Pearl Theatre Co.

William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure opens at The Pearl Theatre Company on Sunday, March 5th and runs through Sunday, April 9th. Rachel Botchan (Richard III) and Sean McNall (The Gentleman Dancing Master) star and Beatrice Terry (Double Infidelity) directs.

Isabella, is forced to choose between her own salvation and her brother's life when the corrupt Duke Angelo, who is overcome with lust for her, promises he will free her brother if she agrees to sleep with him. Questions of justice, mercy and law drive the action in Shakespeare's provocative play, Measure for Measure.

Rachel Botchan - Favorite roles at The Pearl include Widowers' Houses (Blanche), Double Infidelity (Sylvia), The Rivals (Lydia Languish), Heartbreak House (Ellie Dunn), The Tempest (Miranda), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), The Cherry Orchard (Anya), Richard III (Anne, Bayfield Award winner), The Oresteia (Cassandra). Other Off-Broadway: A Klezmer's Tale, The Blacksmith's Folly, The Maiden of Ludmir at The Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre. Regionally: Private Lives (Virginia Stage), You Can't Take It With You (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), King Lear (Cincinnati Playhouse and Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Androcles and the Lion (Pirate Playhouse). Ms. Botchan is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Sean McNall - Mr. McNall recently appeared as theatre critic Kenneth Tynan in Austin Pendleton's Orson's Shadow (The Barrow Street Theatre). His Pearl Theatre Company credits include Gentleman Dancing Master, Widowers' Houses, I Have Been Here Before, The Imaginary Invalid, Double Infidelity, The Persians, The Rivals, Daisy Mayme, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, and Gogol's Marriage. Other New York: Julius Caesar (The Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival), Hamlet (Kings County Shakespeare). Regional: The McCarter Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, and The Source Theatre. Sean is a graduate of The Juilliard School, Drama Division.

The cast of Measure for Measure includes members of The Pearl Theatre Company's 2005-2006 Resident Acting Company Rachel Botchan, Dominic Cuskern, Robert Hock, Sean McNall, Carol Schultz, and Edward Seamon. Additional cast members include guest artists T J Edwards, Holley Fain, Kelli Holosopple, Romel Jamison, John Mazurek, Raphael Peacock, Ron Simona, and Noel Velez.

Stage Design by Susan Zeeman Rogers ; Costume Design by Frank Champa ; Lighting Design by Stephen Petrilli; Sound Design and Original Music by Jane Shaw.

Since 1984, The Pearl Theatre Company's been at home at the historic Theatre 80 in the heart of New York's East Village. The Pearl has produced 105 classical masterpieces. The great playwrights all have been well-represented at the The Pearl, including 21 Shakespeare's, nine Shaw's, seven Ibsen's, five Sophocles, and four each of Molière, Chekhov, and Racine.

Performances take place alternating Tuesdays at 7PM; Wednesdays at 2PM; Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM; Saturdays at 2PM (except March 4); and Sundays at 2PM. Visit www.pearltheatre.org for complete 05-06 performance schedule. Tickets are $50 (Fri.-Sun.) and $40 (Tues.-Thurs. and Sat. matinees).

Tickets can be purchased by calling The Pearl Theatre Company Box Office at (212) 598-9802 or on-line at www.TheaterMania.com. Theatre 80 is located at 80 St. Marks Place at 1st Avenue. To get to The Pearl Theatre Company, take the R/W Train to 8th Street, the 6 Train to Astor Place, the L Train to 1st Avenue, or the F Train to 2nd Avenue.

• ALL PREVIEW PERFORMANCES ARE $25

• $10 TUESDAYS: any unsold tickets for Tuesday evening at 7PM performances will be sold for $10 each at 15 minutes prior to curtain subject to availability

• YOUTH AND SENIOR RUSH TICKETS can be purchased for $20 (Tuesdays-Thursdays and Saturday matinees) and $25 (Fridays-Sundays) each by people 24 and younger OR 65 and older on the day of the performance, one half-hour prior to curtain, with valid ID, subject to availability.

www.pearltheatre.org