The Public Theater Announces Auditions for Shakespeare Lab 2010

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today the beginning of its recruitment for The Shakespeare Lab's 2010 Company. The theater's professional actor development program will once again be tuition-free in 2010, building on the remarkable success of last year's session. The widening of access to the Shakespeare Lab builds on The Public's long tradition of free Shakespeare in the Park and the theater's ongoing commitment to building a community of classically trained artists. Shakespeare Lab 2010 will run from June 7 to August 8 and membership is by audition only.
Under the direction of Shakespeare Initiative Director Barry Edelstein, The Shakespeare Lab immerses a carefully-selected company of professional, mid-career actors in a six-week intensive exploring the rigors, challenges, and joys of performing Shakespeare. The Shakespeare Lab is a unique opportunity for working American actors in mid-career to hone their craft and expand their classical skills. It aims to build a strong and diverse collective of classically trained actors which will expand The Public Theater's community of artists.

"The Shakespeare Lab continues to be one of the most exciting engines for artistic development at The Public Theater. Its success at expanding the community of American artists who can do right by Shakespeare is no small part of the Public's prominence as one of the country's foremost producers of Shakespeare," said Shakespeare Initiative Director Barry Edelstein. "That the Lab remains tuition-free means that access to this excellent training will be, like all the Public's work, truly open to all."

The Lab's workshops in Shakespearean performance are led by some of the most respected figures in American classical theater training, including Christopher Bayes, Lisa Benevides, Barry Edelstein, Robert Perillo, J. Steven White, Grace Zandarski, Janet Zarish and others. Guest artists, including eminent members of The Public Theater community and other leading Shakespeareans, will frequently visit the Shakespeare Lab.

The Shakespeare Lab was founded in 1995, and in the years since, numerous members of the Shakespeare Lab Company have gone on to secure roles in the Park, at The Public Theater, on and off-Broadway, and in regional theaters, in addition to work in film and television. Past Shakespeare Lab participants include Lemon Andersen, whose solo show County of Kings was seen at the Public in 2009, Elena Shaddow, Nana Mensah and Jennifer Kidwell, who performed in The Public Theater's production of The Bacchae, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis; Ryan McCarthy, who appeared in The Public's 2007 production of King Lear with Kevin Kline; Amir Arison, who appeared in the Public Theater production of Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them; Julio Monge, who has appeared in many Shakespeare productions at The Public, most recently Hamlet in Central Park; and Nancy Lemenager, who recently concluded a stint as Velma in Chicago on Broadway.

The Lab is the cornerstone of a busy summer of Shakespeare-related activity at The Public Theater, including the productions in repertory of The Merchant of Venice and The Winter's Tale, directed by Daniel Sullivan and Michael Greif, respectively. Two new recently-announced programs for teens, A Midsummer Day's Camp and Shakespeare Spring Break, plus Shakespeare Lab Jr., a program of free, one-week Shakespeare workshops for New York City schoolchildren and Summer Shake-Up, a one-day celebration of Shakespeare at the Delacorte Theater for New York City schoolchildren and their families, round-out the summer's activities.

Shakespeare Lab 2010 will run from June 7 to August 8. Membership in the Shakespeare Lab Company is by audition only. Requirements and other information can be found at www.publictheater.org.

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 as the Shakespeare Workshop and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, productions of Shakespeare, and other classics at its headquarters on Lafayette Street and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through its extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 42 Tony Awards, 149 Obies, 39 Drama Desk Awards, 24 Lucille Lortel Awards and 4 Pulitzer Prizes.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street.
For more information about Shakespeare Initiative programs, please visit www.publictheater.org.

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