Actors' Shakespeare Project's THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL Begins Tonight

Actors' Shakespeare Project closes its record-breaking season with Richard Brinsley Sheridan's clever comedy of manners THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL, directed by Resident Acting Company member Paula Plum with adaptation by RAC member Steven Barkhimer. The show runs tonight, April 13, through May 8, 2016, at Multicultural Arts Center, 41 2nd Street, Cambridge.

Sheridan's delicious tapestry of deceit unfolds around Sir Peter Teazle (Gabriel Graetz) and his much younger wife from the country. Lady Teazle (Lydia Barnett-Mulligan) brings a free spirit and extravagance to her position that has scandalmongers already talking. As rumors that Lady Teazle might be engaged in an indiscretion with the handsome but duplicitous Joseph Surface (Michael Underhill) emerge, the real scheming begins, as a multitude of other scandals snare Joseph's brother Charles (Omar Robinson) and others, enveloping the aristocratic drawing rooms of London, and leaving few secure in their propriety.

Skewering the pretentiousness and hypocrisy of high society in the 1770s, Sheridan delights in deploying witty dialogue through a clever parade of wealthy uncles, pretenders, rogues and money-lenders, such as the vengeful Lady Sneerwell (Sarah Newhouse) and her intimate, Mr. Snake (Lydia Barnett-Mulligan), Mr. Crabtree (Gabriel Graetz), Sir Benjamin Backbite (Richard Snee), and Mrs. Candour (Bobbie Steinbach). An array of assumed identities, intrigues, and alliances call out lovers, marriages, and other family relations, revealing hidden intentions of greed and lust, and purer affections, in an aristocratically comical fashion.

"The School For Scandal is one of the great comedies of English drama," says director Paula Plum. "We don't have to look very far to discover our own insatiable appetites for scandal, and that its unsavory ingredients are just as potent as they were for 18th-century audiences. But, even as scandal reveals the unseemly hypocrisy of human nature, we all savor that moment when the hypocrite is exposed and truth triumphs. That sense of victory helps THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL remain as topical and sharply funny today as it was in Sheridan's time."

The cast features members of the Resident Acting Company including Sarah Newhouse* (Lady Sneerwell), Omar Robinson* (Charles Surface), Richard Snee* (Sir Oliver Surface/Backbite), and Bobbie Steinbach* (Mrs. Candour/Moses). Additional cast includes Lydia Barnett-Mulligan* (Lady Teazle/Snake), Gabriel Graetz (Crabtree/Sir Peter Teazle), Rebecca Schneebaum (Maria), and Michael Underhill (Joseph Surface/Whore/Stanley).

The creative designer team includes Michael Griggs (sets), Karen Perlow(lights), Tyler Kinney (costumes) and Darby Smotherman (Sound Designer).

Open Rehearsal: Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 11 am - 12 pm in Rehearsal Studio Not 2B Somerville Arts Amory. Preview performances: Wednesday, April 13, Thursday, April 14 and Friday, April 15 at 7:30 pm. Official Opening and Press Performance: Saturday, April 16 at 8 pm. Regular Performances: Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 8 pm; and Sundays at 2 pm with post-show discussion. Student Matinee: April 28 and May 5 at 10 am. Post-show discussions take place after all 10 am student matinees.

Tickets are $28-$50 ($15 student rush) and can be purchased at actorsshakespeareproject.org and OvationTix at 866.811.4111 or at the theater, although selection may be limited. Senior discount tickets are $3 off regular price. Groups of 10+ may reserve seats for select performances via ASP's Patron Services at 617.776.2200 x225 or groups@actorsshakespeareproject.org.

Actors' Shakespeare Project is an award-winning professional theater company with a Resident Acting Company and extensive education, youth and community programs. ASP performs and works in found spaces, schools, theaters and neighborhoods to present and explore the robust language, resonant stories, and deeply human characters in Shakespeare's plays and in works by other great playwrights. Our work is ensemble-based and focused on intimacy, storytelling, language, relationships, voice, risk and artistry within and throughout the Boston area. For more information visit actorsshakespeareproject.org.

*Member of the Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
**Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829

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