Theatre on Fire Presents BLACKADDER II LIVE, 4/16

Theatre on Fire closes its sixth season at the Charlestown Working Theater with something never before seen on a U.S. Stage: BLACKADDER II: LIVE. TOF is adapting the classic British TV comedy - voted 2nd best of all time - to the stage for the 25th anniversaryof its original broadcast. First aired in 1986, the Blackadder series made many of its cast into worldwide household names, including Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson.

BLACKADDER II: LIVE will be presented in repertory format and will include all six episodes of the original. Part One will consist of the episodes "Bells," "Head," and "Potato." Part Two will feature the episodes "Money," "Beer," and "Chains." One part will be presented each night, with special Double Features on Saturday April 16 and 23. Tickets can be purchased for one part only or both parts. Audience members who buy tickets to both parts receive a 25% discount. The parts do not need to be seen in order to be fully enjoyed.

Along with the Blackadder series, Richard Curtis has written The Vicar of Dibley, MR. Bean and bits of Not the Nine O'Clock News, among other series. He has also written a string of incredibly successful films, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones' Diary, among others. He's been to a lot of weddings.

Ben Elton has written The Young Ones, The Man from Auntie, and The Thin Blue Line, as well as his own series The Ben Elton Show. Elton has also written for the stage, including Gasping, Silly Cow and Popcorn, and the musicals We Will Rock You and The Beautiful Game. He used to own a shiny suit.

The writers of the series do not take royalties for the staging of this work, but rather have the royalties paid to Comic Relief, a charity organization founded in 1985 to help support some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK and Africa. Theatre on Fire is delighted to contribute to Comic Relief as part of this production.

"I've been a fan of BLACKADDER since I was in high school," says Artistic Director Darren Evans. "So in one sense this is a teenage fantasy come true. Just not that kind of fantasy."
He continues: "I don't remember what precisely put the idea of adapting BLACKADDER to the stage in my head, but once it was there, I couldn't dislodge it. It became a bit of an obsession to figure out how to make it happen. All those great quips, insults and one-liners just kept swirling around up there, and I knew I had no alternative but to do it."

Evans concludes: "This is going to be by far the largest and most elaborate production in Theatre on Fire history. With 14 actors and over 30 characters in Elizabethan costume, not to mention a dozen or more locations crammed into the CWT black box, it is going to be a huge undertaking for us. We're also expanding our normal show schedule to accommodate the repertory performance format. I'm both excited and mildly frightened to be pushing the boundaries of our organizational capacity so far, but this is the perfect show to do it."

BLACKADDER II: LIVE features a mixed cast of Theatre on Fire favorites and newcomers alike, starring Craig Houk as Blackadder, Chris Wagner as Baldrick and Kelly Rauch as Queen Elizabeth. The cast also includes Wayne Fritsche, Michael Steven Costello, Jenny Gutbezahl, Jason Beals, David Schrag, Gerard Slattery, Terrence Haddad, Chelsea Schmidt, Crystal Lisbon, Ann Carpenter and Jon Geoffrion. The design team features Eric Jacobsen (Lighting Design) and Luke Sutherland (Scenic Design), both returning from TOF's Fall success ALMOST AN EVENING, along with Lynn Wilcott (Hair and Make-up Design) and Darren Evans (Sound Design). Theatre on Fire is small theatre company dedicated to producing hot, high-quality shows that take you out of your
comfort zone. We don't do cute and we don't do boring. TOF has been nominated for nine IRNE awards in its first five seasons, winning once for 2009's Bash. Now in its sixth season, Theatre on Fire is proud to be a Resident Company at the Charlestown Working Theater (CWT). Darren Evans explains: "CWT has given us a wonderful opportunity to grow and thrive. It's a great organization, a funky facility, and a truly welcoming environment." TOF is also a member of StageSource and the Small Theatre Alliance of Boston. The Charlestown Working Theater was founded on the idea that a theater and a community can engage in a dialogue which results in creative, artistic expression, an exciting exchange of ideas, and a deeper understanding of the people who make up the community. CWT has maintained this philosophy throughout its history and has remained dedicated to serving the cultural needs of Charlestown and greater Boston. CWT's Resident Artists Program was established in 1997 to create the opportunity and environment for area theatre artists to develop,
rehearse, and perform creative theatre productions, teach workshops, and engage with our community. Today, the Resident Artists Program features the work of local, national, and interNational Theatre companies and artists.

For more information on BLACKADDER II: LIVE or Theatre on Fire, please visit www.theatreonfire.org. Tickets are available online at www.charlestownworkingtheater.org, or by phone at 866-811-4111 (toll free).

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