GLTF Presents TWICE TOLD TALES OF THE DECAMERON as Free Touring Production

Great Lakes Theater Festival (GLTF) will launch the world premiere of TWICE TOLD TALES OF THE DECAMERON, a free one-hour touring production scheduled to visit twenty-one neighborhood venues throughout northeast Ohio, to kick off the company's 2011 series of Surround outreach programming. The play, adapted from Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron by GLTF Director of Education Daniel Hahn, features a touring company of four actors and is directed by Lisa Ortenzi. The tour commences on February 15th, continues through March 10th and is designed to support the Festival's upcoming main stage production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Two Gents) at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, this spring. All performances of the touring production are free and open to the public, with the exception of performances at area schools, which are private. The touring play is a comedy, appropriate for all audiences.

"Now more than ever, we believe it is important to share free, professional theatre with people out in their own communities," said Daniel Hahn, Great Lakes Theater Festival's Director of Education, when asked about the Festival's annual tour. "Boccaccio's The Decameron is without question an inspirational piece of classic literature, and to see stories from this masterpiece brought to life will be something we hope audiences will enjoy and appreciate. We know several of these tales inspired Shakespeare himself, so producing them is a rare but wonderful treat."

In 1350, Giovanni Boccaccio wrote his masterpiece, The Decameron, a collection of 100 short stories. Some 250 years later, William Shakespeare took several of those tales and expanded them into full-length plays. GLTF's 2011 outreach touring play dramatizes two original Boccaccio stories that Shakespeare later amplified into The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Cymbeline, providing a fascinating context for the Festival's upcoming spring productions of Two Gents and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).

The four-actor touring company features Cleveland actors David Hansen, Kristy Lee Miller, Eric Perusek, and RoBert Smith. The design trio of Terry Martin (scenic design), Esther Haberlen (costume design) and Richard Ingraham (sound design) complete the play's production team. "Lisa is one of Cleveland's most gifted directors, both in the realm of education and on stages all over town, and Terry, Esther and Richard did such a remarkable job on last year's outreach tour we are simply thrilled to have them all on board again this year." Hahn said.

TWICE TOLD TALES OF THE DECAMERON is a seventy-minute program that includes an introduction and post-performance discussion. This comedic production is appropriate for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Times and dates are subject to change. Call individual venues for more information about the performances. (Consult attached schedule for a complete list of performance venues, dates and times.)

TWICE TOLD TALES OF THE DECAMERON is part of a series of community programs surrounding Great Lakes Theater Festival's upcoming spring production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, by William Shakespeare (April 8 - 23, 2011 at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare). Held throughout northern Ohio from February through December 2011, the Festival's Surround offers multiple educational programs designed to connect the issues in the plays that the Festival produces to the issues in people's own lives. All Surround events are free and open to the public when at non-school venues.

For more information, visit the Great Lakes Theater Festival website at www.greatlakestheater.org or call the Festival's education department at (216) 241-5490 x307.

 

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