CYMBELINE Runs Through 12/22 in Santa Monica

New York's Fiasco Theater's inventive production of William Shakespeare's epic romance debuts on the West Coast at The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center on Thursday, December 13th, 2012. Cymbeline runs through December 22nd.

The production sold out Off Broadway and was listed as one of New York Magazine's 2011 Top Ten Productions, with Scott Brown writing, "The Fiasco Company brings joyful music, playful inventiveness and just an air-kiss of irony to Shakespeare's mock-epic. They remind us what theater, at its simplest and most powerful, is really for: the alchemical thrill of watching an entire work conjured into being out of sheer wit and will. A small masterpiece." And simply put by The New Yorker: "A playful and inspired work of art."

Cymbeline's 14 roles are performed by Fiasco Theater's fresh, young ensemble of six actors. Sharing the stage with Jessie Austrian as Imogen and Noah Brody as Posthumus/Roman Captain in principal roles are Paul L. Coffey as Pisanio/Philario/Caius Lucius/ Guiderius, Andy Grotelueschen as Cymbeline/Cloten/Cornelius, Ben Steinfeld as Iachimo/Arviragus, and Emily Young as Queen/Frenchman/Belaria.

The distinctive production, co-directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, is infused with original music created by Fiasco for Cymbeline and contains some of Shakespeare's most haunting lyrics--set to original compositions and traditional sources. Performed live by the company, the music ranges from Renaissance madrigals to bluegrass and Appalachian folk tunes.

Noah Brody is the Co-Artistic Director and Head of Producing for Fiasco Theater. His acting credits include Portland Stage Company, the Shakespeare Theater of NJ, Madison Rep, and Trinity Repertory Company, as well as European tours with the Reduced Shakespeare Company. He has appeared on television's Law & Order and as recurring characters on both All My Children and As the World Turns. As an adjunct faculty member at NYU and the Stella Adler School of Acting he taught Voice & Speech, Scene Study, and directed plays. Brody is also a fight choreographer for stage and film, and trained with J. Allen Suddeth and Richard Ryan, Master at Arms at RADA. Brody is the author of the plays The Vexed Question and Cold. He received an MFA in Acting from the Brown/Trinity Consortium.

Ben Steinfeld is the Co-Artistic Director and Head of Artistic Development for Fiasco Theater. He has co-directed and acted in Fiasco's productions of Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and co-taught Voice and Rehearsal Technique for the Free Training Initiative in 2009. He has also performed for the Center Theatre Group, Portland Center Stage, Bread Loaf, Williamstown Theatre Festival, SpeakEasy Stage Co., Seven Angels, and Trinity Repertory Company. Steinfeld has been seen on television on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He is an adjunct professor at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where he teaches acting, musical theater, and theater history. He has narrated three Young People's concerts with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at NJPAC. Steinfeld earned a BA in Theater Arts from Brown University, and an MFA in Acting from the Brown/Trinity Consortium.

Sets were designed by Jean-Guy Lecat, lights by Tom Cryan, and costumes by Whitney Locher. Brody is fight director and Steinfeld music director; Cicely Berry, vocal coach; Christina Lowe, production stage manager; and Frank "Fraver" Verlizzo designed the artwork.

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