The Human Race to Stage Midwest Premiere of TAKING SHAKESPEARE, 4/16-5/3

The Human Race continues its 28th season as Dayton's leading professional theatre with the Midwest premiere of Canadian playwright John Murrell's lesson in self-discovery, Taking Shakespeare. When a longtime, disillusioned college professor is asked to tutor her dean's son through his freshman Shakespeare class, she finds it to be as much a test for her as it is for him. Although they seem to have nothing in common, as they explore the Bard's Othello together, they learn more about each other-and themselves-than either is ready to admit. While they draw strength from the play, they come to understand what it means to live up to expectations. The production runs April 16 - May 3, 2015 at The Loft Theatre. It is directed by frequent Human Race actor/director Aaron Vega, who helmed The Race's Twelfth Night in 2011.

Taking Shakespeare's placement on the 2015-2016 season sprang from a challenge The Race has faced for years - cast sizes. "Aaron and I had been talking about doing another Shakespeare production, specifically a modern-day Othello. But they tend to be such large casts. The Bard never wrote a 'two-hander,'" says Producing Artistic Director Kevin Moore. Then a surprising alternative appeared. "A member of our artistic committee, local attorney and musician David Greer, saw a production of Taking Shakespeare at Canada's Stratford Festival in 2013 and raved to me about it. I started following up right away. Since the play's two characters use Othello as a life-learning experience, the intersection of Othello ideas-ours and the script's-seemed to come together perfectly."

Last fall, The Human Race commissioned Vega to develop and direct a Taking Shakespeare companion piece for its Muse Machine In-School Tour. The result was #othello, a 40-minute contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's original, focusing on cyber-bullying and its negative effects, presented to student audiences in the Miami Valley area middle and high schools. "Now," says Moore, "Aaron's directing a piece that uses the same Shakespeare play as a platform for two solitary individuals to connect and grow. Sometimes, magic just happens!"

Taking Shakespeare features New York-based actress Johanna Leister as "Prof" and Cincinnati actor Jon Kovach as "Murph." Leister is a long-time New York actress has appeared on Broadway in Whose Life Is It Anyway? with Mary Tyler Moore and Tartuffe, Dracula and Whodunnit, as well as at a number of regional theatres. For four years, she starred on The Edge of Night as "Phoebe Smith." She currently serves on the faculty of the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York where she participates in readings and performances of new plays. A West Chester, Ohio, native, Kovach last appeared on The Loft Stage in The Human Race's 2012 production of Band Geeks! Since graduating from Miami University, he founded Cincinnati's Unity Productions, helped build Untethered Theatre Company and became an associate artist at The Know Theatre.

The Human Race Theatre Company's production of Taking Shakespeare is sponsored by Rob and Leesa Comparin; Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc.; IUE-CWA; Jack and Maryann Bernstein and Muse Machine; with additional support from Jon and Diana Sebaly and Dave and Dulie Greer.

Tickets for the preview performance of Taking Shakespeare on April 16 start at $30 for adults, $27 for seniors and $15 for students. For all performances April 17 - May 3, single ticket prices start at $35 for adults, $32 for seniors and $17.50 for students. Prices vary depending on the day of the week and seating location. Group discounts are available for parties of 10 or more. The Human Race is offering a pair of discount ticket opportunities. Side-area seats are available at all performances for $25 each, on sale two weeks prior to performance. The Sunday, April 19 7:00 p.m. performance is "Sawbuck Sunday", when any available seat can be purchased in person for just $10 at The Loft Theatre box office two hours prior to the show. Discounts are subject to availability and some restrictions apply.

All performances are at the Metropolitan Art Center's Loft Theatre, located at 126 North Main Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio. Show times for Taking Shakespeare are 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday evenings. Performances on Sunday and Tuesday evenings begin at 7:00 p.m. and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday matinees.

Tickets and performance information on Taking Shakespeare are available at www.humanracetheatre.org or by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630, and at the Schuster Center box office.

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