Danieal Gerroll, Dearbhla Molloy, et al. Set for Guthrie Theatre's 2011-12 Season

The Guthrie Theater today announced star casting for its three fall productions: Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (September 10 - November 5, 2011 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage), Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's The Burial At Thebes (September 24 - November 6, 2011 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage) and Obie Award-winning playwright Adam Rapp's new play The Edge of Our Bodies (October 22 - November 20, 2011 in the Dowling Studio).

British theater, television and film actor Daniel Gerroll (A Christmas Carol, Pygmalion) will team with the previously announced Tony Award-nominated Dearbhla Molloy, playing Benedick to her Beatrice in Joe Dowling's new production of Much Ado About Nothing, which opens the 2011-2012 season on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. The company will also feature current God of Carnage comedic prize-fighter Bill McCallum (The Winter's Tale, Macbeth) as Claudio and frequent Guthrie Shakespeare heroine Michelle O'Neill (The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice) as Hero. In addition, the production welcomes the return of Guthrie favorite Peter Michael Goetz - who thrilled audiences with his turn as Major Paul Petkoff in Shaw's Arms and the Man and will appear in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys next summer - to play Dogberry.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to have Dearbhla and Danny leading the cast of this acclaimed Shakespearean comedy," said Dowling. "The sparring wit this pair brings to these two characters who, in our production, find love later in life, will no doubt delight our audiences."

Sun Mee Chomet (Macbeth, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, After a Hundred Years) will lead the cast of The Burial at Thebes, playing Antigone in the McGuire Proscenium Stage production. Directed by Marcela Lorca (Caroline, or Change, The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde), with original music by J.D. Steele (The Gospel at Colonus), the show will feature Greta Oglesby (Caroline, or Change, Crowns) as Tiresias, Regina Marie Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire, Caroline or Change, Crowns) as Eurydice, Stephen Yoakam (The Winter's Tale, A Delicate Balance, A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Creon, and 2011 McKnight Foundation theater fellowship recipient Ansa Akyea (The Winter's Tale, In Darfur) as the Messenger. This production marks the Guthrie debut of Ernest Bentley - a 2011 University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program graduate - as Haemon.

"Seamus brings a direct and poetic language to The Burial at Thebes that invites us to embrace both the ancient and the modern," said Lorca. "Our casting centers around the strength of our diverse culture and creates an experience that feels immediate to contemporary audiences."

Lastly, it was announced that 2009 University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program graduate Ali Rose Dachis (Circle Mirror Transformation) will star as Bernadette in The Edge of Our Bodies, the latest play from Obie Award-winning playwright Adam Rapp, which premiered at the 2011 Humana Festival. Associate Director of Studio Programming Benjamin McGovern will direct this intimate and searingly honest play about a young woman at the threshold of vulnerability and experience, who is achingly articulate about everything she can't control.

"Adam has created an intimate portrait of a young woman that requires an actor of intelligence to capture the starkly unsentimental telling," said McGovern. "After working with Ali on last year's Circle Mirror Transformation, I am excited to see her tackle this complex, challenging role."

Full casting for Much Ado About Nothing and The Burial at Thebes will be announced shortly.

Single tickets for all three productions go on sale August 1, 2011. For more information, call the Guthrie Theater Box Office 612.377.2224 or toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

The GUTHRIE THEATER (Joe Dowling, Director) was founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963 and is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Tony Award-winning Guthrie Theater is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. With annual attendance of nearly 500,000 people, the Guthrie Theater presents a mix of classic plays and contemporary work on its three stages. Under the artistic leadership of Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie continues to set a national standard for excellence in theatrical production and performance. In 2006, the Guthrie opened its new home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, the Guthrie Theater houses three state-of-the-art stages, production facilities, classrooms and dramatic public lobbies. www.guthrietheater.org

 

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