Arts World Financial Center Presents THE ROVER, Closes 3/20

The sound of Carnival carousing and swordfights will fill the World Financial Center this March when it hosts Aphra Behn's seminal play The Rover, the prototypical bawdy feminist romp that was written by the first professional female playwright in the English language.

The production will close on March 20th. Behn's piercing Restoration comedy of manners will transform the bustling business hub that houses everything from a Starbucks to a Banana Republic into 17th Century Naples at the height of Carnival. The New York Classical Theatre production will employ the company's signature panoramic staging style, including live music performed by the actors themselves, all while taking audience members up and down staircases and around mezzanines throughout the 3.5-acre venue. Helmed by celebrated director Karin Coonrod, the unapologetic full-blooded romp will unfold not just in front of the audience but all around it.

Rarely performed, The Rover was a smash hit when it premiered in 1677. Now hailed for being astonishingly ahead of its time, the play offers a subversive look at what might happen if women were freed from societal restraints and left to follow their own desires - a timely fit for Women's History Month this March

In keeping with its Carnival setting, there will be a special Mardi Gras performance on March 8th, featuring Mardi Gras festivities and refreshments after the show.

The free production is presented by Arts World Financial Center, the East Coast's largest presenter of free visual and performing arts.

The 12-year old New York Classical Theatre, described as "a moveable feast" by the New York Times, has won acclaim for its roving productions of classical plays in Central Park and Battery Park. The company made its indoor debut at the World Financial Center last year with a standing-room only production of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

Coonrod has received numerous awards for her innovative re-imaginings of classical plays for the New York Shakespeare Festival, The Public Theatre, and Theatre for a New Audience. Last year, Arts World Financial Center hosted Coonrod's production of More or Less I Am, a musical play based on Walt Whitman's Song of Myself which was hailed as "a joyous jamboree" by The New Yorker.

The cast of The Rover includes M. Scott McClean* as Willmore; April Sweeney* as Hellena; Kersti Bryan* as Florinda; Cooper D'Ambrose* as Belvile; and Vanessa Morosco* as Angellica Bianca. The costume designer is Oana Botez Ban, and The Rover features fight direction by Shad Ramsey and original music by Lucian Ban.

"Last year we established new relationships with two leading lights in New York's downtown theatre scene, and we're proud to bring them together for the first time with this production," said Debra Simon, Artistic Director of Arts World Financial Center. "With their shared commitment to reinventing classic plays in unique venues, New York Classical Theatre and Karin Coonrod are a match made in heaven, and the result promises to be one of the most exciting productions in the spring theatre season."

"We are thrilled to return to the World Financial Center with The Rover," said Stephen Burdman, Artistic Director of New York Classical Theatre. "The complex's grandeur, long hallways and hidden lobbies make it the ultimate stage, enabling us to eliminate the fourth wall and draw the audience into the play's thrill and excitement as if they were a part of the drama itself."

*Member of Actors' Equity Association

About Arts World Financial Center
Since its inception in 1988, over 2.5 million people have attended more than 2,500 free performances and events at the World Financial Center, making Arts World Financial Center the East Coast's largest presenter of free, year-round performing and visual arts. With an emphasis on commissioned works, site-specific installations, and premieres, Arts World Financial Center is the home of flagship annual events like the Bang on a Can Marathon, Silent Films/Live Music curated by WNYC's John Schaefer, and Canstruction, an exhibit featuring giant sculptures made entirely from cans of high-quality food which are ultimately donated to charity. For more information, visit www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com.

About New York Classical Theatre
Described as "a moveable feast" by the New York Times, New York Classical Theatre has won acclaim for its roving productions of classical plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Moliere, and more in Central Park, Battery Park and the World Financial Center. Founded by Stephen Burdman in 2000, the company has performed 23 free plays for more than 85,000 spectators and reaches a broad demographic of our urban community spanning all ages, ethnicities, education and income levels. In addition to their accessible productions, New York Classical Theatre presents free family workshops before selected performances of each production that offer children and their families an introduction to the world of a given play. For more information, visit www.newyorkclassical.org.

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