Red Bull Theater Continues its REVELATION READINGS with THE SPANISH TRAGEDY

Red Bull Theater today announced the cast for the next REVELATION READING, The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd, directed by Louisa Proske: Oberon Adjepong, Matthew Amendt, Zach Appelman, Jenny Bacon, Rebecca S'manga Frank, Ryan Garbayo, Michael Genet, Roderick Hill, Ezra Knight, Paul Niebanck, Keith Randolph Smith, and Emily Swallow. This will take place on Monday November 12th at 7:30 PM at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson Streets).

The original bloody Elizabethan revenge play, The Spanish Tragedy was the hit of the London stage when young Will Shakespeare arrived on the scene, and its echoes can be heard in his own great tragedies. In this mirror image Hamlet, a bereaved father takes vengeance on the Spanish court for the murder of his son Horatio, a war-hero slain by a Portuguese love-rival and the king's evil nephew. With a juicy plot, finely crafted language, dark humor, high drama, and the figure of Revenge appearing from a cloud of smoke, it's no wonder that it was one of the most popular and emulated plays of its day.

Thomas Kyd (1558-1594) belongs to the first generation of Elizabethan playwrights. Born to a prosperous middle-class family, he was writing plays for the Queen's company by 1585. The scant information about Kyd's life largely concerns one incident - his imprisonment and probable torture at the hands of the Privy Council for the discovery of certain blasphemous writings "denying the deity of Jesus Christ our Savior" found in his possession. Kyd apparently claimed that the writings were Marlowe's, as they had shared lodgings, and added that Marlowe was widely known to have written "heretical conceits, lewd and mutinous libels" and to be "disorderly, intemperate and of a cruel heart." The ethics of the affair have been much disputed: perhaps Kyd acted disgracefully; perhaps he thought Marlowe had informed on him; perhaps under torture he slandered Marlowe once he knew Marlowe was dead, the probable victim of a political assassination. Kyd himself died little over a year later. While highly regarded as a playwright, translator and pamphleteer, The Spanish Tragedy is his only surviving play.

Red Bull Theater continues its OBIE Award-winning Revelation Reading Series, providing the unique opportunity to hear rarely produced classic plays performed by the finest actors in New York.

Red Bull Theater, hailed as "the city's gutsiest classical theater" by Time Out New York, brings rarely seen classic plays to dynamic new life for contemporary audiences, uniting a respect for tradition with a modern sensibility. Named for the rowdy Jacobean playhouse that illegally performed plays in England during the years of Puritan rule, Red Bull Theater is New York City's home for dynamic performances of great plays that stand the test of time. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, the company also produces new works that are in conversation with the classics. A home for artists, scholars and students, Red Bull Theater delights and engages the intellect and imagination of audiences, and strives to make its work accessible, diverse, and welcoming to all. Red Bull Theater believes in the power of great classic stories and plays of heightened language to deepen our understanding of the human condition, in the special ability of live theater to create unique, collective experiences, and the timeless capacity of classical theater to illuminate the events of our times. Variety agreed, hailing Red Bull's work as: "Proof that classical theater can still be surprising after hundreds of years."

Since its debut in 2003 with a production of Shakespeare's Pericles starring Daniel Breaker, Red Bull Theater has served adventurous theatergoers with Off-Broadway Productions, Revelation Readings, and the annual Short New Play Festival. The company also offers outreach programs including Shakespeare in Schools bringing professional actors and teaching artists into public school classrooms; Bull Sessions, free post-play discussions with top scholars; and Master Classes in classical acting led by veteran theater professionals.

Acclaimed as "a dynamic producer of classic plays" by The New York Times and "the most exciting classical theater in New York" by Time Out NY, Red Bull Theater has produced 17 Off-Broadway productions and over 150 Revelation Readings of rarely seen classics, serving a community of more than 5,000 artists and providing quality artistic programming to an audience of over 65,000. The company's unique programming has received ongoing critical acclaim, and has been recognized with Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League, Callaway, Off Broadway Alliance, and OBIE nominations and Awards.

For tickets and more information about Revelation Readings, or any of Red Bull Theater's productions and programs, visit www.redbulltheater.com.

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