The Rogue and Peasant Players to Stage HENRY V at Access Theater

THE ROGUE AND PEASANT PLAYERS (Malka Wallick, Artistic Director) is proud to present William Shakespeare's HENRY V. This raw and visceral production (directed by Kelly Monroe Johnston) will focus on language to evoke the imagination and story. Performances begin on January 28 at the Access Theater (380 Broadway, New York, NY 10013).

Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2473653 or rogueandpeasantplayers.com.

War is brewing in Europe; King Henry V, newly on the throne, presses an ancient claim on France and leads his army into mainland Europe. Surrounded by enemies both within and without, Henry must abandon the ways of his youth to become what his kingdom needs him to be.

In this play's immortal prologue, Shakespeare ponders how to bring the vasty fields of France into a cramped theater. That is our director Kelly Johnston's life story, and in this unique and creative take, he will transport audiences to medieval France with a handful of actors, music, lights, and one of the greatest texts in the English language.

Director Kelly Monroe Johnston originally hails from North Carolina, where he did his undergraduate studies at UNC at Chapel Hill in Theatre. He followed up a few years later by getting his Master's Degree in Directing at the California Institute of the Arts. He has worked in various regional theatres, in addition to freelancing here in New York City at several different venues including Columbia University, NYU, and the NYC Fringe, twice. He co-founded and ran two critically acclaimed theatre companies: Sirius Theatre in Los Angeles (1995-1998), where he was Co-Artistic Director and the architect of the annual Summer of Shakespeare tour. More recently, he was the Artistic Director of the Arizona Shakespeare Festival in Prescott, Arizona (1998-2009). He is the Co-Artistic Director of The Rogue and Peasant Players.

Henry V features six members of The Rogue and Peasant Players Acting Company: Sarah Bonner, Tim Dowd, Dee Dee Popper, Alejandra Venancio, Malka Wallick, and Brenna Yeary. We are also proud to be working with Alyssa May Gold, Elizabeth M. Kelly, Jess Milewicz, Adam Kee, and our apprentices Madeleine Escarne and Brandon Rachal.

The production team includes: Liliana Casabal, costumes; Susannah Baron, lighting; Amy St. Louis, musical director; and Sarah Beck, assistant costume designer. The stage managers are Leslie Ann Kent and Margo Murphy-Gross.

The Rogue and Peasant Players is dedicated to using text as our primary production value. We believe that language can fuel the imagination as much as lights in a box. Using the works of William Shakespeare we aim to stimulate our audiences through his text, allowing auditory senses to fuel the imagination; creating, quite literally, an audience.

The Rogue and Peasant Players' inaugural production of R+J (by Erin Breznitsky) ran in May of 2015 at TheatreLab.

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