Photo Flash: First Look at Burning Coal Theatre's AS YOU LIKE IT, Opening Tomorrow

Burning Coal Theatre Company presents William Shakespeare's comic As You Like It. The production will run tomorrow, November 29 through December 16, 2012 at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC. Get a first look at the show in the photos below!

Shakespeare's comedic romp follows Rosalind out of the court and into the forest, where all sorts of louts, layabouts and fools are waiting … to steal her heart! The great comic clown Touchstone and the melancholy Jacques, Rosalind's beloved Orlando and her trustworthy aid Celia… the forest is alive with love, passion … and tomfoolery.

Mark Sutch, Burning Coal company member, will direct Shakespeare's As You Like It. Direction at Burning Coal includes Hair and the world premiere of Kelly Doyle's Blue. Mark joined the faculty of Davidson College in 2006 after serving for five years as Artistic Associate and Casting Director for Rhode Island's Trinity Repertory Company. At Trinity Rep he directed productions of A Christmas Carol and Suddenly Last Summer, and appeared in productions of Peter Pan, The Henriad, and A Christmas Carol. At the same time, he was Artistic Producer for the Trinity Summer Shakespeare Project, which toured throughout the Northeast and for which he directed Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. At Davidson, he has directed Dark Ride, Women Beware Women, Hamlet, and Leading Ladies. He previously taught theatre at Rhode Island College and University of Rhode Island and is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

Lori Mahl (Celia, Phebe, JaquesDB) is a professional actress with twenty plus years of experience on Broadway and on National Tours. Rebecca Bosson (Rosalind, Dennis, Amiens), a recently arrived Raleighian, appeared recently in Burning Coal's Brigadoon. Jade Arnold (Orlando, Charles, William) last hung around with Burning Coal in Henry V on Trapeze. Tom McCleister (DukeS, Martext, Duke F, LeBeau) is a long-time professional actor with a long line of film, television and stage credits. He most recently appeared with Burning Coal in The Shape of the Table. John Allore (Touchstone, Jaques, Adam) is rehearsing As You Like It while he performs Shining City on Burning Coal's mainstage. Jeff Aguiar (Oliver, Silvius, Corin, LeBeau), a professional actor from Greensboro, was last seen wearing a kilt in Brigadoon at Burning Coal.

The lights will be designed by Chris Popowich of Pittsburgh and the set will be designed by Natalie Hart. Of Elon University. Costumes will be designed by Jane Stein of Virginia Tech University and props will be created by Raleigh's Elizabeth Newton, who teaches at Campbell University. The production stage manager is Elizabeth Gardiner of Raleigh.

Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm (Nov. 29 – Dec. 1, Dec. 6 – 8 and 13 – 15, 2012) and Sundays at 2 pm (December 2, 9, 16, 2012). Sunday, December 2 at 2 pm is our 'Pay What You Can' Day. That performance will also be Audio Described. Tickets are $25 general admission, $20 for seniors, and $15 for students and active military. All tickets are $10 on Thursday evenings. For reservations and information, call 919-834-4001 or visit www.burningcoal.org. Estimated run time: 2 hours.

Burning Coal Theatre Company is Raleigh's small, professional theatre. Burning Coal is an incorporated, non-profit [501 (c) (3)] organization. Burning Coal's mission is to produce literate, visceral, affecting theatre that is experienced, not simply seen. Burning Coal produces explosive reexaminations of overlooked classic and modern plays, as well as new plays, whose themes and issues are of immediate concern to our audience, using the best local, national and International Artists available. We work toward a theatre of high-energy performances and minimalist production values. The emphasis is on literate works that are felt and experienced viscerally, unlike more traditional linear plays, at which audiences are most often asked to observe without participating. Race and gender non-specific casting is an integral component of our perspective, as well as an international viewpoint.

Photo Credit: Right Image Photography, Inc.

Lori Mahl, Rebecca Bossen, Steph Scribner and Jade Arnold

Jeff Aguiar

Jeff Aguiar and Jade Arnold

Jade Arnold, Tom McCleister and Steph Scribner