Cutting Ball Theater Presents THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR for Hidden Classics Reading Series Today

Cutting Ball Theater presents the fourth installment of this season's Hidden Classics Reading Series. The fat, fun-loving character of Falstaff is considered by many to be one of Shakespeare's greatest inventions. Perhaps the biggest fan was Queen Elizabeth, who insisted that Shakespeare write a play that featured Falstaff after he killed him off in Henry V; THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR is the result of that request. The reading will take place today, March 24, 2013.

While in Shakespeare's history plays, we see Falstaff's antics in war, here we see the ridiculousness of Falstaff in love. Paige Rogers (Tontlawald, Mud) directs Suzanne Appel, Camille Bertoux, Jon Blazer, Eugenie Chan, Mary Anne Cook, Ben Fisher, Paul Gerrior, Kurt Gunderson, Hannah Marks, Marilet Martinez, George Hester Matan, Sebastian Melrose, Brian Thomas, Lance Thornswood, Cathleen Ridley, and Meg Weber in this celebration of one of Shakespeare's most beloved characters.

This season, Cutting Ball's Hidden Classics Reading Series presents a variety of extraordinary works ranging from the ancient Greeks to the Elizabethans and modern experimentalism. The series offers a profound look at some of the greatest authors ever to write for the stage in a program that continues to be one of San Francisco's best-kept secrets.

Co-founded in 1999 by theater artists Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers, Cutting Ball Theater presents avant-garde works of the past, present, and future by re-envisioning classics, exploring seminal avant-garde texts, and developing new experimental plays. Cutting Ball Theater has partnered with Playwrights Foundation, and the Magic Theatre/Z Space New Plays Initiative to commission new experimental works. The company has produced a number of World Premieres, West Coast Premieres, and re-imagined various classics. Cutting Ball received the 2008 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie award for outstanding talent in the performing arts, and was voted "Best Theater Company" in the 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay issue. The company also earned the Best of SF award in 2006 and "Best Experimental Theater Company" in 2012 from SF Weekly, and was selected by San Francisco magazine as Best Classic Theater in 2007. Cutting Ball Theater was featured in the February 2010 and 2012 issues of American Theatre Magazine.

The reading is set for today, March 24, 2013, 1pm at The Cutting Ball Theater in Residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., San Francisco, Calif. Readings free and open to the public. For more information, visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

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