Shakespeare Rep 'Legacy Season' to Feature ROMEO AND JULIET, TRAPEZIUM, and More

In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, Shakespeare Rep has announced its 2015-16 Legacy Season. A year-long celebration of Shakespeare's enduring influence as a dramatist, the Legacy Season will feature four productions and a series of events honoring Shakespeare's life, work and the history of Shakespearean performance in the Lowcountry.

The Legacy Season launches in September with an educational tour of Romeo and Juliet. School performances will include a 60 version of the play performed by a cast of 4 actors, followed by a talkback with students about the play's themes and continuing topicality. Artistic Director Debra Charlton explains the rationale for the play's selection: "Romeo and Juliet speaks to us across the ages with urgency and passion. The intergenerational conflict and rash choices that propel the teen lovers toward their tragic fate make their story timeless, yet startlingly modern."

Shakespearean-style verse meets Monty Python in Trapezium, a farcical reinvention of the classic tale of Tristan and Iseult that opens on November 1 at Artworks in Beaufort. Authored by renowned crossword puzzle-writer Henry Rathvon (New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal), Trapezium is a feast of inventive wordplay written in iambic pentameter, the verse form Shakespeare perfected.

A pair of Shakespeare's best loved and most masterful plays, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing, will play in repertory in March and April. Both productions feature Shakespeare Rep's Resident Company, joined by outstanding guest artists from across the country. Associate Artist Santiago Sosa (Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream) makes his Shakespeare Rep directorial debut with Hamlet, which will play in an intimate, minimalist production in Artwork's newly renovated black box theatre. Debra Charlton stages Much Ado About Nothing, a co-production with the USCB Department of English and Theatre. Updated to 1950s Italy, the production stars Libby Ricardo stars as sharp-tongued Beatrice, a woman determined never to fall in love (again).

Throughout the upcoming season, Shakespeare Rep will host talks and community events that spotlight the region's rich history of appreciation for Shakespeare. Shakespeare Rep is headquartered in historic Beaufort, South Carolina, located midway between Savannah and Charleston in the heart of the Lowcountry.

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