Brave Spirits Theatre Produces American Premiere of SHAKESPEARE'S HISTORIES CYCLE

During a tumultuous period of less than a hundred years, England experienced civil war and political upheaval as the throne switched hands nine times. Shakespeare dramatized these events over the course of his career in eight remarkable plays: Richard II, 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, Henry V, 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI, and Richard III.

Performing near the nation's capital, Brave Spirits will bring a distinctly American stamp to Shakespeare's eight plays about the Wars of the Roses, while also staging them in their signature actor-driven, intimate, and dark style. Shakespeare's eight history plays drive home the cyclical nature of violence and history, while also bringing intimate, touching domestic stories of lovers, parents and children, and divided loyalties. When performed together as one epic story, the plays' emotional resonance and impact is even stronger. Experts at textual delivery and known for their bold, ambitious programming choices, Brave Spirits' staging of Shakespeare's histories is sure to be a not-to-be-missed event.

Making History

BST will use Shakespeare's histories to make American theatre history: these eight deeply emotional and exciting plays have never before been fully mounted and performed in repertory by an American company. Though Shakespeare's histories have been seen in a number of momentous cycles in England, in America, companies tend to spread productions of them out over a number of years, or to stage them as readings or one-off events.

Over the past six years, BST has devoted time, resources, and artistic energy towards developing the skills required for repertory production, including cultivating a company ensemble and training the area's professional actors in verse and text analysis, movement, and stage combat. BST will continue to expand these initiatives as the project grows closer.

BST has developed a reputation for engaging and revelatory productions and for tackling material often neglected by other classical companies. Since its founding in 2011, BST has produced five early modern plays never fully staged professionally in the DC metropolitan area. BST continues their commitment to new projects from the classical canon with the Histories project.

For more information visit www.historyis2020.com or www.bravespiritstheatre.com.

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