Zach Appelman Stars in Folger Theatre's HENRY V, Now thru 3/3

The epic story of King Henry V's battle with the French during the Hundred Years' War comes alive for the first time at the Folger Theatre, in William Shakespeare's historical drama Henry V. The production, directed by Robert Richmond (Othello and Henry VIII at the Folger), stars Zach Appelman (War Horse on Broadway) in his Folger Theatre debut as Henry V, and will run from tonight, January 22 - March 3, 2013.

The final play of Shakespeare's history cycle (preceded by Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2), Henry V tells the story of a young king seeking to reunite his strife-torn kingdom by launching a campaign to seize the throne of France. After his invasion's initial success however, the king finds himself facing a vastly superior French force in the fields of Agincourt - and with it, the ultimate test of his leadership. Facing factious lords and civil turmoil, Henry learns what it is to be king and realizes perhaps the most stunning victory of all -- the capacity of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle.

"Henry V is one of the most compelling plays in the Classical canon," says Richmond. "It is the story of a young man's rite of passage, a story of a nation dealing with the effects of war, a story that focuses on a nation galvanizing behind a leadership for the greater good of the whole. In this election year, there would seem no better play that could deal with these issues and perhaps bring a contemporary audience to reflect upon their time." Richmond continues, "The play never fails to speak to each generation, attracting and fascinating us with its themes of victory and unification. Perhaps a play about leadership of a war-torn nation is a barometer by which we can form an opinion about where our society sits, and what we should, or should not, become in the future."

This gripping story of leadership and ambition features an extraordinary cast including Katie deBuys as Katherine, the Princess of France, Richard SheriDan Willis as the Chorus, Louis Butelli as Bardolph, Chris Genebach as Captain MacMorris, the Irish officer in Henry's army, Catherine Flye as Hostess Quickly and her braggart husband Pistol is played by James Keegan. The production also stars Edward Christian (King of France), Michael John Casey (Nym), Pomme Koch (Constable of France), Cameron Pow (Captain Fluellen), Andrew Schwartz (Dauphin of France), and Jessica Witchger (Ensemble).

The award-winning creative team includes four-time Helen Hayes Award-winner Tony Cisek (set design), Mariah Hale (costume design), Andrew Griffin (lighting design), Michael Rasbury (sound design), and Casey Kaleba (fight director).

The production is conceived and designed with a very open hand. The Chorus in the very beginning asks the audience to forgive the lack of realism and to use their imagination for this epic story: "Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts" and "on your imaginary forces work".

"The creative team have taken Shakespeare's advice and used the cast of 13 actors to cover all of the 48 named characters that appear in the play," states Richmond. "Our aim is to allow an audience to enjoy and recognize the virtuosity and transformation of each actor. This makes an audience complicit in the action and a vital part of the magic of each performance - 'For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings.'"

Henry V plays at Folger Theatre from tonight, January 22 - March 3, 2013. Tickets are $30 - $68. Lower-priced previews and discounts for students, seniors, educators, and groups of ten or more are available - and may be purchased at the Folger Theatre Box Office at 202.544.7077 or online at www.folger.edu/theatre.

Related Programming:

Henry V is presented in conjunction with Nobility and Newcomers in Renaissance Ireland, an exhibition which examines the cultural history of early-modern Ireland's social groups, their cultural exchange with England, and their struggle for power during a time of great change. Curated by Thomas Herron and Brendan Kane, the exhibit reveals Ireland as a land of ideas and art. On display in Folger's Great Hall from January 19 - May 19. Visit www.folger.edu/exhibitions for details; free.

Pay-What-You-Can performance is tonight, January 22, 7:30pm. Tickets will be available to the public one hour prior to the performance. Cash purchases only.

Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explores the Essex Rebellion in Ireland and its link to Henry V in a pre-show discussion on Friday, January 25 at 6pm. Mr. Shapiro is the prize-winning author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. At the Folger Theatre; free.

College Night will be held on Friday, February 1 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $15 tickets, with a valid student ID to be presented at the box office.

Audience members are encouraged to stay and take part in our Post-Show Talk with the Henry V Cast on Thursday, February 14. This interactive discussion be follow the 7:30pm performance.

"The Play's the Thing" is a 4-week seminar series led by David Schalkwyk, Director of Research at the Folger Shakespeare Library and editor of Shakespeare Quarterly. The seminar, which takes place on successive Thursdays, February 7, 14, 21, and 28 from 6-7pm, will include in-depth readings of Henry V by William Shakespeare, examination of textual and performance histories, as well as a discussion with cast members. Go to www.folger.edu/publicseminar for more details.

THE CAST:

Zach Appelman (Henry V) - Regional: Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Romeo and Juliet; Chautauqua Theater Company: Death of a Salesman, Arcadia, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale; Shakespeare Santa Cruz: As You Like It, King Lear, Fools in the Forest; Theater Artists Group: Timon of Athens; Shakespeare Santa Barbara: The Comedy of Errors. Broadway: War Horse. Film: Kill Your Darlings, Eve. Voiceover: World of Warcraft, NFL Rush Zone.

Louis Butelli (Bardolph) - Folger Theatre: Othello, Henry VIII (Helen Hayes Award), Julius Caesar; Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Taming of the Shrew. Regional: theaters include La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Repertory; The Long Wharf Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Lost Colony, among others. Off Broadway: Aquila Theatre Company: Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, Agamemnon, Othello, Twelfth Night, The Man Who Would Be King; The New Victory Theater: A Midsummer Night's Dream; 47th Street Theater: CYCLOPS: A Rock Opera (also directed, co-wrote, NYMF Award, Pulitzer Jury Nomination, 3 LA Weekly Award nominations). Television: Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Unusuals, All My Children. Numerous national and international tours. Co-founder, Psittacus Productions.

Michael John Casey (Nym) - Folger Theatre: Twelfth Night; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Othello; Catalyst Theater: The Flu Season, skspr prjct (Helen Hayes Nomination); Constellation Theatre: Arms and the Man, Three Sisters; Ford's Theatre: A Christmas Carol; Imagination Stage: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe, Rapunzel, Ferdinand the Bull; the Kennedy Center: A Streetcar Named Desire, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical; Longacre Lea Productions: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (Helen Hayes Nomination), The Hothouse, Dogg's Hamlet/Cahoot's Macbeth, The Bald Soprano, Power of the Dog, Man With Bags, Cat's Cradle. Regional: Fulton Opera House: Cyrano; Geva Theatre: Band in Berlin. National Tours: Alice by Whoopi Goldberg, Dreams in the Golden Country. Film: Game Change. Television: Jamestown: Against All Odds, Lost Treasures of Afghanistan.

Edward Christian (King of France) - Folger Theatre: The Taming of the Shrew; Forum Theatre: The Language Archive; Perseverance Theatre: This Wonderful Life, Doubt, How I Learned To Drive, Hamlet, The Tempest, Macbeth, The Laramie Project, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, A Streetcar Named Desire, Hedda Gabler, The Cherry Orchard, The People's Temple, Equus, The Crucible, The Waiting Room, The Rocky Horror Show, Blithe Spirit, As You Like It.

Katie deBuys (Katharine) - Folger Theatre: The Conference of the Birds, The Gaming Table; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: In the Next Room or the vibrator play; Imagination Stage: Aladdin's Luck. Regional: Capital T Theatre: Bug (B. Iden Payne Award: Best Actress), Killer Joe; Texas Shakespeare Festival: Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar; Hooverville Productions at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival: General Desdemona; University Theatre: The Trojan Women, The Idiot (Austin Critic's Table Award nomination), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, The Ruling Class, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Marisol, The Importance of Being Earnest. Upcoming: Stupid F***ing Bird at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

Catherine Flye (Mistress Quickly) - Folger Theatre: The Comedy of Errors, The School for Scandal, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Clandestine Marriage, All's Well That Ends Well, She Stoops to Conquer (Helen Hayes nomination), The Dresser, Private Lives, Lettice and Lovage; Arena Stage: My Fair Lady, George Don't Do That! (Helen Hayes nomination), Shirley Valentine (Helen Hayes nomination), Shakespeare Theatre Company: Design for Living, Major Barbara, Camino Real , A Woman of No Importance, Volpone, Richard III, Twelfth Night; MetroStage: Shakespeare's Will, For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, Seamarks, Rapture (Helen Hayes nomination); Studio Theatre: Moonlight, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Russian Postal Service, Blue Heart; Round House Theatre Company: Pride and Prejudice (Helen Hayes nomination), Wintertime, Woman in Mind, Absurd Person Singular, additional area theaters include Ford's Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, Olney Theatre Center, the Kennedy Center. Thirteen Helen Hayes Award nominations for acting and directing and the Helen Hayes Award for the Pirates of Penzance.

Chris Genebach (MacMorris) - Folger Theatre: Othello, Cyrano, Orestes: A Tragic Romp; We Happy Few at Capital Fringe: Hamlet; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play; Studio Theatre: The Big Meal (2nd Stage), Superior Donuts, Shining City; Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Julius Caesar (FFA), Cymbeline, King Lear (Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Play), Titus Andronicus. Broadway: Manhattan Theatre Club: Shining City; Off Broadway: The Duke on 42nd: Rose Rage: Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3, The Other Side. Regional: TheatreWorks-Hartford: The Seafarer; Goodman Theatre: King Lear; Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Rose Rage: Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream, Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet, King John. Television: PBS: The War of 1812 (William Atherton v/o), The Product of 3M. Radio: WAMU 88.5/Lean & Hungry: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet.

James Keegan (Pistol) - Regional: American Shakespeare Center: (13 repertory seasons) productions include: The Merchant of Venice, The Lion in Winter, Cymbeline, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, King John, The Tempest, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hamlet, Henry V, Tamburliane the Great, Part 1, Othello, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Much Ado About Nothing, The Rehearsal, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Titus Andronicus, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Richard II, Measure for Measure, The Jew of Malta, The Duchess of Malfi, Hamlet, Quarto 1, Pericles, Wild Oats; Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater: Julius Caesar, Stuff Happens.

Pomme Koch (Constable of France) - Folger Theatre: The Taming of the Shrew (understudy). The Studio Theatre: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Golden Dragon (understudy), Round House Theatre: The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Readings at Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Kennedy Center, Theater J.

Cameron Pow (Fluellen) - Folger Theatre: Julius Caesar (with the Aquila Theatre Company); Broadway: The Lion King; Off Broadway: Aquila Theatre Company: The Comedy Of Errors, King Lear, The Iliad-Book One; Other New York Theatre: Other Side Productions: Accidentally, Like A Martyr; La Mama: Comedians; Ensemble Studio Theatre: Ducks In A Row; Summoners Ensemble: The Maderati; London West End: The Lion King, 2008 Royal Variety Performance (with the cast of The Lion King); National Tours: The Lion King; Aquila Theatre Company: The Tempest, The Wrath Of Achilles, King Lear, The Iliad-Book One, Oedipus; Film: The Dead Part Of You, Henry; Television: Pan Am, Basile.

Andrew Schwartz (The Dauphin) - Regional theaters include: La Jolla Playhouse, The Denver Center, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, Summer Theatre of New Canaan, Pennsylvania Centre Stage. Broadway: New Victory Theater: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Off-Broadway: BPAC: The Importance of Being Earnest, Twelfth Night; Classic Stage Company: The Comedy of Errors. International theaters include: Edinburgh Fringe/Assembly Hall, Festival of the Aegean in Athens, Greece, and The Globe Theatre in Neuss, Germany.

Richard SheriDan Willis (Chorus) - Regional theatres include: Factory 163: Strolling Player; Summer Theatre of New Canaan: My Fair Lady, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Henry lV Part 1; Roundhouse Theatre, Toronto: The Railway Children; Sudbury Theatre Centre: Vigil. Off-Broadway: Aquila Theatre Company: The Importance of Being Earnest, The Tempest, Hamlet, The Man Who Would Be King, Julius Caesar, Catch 22; New Victory Theatre: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Wilma Theatre: Night & Day; Denver Centre Theatre Co: Mrs. Warren's Profession; Albery Theatre, London: Torch Song Trilogy; Leicester Haymarket: A Woman of No Importance, Into the Woods, The Sound of Music, The White Devil, Single Spies; Peter Hall Company: The Master Builder; Shared Experience: The Tempest; Salisbury Playhouse: Things We Do For Love. Television: Dr Who, Law & Order, Flashpoint, Nikita, Lost Girl, Stand By Your Booth. Film: Dreadful Sorry, The Big Bad Swim.

Jessica Witchger (Ensemble) - Regional: Montgomery College: The Fiddler on the Roof; Catholic University: The Mystery Plays, Elegies. International tours: ShaeLaurel. National Tour: On the Mark. Television: America's Got Talent, Life is a Highway. www.shaelaurel.com.

THE CREATIVE TEAM:

Robert Richmond (Director) Folger Theatre: Othello, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar. Regional: The Lost Colony; La Jolla Playhouse; Denver Center for the Performing Arts; Two River Theater Company. Off-Broadway: Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy Of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Iliad: Book One, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Agamemnon. Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina Theatre and Dance Department, Head of Undergraduate Performance. Directed Dreadful Sorry (written by Dionne O'Dell), winner of the South Carolina Film Commissions 2010 Production Grant.

Tony Cisek (Scenic Designer) Folger Theatre: The Taming of the Shrew, Othello (2011), The Comedy of Errors, Henry VIII, Much Ado About Nothing (2009, 1999), 1 Henry IV, The School For Scandal, The Tempest (2007, 2000), Romeo and Juliet (2005, 1997), Melissa Arctic, Elizabeth the Queen, Twelfth Night (costumes), As You Like It (2001), Shakespeare's R & J, Hamlet. Other theater work includes: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Round House Theatre; Signature Theatre; Theater J; Theater Alliance; the Kennedy Center; Arena Stage; Ford's Theatre. Regional: Guthrie Theater; Goodman Theatre; South Coast Repertory; Milwaukee Rep; Indiana Repertory Theatre; Portland Center Stage; Cleveland Play House; Intiman Theatre; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Syracuse Stage; Berkshire Theatre Festival; Two River Theater Company; Delaware Theatre Company. Off-Broadway: Beyond Glory, columbinus. Awards: Helen Hayes Award (four-time recipient), Drammy Award, Barrymore Award nomination.

Mariah Hale (Costume Designer) Folger Theatre: Henry VIII (Associate Costume Designer), Othello (Associate Costume Designer). Regional: Goodspeed Opera/ Norma Terris Theatre: Both Barrels; American Stage Co: The Butter and Egg Man; Algonquin Arts Center: The 39 Steps, A Year with Frog and Toad; Kline Theatre: Romeo and Juliet; Yvonne Theater: Nine, The Misanthrope. Off-Broadway: Variety Arts Theater: A Good Swift Kick; New York Music Theatre Festival: Cyclops: A Rock Opera. Associate Costume Designer: Regional: Dallas Theater Center: Arsenic and Old Lace. Roanoke Island Historical Assoc.: The Lost Colony. Madison Square Garden: A Christmas Carol. Roundabout Theater: Picnic, Company. Broadway and National Tours: Smokey Joe's Café, Chicago, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Crazy for You, Guys and Dolls, Andrew Lloyd Weber's Music of the Night, Disney's King David. Teaches fashion design at College of Morris and Brookdale College, costume design at Gettysburg College and Rider University, Westminster School of the Arts.

Andrew Griffin (Lighting Designer) Folger Theatre: Othello (Helen Hayes Award nomination); Synetic Theater: King Lear (Helen Hayes Award), Jekyll and Hyde, King Arthur, Othello, Dracula, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dante, Host and Guest; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: You for Me for You, The K of D, The Last Cargo Cult, A Girls Guide to Washington Politics; Olney Theater Center: You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Bad Dates; Everyman Theater: All My Sons; Imagination Stage: The Wind in the Willows, Ferdinand the Bull; Adventure Theater: Big, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, If You Give a Pig a Pancake; Regional: Tricities Opera: La Boheme; Toledo Opera: Il Trovatore; The Delaware Shakespeare Festival: The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III.

Michael Rasbury (Sound Designer) Folger Theatre: Henry VIII (Helen Hayes Nomination); Actors Theatre of Louisville: One Flea Spare, Dinner With Friends, Like Totally Weird, Greater Tuna, Nunsense, Strange Encounters; The Public: One Flea Spare; The John Cage Trust: An Alphabet; New York Music Theatre Festival: Max Understood (written by Michael Rasbury and Nancy Carlin); Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Othello, Comedy of Errors, Illinois Shakespeare Festival: Othello, As You Like It; Colorado Shakespeare Festival: Macbeth; Foothill Theatre Company: The Story of Opal. Off-Broadway: The Transport Group: Hello Again (Drama Desk Award and Henry Hewes Award nominations), Being Audrey, Bury The Dead, Marcy in the Galaxy, Crossing Brooklyn, Dark at the Top of the Stairs. Artist Fellowship Grant: Recognized as the Louisiana State Funded Theatre Artist in 2003.

Casey Kaleba (Fight Director) Folger Theatre: The Taming of the Shrew, The Gaming Table, Othello, Hamlet, 1 Henry IV; Round House Theatre: Young Robin Hood, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Double Indemnity, Crown of Shadows, Fahrenheit 451, Charming Billy, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Picture of Dorian Gray; Signature Theatre: Really, Really, The Hollow, The Fox in the Fairway, See What I Wanna See, Nest; Studio Theatre: The Bachelorette, Time Stands Still, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Reefer Madness, Dog Sees God; Hub Theatre: Big Love, John & Beatrice, The Clockmaker, We Won't Pay, We Won't Pay!; Rorschach Theatre: The Gallerist, After the Quake, Living Dead in Denmark, This Storm Is What We Call Progress. Television: The American Experience: A Prince Among Slaves.

Michele Osherow (Resident Dramaturg) Folger Theatre: The Conference of the Birds, The Taming of the Shrew, The Gaming Table, Othello (2011), Cyrano, The Comedy of Errors, Henry VIII, Hamlet, Orestes: A Tragic Romp, Much Ado About Nothing, Arcadia, The Winter's Tale, 1 Henry IV, Macbeth, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello (2001), Measure for Measure (dramaturg and actor). Regional: Quotidian Theatre Company: Afterplay (actor), A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (actor), Captain Drew on Leave, Dublin Carol, The Carpetbagger's Children, The Mollusc, Tomorrow (actor), The Seagull (actor), Valentine's Day (actor), While We Have the Light (actor), Uncle Vanya (actor), A Little Trick (actor); Jewish Repertory Theatre: The Dybbuk (actor). Arden Theatre Company: The Chosen, As You Like It (actor), Love's Labors [sic] (actor); Currently Associate Professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Interim Executive Director of the Shakespeare Association of America.

Folger Theatre is the centerpiece of Folger Shakespeare Library's programs for the public and is recognized for dynamic performances in the 250-seat Elizabethan-styled theatre, specializing in innovative stagings of works by Shakespeare, other classical work, and new plays inspired by these traditions. Since 1991, Folger Theatre has been honored by the Helen Hayes Awards with 17 awards and 84 nominations for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production-including the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Resident Play in 2011 for Hamlet (a year in which all three of Folger's theatrical productions were nominated in that category). In September 2012, Folger Theatre brought from London Shakespeare's Globe's Hamlet for the company's first Washington appearance. Janet Alexander Griffin is the Artistic Producer of Folger Theatre and Director of Public Programs which includes the Folger's music and literary series.

Folger Shakespeare Library is a renowned center for scholarship, learning, culture, and the arts. Home to the world's largest Shakespeare collection and a primary repository for research material from the early modern period (1500-1750), Folger Shakespeare Library is an internationally recognized research library offering advanced scholarly programs in the humanities; a national leader in how Shakespeare is taught in grades K-12; and an award-winning producer of cultural and arts programs-theatre, music, poetry, exhibits, lectures, and family programs. A gift to the American people from industrialist Henry Clay Folger, Folger Shakespeare Library-located one block east of the U.S. Capitol-opened in 1932 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Learn more at www.folger.edu.

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