Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Artistic Director) will present John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Mr. Berger, for a limited engagement beginning February 23rd and continuing through March 14th, at Theater at St. Clement's (423 West 46th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues).
A great romance turns to horror as the Duchess of Malfi seeks true love in a world of forbidden passions. A play for our time as much as its own, John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi examines sexual repression, honor, class, and the true value of the human spirit, in this explosive drama of Italian intrigue. Red Bull Theater's production is the first New York revival of this Jacobean masterpiece in over 50 years.
Jesse Berger directs a company that includes Heidi Armbruster (Drama League nomination for Tea & Sympaty), Jason C. Brown, Clark Carmichael (seen on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's Jumpers directed by David Leveaux), Keith Hamilton Cobb, Matthew Greer (Broadway: Cabaret, The Real Thing, The Judas Kiss), Carol Halstead (Broadway - Gore Vidal's The Best Man), Eric Hoffmann, Patrick Page (seen on Broadway in A Man For All Seasons, The Lion King, Julius Caesar, and as The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas), Matthew Rauch (Prelude to a Kiss at Roundabout), Christina Rouner (Coram Boy on Broadwy), Gareth Saxe (The Homecoming on Broadway), and Haynes Thigpen.
The Duchess of Malfi will have set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Jared B. Leese, lighting design by Jason Lyons, sound design by Nathan Leigh, puppetry & masks by Emily DeCola, hair & make-up design by Erin Kennedy Lunsford, choreography by Tracy Bersley and stage violence by J. David Brimmer, with original music by Scott Killian. Casting was by Stuart Howard.
Red Bull Theater, hailed as "the most exciting classical theater in New York" by Time Out New York, is the not-profit Off-Broadway theater company specializing in plays of heightened language, with a unique focus on the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Red Bull embraces the imagination of theatergoers through intimate, evocative productions of great classic stories.
Red Bull Theater, acclaimed as "a troupe that lovers of classic theater should put on the must-watch list," by Charles Isherwood in The New York Times, has staged acclaimed productions of Shakespeare's seldom-seen Pericles, a bold new adaptation of The Revenger's Tragedy, and a striking revival of Edward the Second. The New York Times called Pericles "the stuff of dreams," The Revenger's Tragedy "Dynamite!" and Edward the Second "fired with excitement." All three productions enjoyed extended sold-out Off-Broadway runs. Red Bull Theater has staged over 30 readings through its ongoing Obie Award-winning Revelation Readings, named by the Village Voice "Best Play Reading Series." Red Bull Theater reaches out annually to middle school students in the Bronx through its Direct Address education program, teaching dramatic and literacy skills using the plays of Shakespeare. Red Bull Theater inaugurated a new play workshop called In The Raw, dedicated to developing new plays of heightened language and the classics of the future.
Performances of The Duchess of Malfi will be Tuesday & Wednesday evenings at 7 pm. Thursday & Friday evenings at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm, Sundays at 3pm & 7pm (schedule varies - visit redbulltheater.com for complete calendar). Opening Night, Saturday February 27, 8pm, will be a benefit performance & reception with special guests Lee Blessing, Brian Murray, Roberta Maxwell, John Douglas Thompson, and others TBA.
