Pittsburgh Theaters Collaborate for Spring Plays

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Pittsburgh Theaters ‘Shake’ Things Up with Spring Collaboration


Pittsburgh – Point Park University’s Conservatory Theatre Company, The University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theater, Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre and Bricolage are gearing up to present Pittsburgh with four unique Shakespeare productions. The theatres are collaborating to offer the “Spring into Shakespeare” promotion, allowing them to promote one another’s productions and offer cross-promotional discounts.



“Spring into Shakespeare” kicks off with Point Park University’s Conservatory Theatre Company’s unique adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Set in 1849 Alta California, directed by Penelope Miller Lindblom, this production of Romeo and Juliet takes this classic, tragic love story and sets it in a time of perverse greed and violence. Romeo and Juliet runs April 3-13, 2008 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Tickets are $18 -$20 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 412-621-4445 or online at www.pittsburghplayhouse.com. Patrons who bring a ticket stub from one of the other “Spring into Shakespeare” productions receive $5 off the full ticket price.



Next up, The University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline April 9–13 and 17–19 in the Cathedral of Learning’s Studio Theatre. This lively and accessible production of the Bard’s rarely performed masterpiece harkens back to Elizabethan playhouses, engaging the audience with humor, swordplay, and live music. Under the direction of Chaya Gordon, and performed by an ensemble cast, Cymbeline is a swashbuckling tale of forbidden love, treachery, and divine intervention. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for the general public, and can be purchased by calling the box office at 412-624-7529 or online at www.play.pitt.edu.



Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre presents King Lear, directed by Barrymore Award-winner James J. Christy, at The Charity Randall Theatre at the Stephen Foster Memorial in Oakland. King Lear is the classic story about the division of his kingdom amongst his daughters based on their public declaration of love for their father. After terrible suffering, Lear realizes that the daughter he has disinherited was the only one who truly loved him. Featuring Dakin Matthews as Lear and Simon Bradbury as the Fool, King Lear runs April 9-26, 2008. Tickets are available by calling ProArts at 412-394-3353 or online at www.picttheatre.org, Patrons who bring a ticket stub from one of the other “Spring into Shakespeare” productions receive $5 off the full ticket price.



Bricolage rounds out the event with their production of Troilus and Cressida, directed by Jeffrey Carpenter, on July 27th and 28th at 8 p.m. It is the seventh year of the siege of Troy by Agamemnon and his Greeks. The conflict is at a stalemate and dissension is growing in both camps. By turns shocking, uproarious, and impassioned, Troilus and Cressida is a bitterly satirical, thoroughly modern exploration of politics, brutality, vanity, double standards, and doomed love played out against the background of a senseless war which no one seems to know how to bring to an end. The performance is free to the public. More information can be obtained through the organization’s website at www.webbricolage.org or by calling 412-381-6999.



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