Shakespeare Theatre Plays Twelfth Night

Taichman directs a cast that includes Samantha Soule as Viola, Veanne Cox as Olivia, Christopher Innvar as Duke Orsino, Floyd King as Feste and Ted van Griethuysen as Malvolio. The production will play at Princeton’s McCarter Theatre Center in March 2009.

“I’ve come to think of Twelfth Night as a Mozartian comedy,” said Rebecca Bayla Taichman. “At the outset, Illyria seems like an isolated world surrounded by the implacable sea. But from the moment Viola washes up on its shores, Illyria begins to blossom into a wild and wonderfully ridiculous playground. The play is full of tremendous contradictions, and finding a tone that accommodates such opposites will be our great challenge. We will be on the hunt for how to unearth the play’s requiem-sized sadness while detonating the humor and hijinks.” Twelfth Night is sponsored in part by Arlene and Robert Kogod. WAMU 88.5 provides promotional support throughout the run.

TWELFTH NIGHT CAST

Samantha Soule returns to STC to play Viola. Soule last appeared as Petra in An Enemy of the People and as Miranda in The Tempest (2005). Soule’s New York credits include performances with Lincoln Center Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Twelfth Night p 2 Source and Pearl Theatre. She also has appeared in regional productions at Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, San Diego’s Old Globe and Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Veanne Cox returns to STC to play Olivia. Cox’s STC credits include Michael Kahn’s productions of The Way of the World and The Beaux’ Stratagem. Her Broadway credits include the roles of Rose Stopnick Gellman in Caroline, or Change, Yvonne Fouchet in The Dinner Party, Amy in Company (for which she received both Tony and Drama Desk nominations) and Sandra-Kay Macaffee in Smile. Her Off-Broadway credits include performances of A Mother, A Daughter, and a Gun (with Olympia Dukakis); House/Garden; Last Easter (Drama Desk Nomination); The Vagina Monologues; The Altruists; Freedomland; Labor Day; The Batting Cage; A Question of Mercy; The Waiting Room; The Food Chain; and Flora, the Red Menace. Other regional credits include performances with the Kennedy Center, Yale Repertory, Long Wharf Theatre, Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville and others.

Christopher Innvar returns to STC to play Duke Orsino. Innvar’s STC roles include Mirabell in The Way of the World, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (Helen Hayes Award nomination) and Jack Archer in The Beaux’ Stratagem. His Broadway credits include 110° in the Shade, several years as Javert in Les Miserables and roles in Victor/Victoria and The Threepenny Opera. His many other New York credits include the title role in Adam Guettel's Floyd Collins, The Fantasticks, Anyone Can Whistle, A Hatful of Rain, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and William Finn's A New Brain. Innvar also has performed at such regional theatres as Barrington Stage Company, Atlantic Theatre Company, Steppenwolf, Guthrie Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre and McCarter Theatre, among others.

Twelfth Night also features Floyd King as Feste, Ted van Griethuysen as Malvolio, Tom Story as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Rick Foucheux as Sir Toby Belch, Peter Katona as Sebastian and Nancy Robinette as Maria with Michael Sharon, J. Fred Shiffman, Nathan Bennett, Stacey Cabaj, Billy Finn, Lia LaCour, Dan Lawrence, Nia Medina, Todd Scofield, Jeffrey Scott and Amanda Tudor. -- www.shakespearetheatre.org