Folger Theatre presents Macbeth, co-directed by Teller, Posner

Ian Merrill Peakes and Kate Eastwood Norris lead the cast as the murderously ambitious and maddeningly guilty Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in a quest for the throne. Peakes last appeared at Folger Theatre in Mariveaux’s comedy "The Game of Love and Chance", for which he was nominated for a 2007 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. Norris received the 2007 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as Puck in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", also at Folger Theatre.

According to Teller, the usually-silent half of the Las Vegas magician duo Penn & Teller, he has been captivated with "Macbeth" since the age of twelve when his grandfather gave him a collection of Shakespeare plays. Already hooked on magic, he was immediately thrilled with the play’s Weird Sisters and their obscene brew and hideous apparitions. The play would linger in his mind for years to come. Fast forward 37 years to find Teller teaming with Aaron Posner for the first time to devise some magic for a 1997 production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" at the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia. A few years later the pair started talking about Teller’s dream of producing a "Macbeth" that “takes the magic seriously.” By early 2006, Teller and Posner began serious discussions to make that dream a reality.

“The themes of 'Macbeth' are perfectly congruent with magic,” explained Teller. "One of the play’s themes is a lack of understanding about where reality leaves off and your own internal perceptions begin," Teller said. "As Macbeth says, ‘Nothing is but what is not.’ The play is full of allusions to hallucinations. I thought it might be a very interesting idea to do a production in which all the magic stuff fooled audiences so that they'd be in the exact same position as Macbeth.”

While there is plenty of magic and illusion in this production, Teller and Posner are quick to point out that “the magic is precisely where Shakespeare put it.” Nothing has been added that isn’t reflected in the text. “What we are attempting to do in this production is not so much a clever new take on Shakespeare’s classic, as an attempt to restore some of the horror, fun, and amazement to a delightfully shocking play that too often flounders under the weight of its own self-importance, said Posner. “We are trying to be true to Shakespeare’s spine-tingling intelligent, passionate, disturbing, and darkly funny text, while operating in a style that will connect directly with today’s audience.”

Macbeth is co-produced with Two River Theater Company of Red Bank, New Jersey, where Posner serves as artistic director.

TELLER'S BLOG:
Throughout the process of bringing his dream to fruition, Teller kept a detailed and often humorous journal of his experiences in production meetings, rehearsals, and beyond. Those behind-the-scenes details can be found in Teller’s blog in a special section of the Penn & Teller website: http://www.pennandteller.com/03/coolstuff/tellersmacbethindex.html.

TELLER TALKS:
In a related and rare event, Teller breaks his characteristic silence to talk with co-director Aaron Posner about the thematic and inspirational role of magic in their production of "Macbeth" in Teller Talks: The Magic of Macbeth. Presented as part of the Words on Will lecture series, the event is scheduled for 6pm on Wednesday, February 27 at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, directly across the street from Folger Shakespeare Library. For more information, visit www.folger.edu/wordsonwill.

ABOUT TELLER:
Co-conceiver, co-director, and magic designer Teller has been the smaller, quieter half of the magic/comedy duo Penn & Teller since 1975. Their critically acclaimed stage show spent several years both on and Off-Broadway, played to several sold-out national tours, and now enjoys a full-time home at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit! returns for its sixth season in early 2008. Nominated for 11 Emmy Awards and the recipient of the 2005 Writers Guild Award for Outstanding Comedy/Variety Series, the show exposes the fakes and frauds behind such topics as bottled water, feng shui, and talking to the dead.

Elsewhere on television, Teller has guest starred on Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, The Drew Carey Show, Dharma & Greg, Home Improvement, The Bernie Mac Show, The West Wing, and as an animated guest on The Simpsons. Penn & Teller remain late night talk show favorites for their outrageous appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The duo has had numerous network and cable television specials. Their PBS special, Penn & Teller Go Public, won Teller an Emmy Award and the International Golden Rose.

On the big screen Teller has appeared in the motion pictures Penn & Teller Get Killed, Long Gone, Walt Disney’s Fantasia 2000, The Fantasticks, and The Aristocrats.

Teller’s articles and stories have been published in The New Yorker, GQ, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He co-authored “Staired in Horror,” an episode of HBO’s Tales From The Crypt, and is a frequent contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered. He was named, along with partner Penn, one of the “50 Greatest Comedians Today,” by Entertainment Weekly.

ABOUT AARON POSNER:
Co-conceiver and co-director Aaron Posner has earned a national reputation as a director, artistic director, and playwright. He has directed six other plays for Folger Theatre in as many seasons as well as acclaimed productions at many of the most prominent regional theaters in America, including the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Theater Alliance, and many others. At Folger Theatre, he directed Measure for Measure (2007 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Resident Play), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2005 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Director), Melissa Arctic, Twelfth Night, Othello, and As You Like It.

As co-founder of the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia, Posner served as the company’s artistic director from 1988-1998, and as resident director thereafter, directing nearly 40 productions. Posner’s adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen, which premiered at the Arden, won the 1998 Barrymore Award for Best New Play and has been performed at more than 30 regional theaters across the country, including Paper Mill Playhouse. He also won a Barrymore Award for his direction of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Arden.

In November 2006, Posner was selected as the new artistic director of Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, New Jersey. An Eisenhower Fellow, he is a graduate of Northwestern University.

ABOUT FOLGER THEATRE & FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY:
Folger Theatre is the centerpiece of Folger Shakespeare Library’s programs for the public. With a full season of over 150 performances, Folger Theatre is recognized for its innovative stagings of works by Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and those inspired by him. Since the Folger Theatre’s first season in 1992, it has been honored by the Helen Hayes Awards with 12 awards and 44 nominations for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production—including the 2006 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Resident Play for Measure for Measure. Folger Theatre’s Artistic Producer, Janet Alexander Griffin, leads the Division of Public Programs, where she directs the Library’s other performing arts and literary programs, including the Folger Consort early music series, Folger Poetry, and the events in collaboration with PEN/Faulkner.

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—theater, 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. The Folger is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Visit www.folger.edu/theatre for more information.