Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

Cincy to Complete the Canon
In 20th Anniversary Season

As it hits its 20th anniversary, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in Ohio will become one of only five theaters in the United States to complete the Shakespeare canon when it mounts The Two Noble Kinsmen in May 2014. That production is one of 10 the company announced for its 2013–2014 season, including a total of 4 1/2 Shakespeare plays. All productions will feature Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s Resident Company of Artists.

Along with The Two Noble Kinsmen (which William Shakespeare wrote, with John Fletcher, at the end of his career), CSC will combine the two parts of Henry IV into one play as this season's installment of the company's five-year, eight-play history cycle that began with Richard II earlier this year. Other Shakespeare highlights of the 20th Anniversary Season include Twelfth Night and Hamlet, as well as Tom Stoppard's companion piece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, featuring the entire cast of Hamlet.

CSC’s Producing Artistic Director Brian Isaac Phillips, who has been a part of the company since 1999, is also celebrating a canon milestone by acting or directing in all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company—and this in the same year that he himself turns 38. “I love anniversaries," he said in a press release. "One of the unique traits that defines our humanity is an ability to acknowledge and celebrate the passing of time, to recognize achievement and honor the relationships that have thrived through the passing of the years. Anniversaries are opportunities for festivity and launching pads for our ambitions and future endeavors. The 2013–2014 season at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company will be an Anniversary to remember."

As Cincinnati’s only stage for the classics, CSC will also present other literary classics adapted for the stage, including the regional premiere of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist adapted by Neil Bartlett, and John Steinbeck’s classic Of Mice and Men. The season ends with the Noel Coward comedy Private Lives. As a bonus this July, audiences can enjoy the West-End smash hit comedy, The 39 Steps, presented by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. The schedule also includes Arthur Miller's The Crucible, a coproduction with Xavier University Department of Music & Theatre, and the holiday show, Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!), by Michael Carleton, James Fitzgerald, and John K. Alvarez.

Over the past 20 years, CSC has had many proud accomplishments in addition to “Completing the Canon.” These include CSC joining Actors Equity Association as one of the few professional theatres in Cincinnati; doubling the operating budget that allows the company to experience a period of significant artistic growth while maintaining strict fiscal responsibility; establishing an endowment fund through the Greater Cincinnati Foundation to ensure CSC’s stability in the future; renewing a deep commitment to education and outreach through robust touring and educational offerings; being honored as a Small Business of the Year nominee at the 2012 Small Business Excellence Awards by the Cincinnati Regional Chamber; and being awarded an increase in operating funding from ArtsWave for continued impact on the community. “We have much to celebrate about where we’ve been, and we are also very excited and inspired about where we are going,” says Mr. Phillips.

The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is generously sponsored by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.

The 20th Anniversary Season lineup is as follows:

• Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, adapted by Neil Bartlett, Sept. 6–29, 2013
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Oct. 18–Nov. 10, 2013
• William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Nov. 22–Dec. 15, 2013
• William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Jan. 10–Feb. 9, 2014
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, Feb. 14–March 9, 2014
• William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 & 2, March 28–April 19, 2014
• William Shakespeare’s The Two Noble Kinsmen, May 2–25, 2014
• Private Lives by Noel Coward, June 6–29, 2014

The following additional productions during the 20th Anniversary Season are not part of the subscription series:

• The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan from the movie of Alfred Hitchcock, July 19–Aug. 11, 2013
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a coproduction with Xavier University Department of Music & Theatre, Oct. 25–Nov. 3, 2013
• Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) by Michael Carleton, James Fitzgerald, and John K. Alvarez, Dec. 15–29, 2013

Flexible subscriptions include eight tickets that can be used in any combination for any performance. Adult Subscriptions are $220, Senior Subscriptions are $186, and Student Subscriptions are $130. Budget-conscious patrons can also subscribe to the company’s preview series. A Preview Subscription is just $125 and includes eight tickets that can be used for any preview performance, typically Wednesday and Thursday evenings before Opening Night. All subscriptions are currently on sale and may be purchased through the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company website, www.cincyshakes.com or by calling the box office, 513-381-BARD (2273) ext. 1.

Single tickets for all shows in the 20th Anniversary Season are also now on sale. Single ticket prices range from $22–$31 on Thursday nights and Sunday matinees and from $26–$35 on Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets for weekday matinees at 10 a.m. are available for $12 a ticket for school, community, retirement groups, home school, and other groups. Please contact the education department at 513-381-2273 ext. 3202 for more information about these and other educational offerings. VISA, MasterCard, and American Express are accepted. Discounts are available for students, seniors, and groups, as well as Enjoy the Arts, AAA members, and ArtsWave Fun Card holders.

The theater is located at 719 Race Street, downtown Cincinnati, two blocks west of the Aronoff Center.

March 12, 2013

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