Vanessa Redgrave stars in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Euripides’ Hecuba, in its New York premiere at BAM

Leadership support for Hecuba is provided by Diane & Adam E. Max. CALYON Corporate & Investment Bank is the presenting sponsor.

Hecuba By Euripides

In a new version by Tony Harrison The Royal Shakespeare Company Scenic and costume design by Es Devlin Lighting by Adam Silverman

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Note revised performance schedule and press opening: Jun 17–18, 21–25 at 7:30pm; Jun 18 & 25 at 2pm; Jun 19 & 26 at 3pm Tickets: $30, 45, 65, 85 Press Opening: Jun 18 (matinee and evening performances)

Brooklyn, NY/April 28, 2005—Renowned stage and film actress Vanessa Redgrave makes her BAM debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Euripides’ Hecuba in a new version written by and developed for its U.S. engagements by British poet Tony Harrison. This rarely-staged and powerful tragedy celebrates the courage and bravery of Hecuba—once queen of Troy and now prisoner of war—as she struggles to survive in the aftermath of the Trojan wars. Hecuba is a vital examination of the psychology of the powerful and the powerless in times of conflict—a play with startling relevance to our times: “…Harrison never lets us forget the aching topicality of Euripides’ study…” said (UK).

Eleven performances of Hecuba will take place in the Howard Gilman Opera House (Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Ave): June 17–18 and 21–25 at 7:30pm, June 18 & 25 at 2pm, and June 19 & 26 at 3pm. Tickets, priced at $30, 45, 65, and 85, may be purchased by calling BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100 or by visiting www.bam.org (ticket holders for the previously announced June 16 performance should contact BAM Ticket Services to exchange their tickets for a subsequent date).

The RSC production of Hecuba is currently in performance at the Albery Theatre in ’s West End (through May 7) as part of the RSC’s London season. U.S. engagements are slated for the Kennedy Center and BAM.

Hecuba marks Vanessa Redgrave’s return to the RSC after more than 40 years (the acclaimed actress last performed with the company as Imogen in Shakespeare’s in 1962). In an extraordinary career that began on a West End stage in 1958 (in A Touch of the Sun, alongside her father, Sir ), Vanessa Redgrave has, remarkably, earned Evening Standard awards for stage performances in four separate decades. As a film actress, Redgrave won the Academy Award for 1977’s Julia as well as five Academy Award nominations. She was named Best Actress at the for 1966’s Morgan, A Suitable Case for Treatment and for 1968’s Isadora, and named Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1996 for Little Odessa. She has starred in films including Blow-Up (1966), (1966), Isadora (1968), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Julia (1977), Howard’s End (1992), and Mrs. Dalloway (1997), among many others. Vanessa Redgrave most recently appeared on the New York stage as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night—a role for which she won a 2003 Tony Award.

Britain’s leading film and theater poet, Tony Harrison, has written this new version of Euripides’ classic drama. Harrison’s work includes commissions for the U.K.’s National Theatre, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the BBC and Channel 4. His award-winning poetry includes The Loiners and Gaze of the Gorgon. His film work includes The Shadow of Hiroshima and Other Film/Poems which he directed, wrote, and narrated, and the feature film Prometheus. His most recent collection of poetry is Laureate’s Block and Other Occasional Poems.

The cast of Hecuba includes Vanessa Redgrave (Hecuba), Alan Dobie (Talthybius), Darrell D’Silva (Odysseus/Polymestor), Lydia Leonard (Polyxena), Matthew Douglas (Polydorus), Christopher Terry (Guard), and Malcolm Tierney (Agamemnon). Charlotte Allam, Jane Arden, Rosalie Craig, Maisie Dimbleby, Barbara Gellhorn, Aileen Gonsalves, Michele Moran, Sasha Oakley, Katherine O’Shea, Judith Paris, Natalie Turner-Jones, and Sarah Quist play the Chorus.

The original production of Hecuba, currently running in London’s West End, will be developed for its U.S. engagements by Tony Harrison.

For press information contact Sandy Sawotka at 718.636.4129 x1 or [email protected]

RSC History at BAM

March 1971 A Midsummer Night's Dream Directed by Peter Brook

January 1974 Richard II Directed by John Barton

January 1974 Sylvia Plath dramatized production of her writing including her only play, Three Women Directed by Barry Kyle

April 1974 The Hollow Crown Directed and devised by John Barton

April 1974 Pleasure and Repentance Directed and devised by Terry Hands

February, March 1975 Love’s Labour’s Lost Directed by David Jones

February, March 1975 Summerfolk by Maxim Gorky Directed by David Jones

February, March 1975 Lear a shortened version of Directed by Buzz Goodbody

March, April, 1975 He That Plays the King an anthology recital from the histories of Shakespeare compiled by

April, May 1976 Henry V Directed by Terry Hands

April, May 1976 Olde Tyme English Music Hall

April, May 1976 The Hollow Crown Directed and devised by John Barton

April 1994 The Winter's Tale Directed by Adrian Noble

May 1998 Directed by Matthew Warchus

May 1998 Krapp’s Last Tape by Directed and performed by Edward Petherbridge Directed in association with David Hunt

May 1998 Henry VIII Directed by Gregory Doran

June 1998 Everyman anonymous Directed by and Marcello Magni

June 1998 Cymbeline Directed by Adrian Noble

May 2000 Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller Directed by Gale Edwards

May 2000 The Family Reunion by T.S. Eliot Directed by Adrian Noble

May 2000 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Directed by Michael Boyd

June 2005 Hecuba by Euripides new version by Tony Harrison

Credits Leadership support for Hecuba is provided by Diane and Adam E. Max. CALYON Corporate and Investment Bank is the presenting sponsor for Hecuba. Opening night reception support is provided by the MIFA/Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts. IN:NYC from American Express is the presenting sponsor for BAMfans.

Leadership support for BAM Theater is provided by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., The Shubert Foundation Inc., The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the SHS Foundation. Programming in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House is supported and endowed by The Howard Gilman Foundation. BAM thanks its many donors and sponsors, including: Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York City Council, Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council, Brooklyn Delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, Richard B. Fisher and Jeanne Donovan Fisher, William I. Campbell and Christine Wächter Campbell, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Florence Gould Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, The Starr Foundation, Diane and Adam E. Max, Judith R. and Alan H. Fishman, The Shubert Foundation, Inc., Skirball Foundation, and Forest City Ratner Companies. JPMorgan Chase is BAM’s lead corporate partner. Bloomberg Radio AM1130 is the official broadcast sponsor. New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is the official hotel for the Spring Season. R/GA is the sponsor of BAM.org. Yamaha is the official piano of BAM.

General information

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, BAMcafé, and Shakespeare & Co. BAMshop are located in the Peter Jay Sharp Building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn’s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music on Friday and Saturday nights. A $21 three-course dinner at BAMcafé is available Thu-Sat for BAM Rose Cinemas ticket holders (day of screening only). BAMcafé is open Thursday-Saturday from 5pm-closing. Additionally, BAMcafé is open two hours prior to all Howard Gilman Opera House and Harvey Theater performances.

Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue; D, M, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue Train: Long Island Railroad to Flatbush Avenue Bus: B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM

For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit www.bam.org.

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