BAM Presents the New York Premiere of the Acclaimed Theatre Royal Bath/ Company Production of The Importance of Being Earnest Directed by Sir Peter Hall Featuring Lynn Redgrave

Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy is part of BAM’s 2006 Spring Season

BAM 2006 Spring Season is sponsored by Bloomberg

The Importance of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde Theatre Royal Bath/Peter Hall Company Directed by Sir Peter Hall Production design by Kevin and Trish Rigdon Sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen

BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St) Apr 18–22 & 25–29, May 2–6, 9–13 at 7:30pm Apr 22 & 29, May 6 & 13 at 2pm Apr 23 & 30, May 7 & 14 at 3pm Tickets: $30, 50, 75, 85 Call 718.636.4100 or visit www.BAM.org

Brooklyn, March 17, 2006—The BAM 2006 Spring season continues with the Theatre Royal Bath/Peter Hall Company’s production of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. The play is directed by Tony Award-winner Sir Peter Hall and stars the Academy Award-nominated actress Lynn Redgrave as Lady Bracknell. The production premiered in January 2006 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. The BAM engagement marks its New York premiere. The Hollywood Reporter said of the play, “Under Hall’s classy direction, it’s wonderfully acted by a superb cast headed by Lynn Redgrave, all of them doing justice to Oscar Wilde’s witty, ageless comedy.”

The Importance of Being Earnest will take place in the BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St.) Tickets, priced at $30, 50, 70, and 85, may be purchased by calling BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100 or by visiting www.BAM.org.

more… The Importance of Being Earnest 2 About the play

Subtitled “a trivial comedy for serious people,” The Importance of Being Earnest is one of Wilde’s most popular plays. Set in Victorian England, the play centers on two men who have taken to bending the truth in order to generate excitement in their rather mundane lives. Jack Worthing—a straight-laced dandy—invents a brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to leave his dull, country life behind and visit Gwendolen (daughter of Lady Bracknell) in the city. The second man, Algernon Montcrieff, coincidentally decides to take on the name Ernest when visiting Worthing’s young ward in the country. Things start to go delightfully awry when they all end up in the country together.

In addition to Lynn Redgrave as Lady Bracknell, the production’s cast includes Miriam Margolyes (Miss Prism), whose film appearances include The Age of Innocence and the role of Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Terence Rigby (Rev. Canon Chasuble) whose credits include Mona Lisa Smile and Broadway’s Hamlet with Ralph Fiennes. The cast also includes James Waterston (Jack Worthing), Robert Petkoff (Algernon Moncrieff), Bianca Amato (Gwendolen Fairfax), Charlotte Parry (Cecily Cardew), Geddeth Smith (Merriman), James Stephens (Lane), and Greg Felden (Footman).

About the artists

Lynn Redgrave was born into a family of renowned actors. After training at London’s Central School, she made her stage debut in 1962 (as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Royal Court Theatre) and soon after went on to become a founding member of The of Great Britain. Her film debut followed in Tony Richardson’s Tom Jones. She received international acclaim in 1966 for her portrayal of the title role— in Georgy Girl for which she received an Oscar nomination. Her additional film credits include Girl with Green Eyes, The Virgin Soldiers, Shine, Gods and Monsters (Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and Academy Award nomination), Spider, and Kinsey. Her numerous Broadway credits include The Constant Wife, Black Comedy, My Fat Friend, Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Tony Award nomination), and Moon Over Buffalo. Her one- woman play Shakespeare for My Father earned her a second Tony Award nomination. In 2003 she received Drama Desk, Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance off-Broadway as Miss Fozzard in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads. The Importance of Being Earnest marks Lynn Redgrave’s BAM debut.

Sir Peter Hall is a distinguished director of plays, films, and operas, and marked his 50th year as a director in 2003. He made his debut at the Theatre Royal, Windsor in 1953 and ran the Arts Theatre, London from 1956–59 where his productions included the English language premiere of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Peter Hall created the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960 and opened the RSC’s first London home at the Aldwych Theatre, where his productions included the premiere of Anouilh’s Becket (1962) and the opening of ’s (1965). Hall resigned as managing director of the company in 1968, but continued to direct plays for it. He succeeded Sir Laurence Olivier as managing director of the Royal National Theatre in 1973, spending fifteen years with the company and moving it into the new theaters on London’s South Bank. From 1984–90 he was artistic director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In 1988 he launched the Peter Hall Company, which has mounted more than 40 productions in London, New York, Europe, and Australia, including a landmark season at the Old Vic. In 2003 the Peter Hall Company began a major collaboration with Theatre Royal Bath during which Hall directed a unique summer season of five plays, one of which, , was presented at BAM in Spring 2005. Sir Peter Hall was knighted in 1977 for his services to British theater. He has been the recipient of many awards and nominations including two —for The Homecoming in 1967 and Amadeus in 1981—and an Olivier Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999. In January 2006, Peter Hall was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in New York in recognition of his lifetime service to the theater.

more… The Importance of Being Earnest 3

Credits

BAM 2006 Spring Season is sponsored by Bloomberg.

Leadership support for BAM Theater is provided by The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.; The Shubert Foundation; and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Additional support for BAM Theater is provided by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; Francena T. Harrison Foundation Trust; Billy Rose Foundation, Inc.; and the Rose M. Badgeley Residuary Charitable Trust. Programming in the BAM Harvey Theater is endowed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

BAM thanks its many donors and sponsors, including: New York City 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 Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Estate of Richard B. Fisher, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Florence Gould Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Starr Foundation, The Ford Foundation, Time Warner Inc., The Shubert Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Skirball Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, and Robert W. Wilson Foundation. JPMorgan Chase is BAM’s Lead Corporate Partner. New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is the official hotel for the Spring Season. Yamaha is the official piano of BAM. R/GA is the sponsor of BAM.org.

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 Fri-Sat for BAM Rose Cinemas ticket holders (day of screening only). BAMcafé is open Fridays and Saturdays 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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