Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director s4

For Immediate Release: Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director Cotuit Center for the Arts Phone: (508) 428-0669 Email: [email protected] Website: ArtsOnTheCape.org

“A Winter’s Tale” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Cotuit Center for the Arts The Bay Colony Shakespeare Company will present two plays at Cotuit Center for the Arts, each for one night only. “A Winter’s Tale” will be performed on Monday, July 27, at 7:30 PM, and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be performed on Monday, August 3, at 7:30 PM. Both performances take place on the main stage. The Bay Colony Shakespeare Company is a professional theater company based on the South Shore, whose first production, “Burbage,” was presented in the Black Box Theater in 2013. Last summer, the company presented “Hamlet,” “MacBeth,” and “Much Ado about Nothing” in repertory, at the Spire Center For Performing Arts in Plymouth. The company recently received the IRNE "Best Solo Performance of 2014" award from the Independent Reviewers of New England for the BCSC production of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol.” Artistic director Neil McGarry is passionate about Shakespeare. “Shakespeare writes about the other, and he writes about the establishment, and he seems to know something profound about everybody, the common man and the king. He takes us to task, almost, and says, ‘We can behave better than we do,’” said McGarry. “It is our job, as actors and directors, to let the stories speak, to invite people in to listen, to hear, to allow the plays to affect them, to move them.” In “A Winter’s Tale,” directed by Monica Giordano, Leontes, King of Sicilia, wrongly believes that his wife, Hermione, is carrying the child of his visiting best friend, Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Unable to contain his jealousy, he throws Hermione in jail, and plots the murder of Polixenes. The play is about betrayal, true love, the healing powers of time, and forgiveness, and it includes Shakespeare’s famous stage direction, “exit, pursued by bear.” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Neil McGarry, proves that “the course of true love never did run smooth.” In its four interconnecting plots, the worlds of mortals and fairies collide. Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, have set aside their weapons and have decided to marry. Peter Quince and his players plan to put on a play for the wedding. Oberon, the king of the fairies, and his queen Titania argue over custody of a child, and he asks Puck to work some magic for him. Meanwhile, two lovers, Lysander and Hermia, flee to the woods after Theseus decrees that Hermia obey her father and marry Demitrius, the man Helena has an unrequited love for. Midsummer madness and enchantment ensue. “I’ve always loved these plays,” said McGarry. “The first time I was in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ in 1993, with a dear friend directing, it was one of the most joyous experiences I’ve ever had on stage. “People laughed so hard,” said McGarry. “The play itself had power. It’s funny and passionate and kind, and loving.” McGarry is also playing Leontes in “A Winter’s Tale,” a role he first played in a New York Classical Theater production in Central Park 11 years ago. “It was one of the most life-affirming pieces of theater I have ever done,” said McGarry. “’A Winter’s Tale’ has a special grace,” said McGarry. “It is very late Shakespeare and has elements of other Shakespeare plays in it—a lost child, someone in disguise, jealousies. It is unusual in that, at the end of the play, we jump ahead 16 years and find out what happened to all those people.” “The play is powerful and profoundly moving,” said McGarry, “and it is really quite something to do both plays together. ‘Midsummer’ is from Shakespeare’s middle period. You can feel it is the same playwright, but it’s like going from early Beatles to late Beatles. You can feel the maturity in ‘A Winter’s Tale.’” The cast for both plays includes accomplished actors ranging in age from 11 (McGarry’s son Patrick, who grew up on Shakespeare) to 69, from Boston, the South Shore, Cape Cod, and as far away as Poughkeepsie, New York. “It’s fantastic having this wealth of theatrical experience—and inexperience—come together and bring these plays forward,” said McGarry. Poornima Kirby is Hermione in “A Winter’s Tale” and Titania in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” She played Beatrice in “Much Ado about Nothing” last year to much acclaim. Ross Magnant, who was Hamlet last year, will be Florizel in “Winter” and Puck in “Midsummer.” “Ross is fun and funny and a joy to be in the room with, a very fine actor and a great guy,” said McGarry. “Midsummer is the most Chekhovian of Shakespeare’s plays, with three different storylines, almost four, happening at once. Puck moves through all three storylines. The audience follows him and is in great hands.” Erica Simpson was Lady MacBeth last year. “She was extraordinary,” said McGarry. “This year, I am casting in a cross-gender way, and she will be playing Pedita in ‘Winter’s Tale’ and Peter Quince in ‘Midsummer.’” Dev Luthra will play Bottom in “Midsummer” and Antgonus/Old Shepherd in “Winter.” “Dev and I first worked together on the 1993 production of ‘Midsummer,’” said McGarry. “He’s a phenomenal talent and one of those joyous presences. When he walked into the audition, I thought, ‘There’s Bottom.’” Boston actor James Bocock will be Polixenes in “Winter.” Meredith Stypinski will play Paulina, Polixenes’ wife, in ‘Winter’ and Helena in ‘Midsummer.’ “Meredith is a tremendous character actor; she can play anything,” said McGarry. “Helena is a role she has always wanted to do, and she is doing it with great beauty and humor. She can bring an audience from laughter to tears on a dime. She’s a phenomenal actor.” Samuel Wharton, an up-and-coming Boston actor, will play Demetrius in “Midsummer” and the young shepherd in “Winter.” He rides a motorcycle to rehearsals, reminding McGarry of Ralph Richardson, who also rode a motorcycle and is quoted as saying it was “so dangerous—the perfect warmup for Shakespeare.” Cam Torres, a recent graduate of Emerson College, came highly recommended by Mo Hanlon, who directed him in “Jerusalem” at Cape Rep Theater. He will play Autolycus in “Winter” and Lysander in “Midsummer.” “He is doing phenomenal work,” said McGarry. Raisa Hoffman, also a recent graduate of Emerson, will be Hermia in “Midsummer” and play assorted parts in “Winter.” “Like the rest of the cast, Raisa is always willing and able to take a ‘small part’ and make it into an important role,” said McGarry. Interns include Ben Gutman, Jeff Kelly, and Gracie Kennedy, all from the Cape, and Andrew Child, Kelly Young, and Emily Edström from the South Shore. Tickets for each play are $25, $22 for seniors, and $20 for members. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information, visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669. # # # What: Bay Colony Shakespeare Company presents “A Winter’s Tale” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Where: Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When: “A Winter’s Tale,” Monday, July 27, 7:30 PM; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Monday, August 3, 7:30 PM

Admission: $25, $22 for seniors, $20 for members END