Brooklyn PeterJay SharpBuilding CommunicationsDepartment .. - Academy 30 LafayetteAvenue SandySawotka of BrooklynNY 11217- 1486 FatimaKafele Music Telephone:718 .636.4129 Eva Chien Fax: 718.857.2021 TamaraMcCaw Jennifer Lam [email protected] News Release BAM Presents the New York Premiere of the Acclaimed Theatre Royal Bath Production of As You Like It, Directed by Sir Peter Hall and Featuring Rebecca Hall Bank of America is the presenting sponsor for As You Like It As You Like It By William Shakespeare Theatre Royal Bath Directed by Sir Peter Hall Set and costume design by John Gunter Lighting design by Peter Mumford Sound design by Gregory Clarke BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St) Jan 18-22, 25-29 at 7:30pm, Jan 22 & 29 at 2pm, Jan 23 & 30 at 3pm Tickets: $25, 45, 65, 75 Call 718.636.4100 or visit www.bam.org BAMdialogue with Sir Peter Hall Jan 18 at 6pm BAM Hillman Attic Studio Tickets: $8 ($4 for Friends of BAM) " .. .line after line wings home as if for the first time." -Financial Times (UK) " ... a masterpiece: moving, funny, sexy, and lyrical-a piece of intelligent magic." -Sunday Times (UK) Brooklyn, NY/Dec 10, 2004-As part of its 2005 Spring Season, BAM presents the Theatre Royal Bath production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, featuring the BAM debut of seminal British director Sir Peter Hall. Hall, the founder of England's Royal Shakespeare Company, a multiple Tony Award winner, and an influential force in theater for the past 50 years, is­ remarkably-staging the play for the first time. Fourteen performances of As You Like It will take place in the BAM Harvey Theater (651 Fulton St): Jan 18-22 & 25-29 at 7:30pm, Jan 22 & 29 at 2pm, and Jan 23 & 30 at 3pm. Tickets, priced at $25, 45, 65, and 75, may be purchased by calling BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100 or by visiting www.bam.org. This celebrated production features the director 's daughter Rebecca Hall as Rosalind, in a refreshing and critically acclaimed portrayal about which The New York Times exclaimed, "Rosalind has been reborn." According to the UK's Telegraph, "Watching this winning, deeply-felt perfonnance, you have little doubt that you are watching a great stage actress in the making." Rebecca Hall conveys a palpable sorrow in Rosalind's inability to reveal her identity and return Orlando's lov~a sorrow through which the director deftly illuminates the comedy's underlying melancholy. Sir Peter had previously directed his daughter in her professional stage debut-in the 2002 West End revival of George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession-for which the young actress won glowing reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Attired in a mixture of modem dress and timeless costumes, the production's cast includes Rebecca Callard, Philip Voss, Michael Siberry, Dan Stevens, David Birkin, Freddie Stevenson, Janet Greaves, Charlotte Parry, Nyasha Hatendi, Ronald Femee, Robin Browne, David Barnaby, James Laurenson, James Crossley, Grainne Gillis, Kevin Collins, and Madeleine Huchins . As You Like It premiered in August, 2003 in Bath, England and has been staged in the U.S. at Boston's Wilbur Theater and New Haven's Shubert Theater. The BAM engagement marks its New York premiere. A Los Angeles run will follow at the Ahmanson Theater. Sir Peter Hall is a distinguished director of plays, films, and operas, and marked his fiftieth 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/or 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 Harold Pinter's The Homecoming (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. Among the many plays he directed for the National Theatre were the premieres of Pinter's No Man's Land (1975) and Peter Shaffer's Amadeus (1979). Hall has directed at many of the world's leading opera houses including the Royal Opera House, The Metropolitan Opera, Bayreuth (in a celebrated production of Wagner's Ring Cycle), and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, among others. 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 the Theatre Royal Bath during which Hall directed a unique swnmer season of five plays. Sir Peter Hall was Knighted in 1977 for his services to British Theatre. He has been the recipient of many awards and nominations including two Tony Awards-for The Homecoming in 1967 and Amadeus in 1981-and an Olivier Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999. For press information contact Sandy Sawotka at 718.636.4129 xl or [email protected] Credits Bank of America is the presenting sponsor for As You Like It. Major support is provided by the British Council. Opening night reception support for As You Like It is provided by The Laura Pels Foundation. Programmingin the BAM Harvey Theater is endowed by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.BAM thanks The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation,and Richard B. Fisher and Jeanne DonovanFisher, for their special endowmentgifts. 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 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 Wachter 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 AMl 130 is the official broadcast sponsor. New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is the official hotel for the Spring Season. RIGA is the sponsor of BAM .erg. Yamaha is the official piano of BAM. General information BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, BAMcafe , 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. BAMcafe, 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 BAMcafe is available Thu-Sat for BAM Rose Cinemas ticket holders ( day of screening only). BAMcafe is open Thursday-Saturday from 5pm-closing. Additionally, BAMcafe 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 A venue 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. #### .