FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jackie Goneconti Gibbons [email protected] We Players in partnership with the California State Parks presents Romeo & Juliet at Rancho Petaluma Adobe on Old Adobe Road in Sonoma County, CA by William Shakespeare Directed by Ava Roy Produced by Lauren D. Chavez and Ava Roy Original Score by Charlie Gurke We Players presents Romeo & Juliet August 12 ­ September 25, 2016 tickets: $45­80 3325 Adobe Rd, Petaluma, CA 94954 show times vary more information will be made available at: www.weplayers.org ​ FEBRUARY 2, 2016: We Players (Artistic Director, Ava Roy; Managing Director, Lauren D. ​ ​ Chavez), will present Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet at the historic Rancho Petaluma ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Adobe State Historic Park in August/ September 2016. Continuing in We Players nearly 10 ​ years of unprecedented partnership programming with the National Park Service and California State Parks ­ the company will once again integrate a well­loved Shakespeare play into the environs at a national historic landmark. Rancho Petaluma Adobe is an under­visited and under­appreciated park ­ We Players, in partnership with the California State Parks, hopes to inspire locals to visit this backyard treasure and entice Bay Area residents to make the journey to wine country to experience this beloved story of star­crossed lovers set into the Adobe and surrounding grounds. Shakespeare 400: Companies the world over are honoring the 400 years since Shakespeare’s ​ death in 1616. We Players is celebrating the anniversary with a return to Shakespeare after a year without the Bard in 2015. The company is well known for their site­integrated productions of Shakespeare (Hamlet on Alcatraz, Macbeth at Fort Point, Twelfth Night at Hyde Street Pier) and ​ ​ in 2016 will explore passion, power, and adrenaline­lust with a variety of special Romeo & Juliet ​ inspired events throughout the greater Bay Area this spring and summer, followed by the full­scale production at Rancho Petaluma Adobe in late summer and fall. We Players’ Sweet Sixteen: We Players was founded in the spring of 2000 by Ava Roy, then ​ freshman undergraduate at Stanford University. While the company did not incorporate at as non­profit 501C3 organization until spring 2012, We Players has been staging large­scale, site­integrated productions of classical plays nearly without pause since the first production in 2000 on the Stanford campus. What was the first We Players show? A roving Romeo & Juliet ​ which moved from Tressider Student Union throughout the campus courtyards and pedestrian thoroughfares to Memorial Church, The Quad, and ultimately arriving at collection of Rodin sculptures, “the Burghers of Calais”. We Players cycles back to the play that began it all, celebrating 16 years of creating stunning works of site­integrated theatre in beautiful and historically charged locations, with Romeo & Juliet inspired events, parties, and performances ​ ​ throughout 2016. THE 2016 SEASON OF ROMEO AND JULIET WILL INCLUDE: Mask Making Salons ­ presentation + hands­on mask making workshop; January ­ April ​ ​ Sword Fights & Sandwiches ­ performance, workshop, and social gathering; May & June ​ ​ The Capulet Ball ­ masquerade ball and performance; May & June ​ ​ Romeo & Juliet ­ full scale production at Rancho Petaluma Adobe; August & September ​ ​ Romeo & Juliet ­ full scale production adapted for Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, CA; October ​ ​ EXPERIENCING THE BAY AREA WITH WE PLAYERS As with recent and ongoing collaborations at other National Park Sites (Alcatraz Island 2009­2011, ​ Fort Point 2013­2014, SF Maritime 2011­2017, Marin Headlands 2014, Sutro Baths/ Land’s End 2015, Fort Mason Center 2015) We Players entices visitors to environmentally rich, historically and ​ culturally charged sites, and invites guests to experience these places with their senses awakened. "An essential goal of our work is to inspire in our audience personal relationships with the places in which we play," says Artistic Director Ava Roy. This May, We Players will embark on a season of love and intrigue, exploring Romeo & Juliet in several unique iterations and settings, culminating ​ ​ with a large­scale, fully site­integrated production at historic Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park in Sonoma County. ABOUT WE PLAYERS We Players was recently recognized by Backstage.com as one of seven companies around the globe ​ ​ producing groundbreaking immersive theatre. We Players was featured in American Theatre ​ Magazine’s cover story on immersive theatre and was honored by San Francisco Magazine with the ​ “Best of the Bay” pick for their unique site­specific performance work noting, “We Players didn’t ​ just break the fourth wall, it toppled the whole playhouse.” We Players has received ​ several “Best of Bay” awards from the SF Weekly, including this mention in their 2015 award, “We ​ ​ Players actors have the ability to draw power out of their surroundings, channeling it into spectacular, immersive experiences for audience members unlike anything you’ll see on Broadway.” We Players creates site­integrated performances that transform public spaces into realms of participatory theatre, in an effort to engage with history and the environment, build community, and activate personal relationships with place. Our work inspires, awakens the senses, and ​ connects people with each other and the landscape. We Players is a Bay Area arts ​ non­profit founded in 2000 at Stanford University by Ava Roy, and managed by Ava Roy and Lauren Dietrich Chavez since 2009. For more information about We Players, please visit ​ www.weplayers.org. ​ Calendar Listing Information In partnership with California State Parks, We Players presents Romeo & Juliet at Rancho Petaluma Adobe Sonoma County, CA Dates: Friday ­ Sunday, August 12 ­ September 25 ​ Times: Performances are timed with the sunset. Start times will be announced soon. ​ Location: Rancho Petaluma Adobe at 3325 Adobe Rd, Petaluma, CA 94954 ​ Tickets: $45­80 Tickets will be available at: www.weplayers.org ​ Information, group sales and educational opportunities contact: Lauren D. Chavez, Managing Director Phone: 415.547.0189 ​ Website: WePlayers.org ​ ​ For press reservations or more information email [email protected]. ​ ​ .