This came in this morning... AG

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Sidonie Garrett 816/531-7728

18th Season Production King Richard III
Auditions for professional production set
KANSAS CITY, MO The 18th season of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival (HASF) will feature King Richard III starring Bruce Roach in the title role. Auditions for the professional production will be December 12 and 13, 2009. Actors should prepare two contrasting Shakespeare monologues, three minutes total length and bring a headshot and resumé. Appointments may be scheduled by calling 816.531.7728. Auditions are open to Equity and non-Equity actors and will be at the Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ, 205 W. 65th Street KCMO. The Festival season will run for 18 performances over a 3-week period from June 15 through July 3, 2010 in Southmoreland Park. Admission to the Festival is FREE.

King Richard III is one of Shakespeare’s history plays, and part of the tetralogy which includes Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3. Shakespeare’s story of King Richard III was written around 1591 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a descendent of King Henry VII who overthrew King Richard III, the last king of the House of York, and the last English king to die in battle. The War of the Roses is the name given to the period which lasted for a number of decades in the late 15th century in which there was constant fighting between the houses of Lancaster and York for the throne of England. This relationship of Elizabeth to the house of Lancaster explains why the character of King Richard III drawn in the play is not historically accurate, but reimagined to increase the theatricality of the role, and please the ruling monarch.

Producing Artistic Director Sidonie Garrett will direct King Richard III and directed last season's The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Othello (2008), Romeo and Juliet (2007), King Henry V (2006), Much Ado About Nothing (2005), Julius Caesar (2004), Hamlet (2003), The Taming of the Shrew (2002), and Twelfth Night (2001).
Founded in 1991 by Tony award-winning Broadway producer Marilyn Strauss, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival launched its first season in 1993 in Southmoreland Park. Since then, nearly 450,000 theatergoers from 42 states and 11 countries have shared in the classical professional productions the Festival presents each summer.

Support for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Recreation, a host of leading foundations and corporations, and hundreds of generous individuals. More information on the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and the 2010 season can be found on the Festival’s website at www.kcshakes.org, or by calling 816.531.7728.
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