4 STARS! "The whole play is a love letter to theater" —Marin IJ

"An all-star team of Bay Area actors" Two on the Aisle

5 STARS! "The best show all year" —SF Theater

“A must-see, exceedingly entertaining production” —Theatre Eddys

"It makes you feel grateful to be alive." —The Independent

5 STARS! "Funny, often genuinley moving, and generates a glow you could warm your hands by."Daily Telegraph

"Marvelously fluid, riotously funny, and often intensely, even startlingly poignant ... it could just make you fall, all over again, in love with Shakespeare."Chicago Tribune

Young Will Shakespeare has writer's block. That is, until he finds his muse – Viola. This beautiful young woman is Will’s greatest admirer and will stop at nothing to appear in his next play. In a classic case of mistaken identity and backstage theatrics, Will’s love for Viola quickly blossoms, inspiring him to write his first masterpiece. This charming adaptation of the Academy Award-winning screenplay features live musicians and 13 of the Bay Area’s favorite actors!

Lee Hall wrote the screenplay to the film Billy Elliot (1999), directed by Stephen Daldry for Tiger/BBC Films/WT2, and received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film, Pride and Prejudice, in 2005, and adapted The Wind in the Willows for television in 2006.

With Sir Tom Stoppard, Marc Norman won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in the 1998 Academy Awards for the script of Shakespeare in Love; he also shared in the Best Picture Oscar for the film as co-producer.

Performance Schedule

Evenings

Tue - Sun 7:30pm

Matinees 

Sun (Preview) Nov 28, 4pm
Wed  Dec 20, 2pm
Thu (Perspectives) Dec 7, 1pm
Fri Dec 22, 2pm
Sat, Dec 2, 16 & 23, 2pm
Sun Dec 3, 10 & 17, 2pm

Ticket Prices

Performance Center
seating
Side
seating
Previews (Nov 24-26) $37 $37
Opening Night (Nov 28) $60 $55
Sat Eve $60 $55
Tue*, Wed, Thu, Fri & Sun Eve $49 $44
Matinees $49 $44
Best Deal (all shows, limited availability) n/a $25

* Excludes Opening Night.

Prices subject to change. 

Phone orders subject to a $10 per order fee; online orders subject to a $3 per order fee

Disabled seating is currently only available through the MTC Box Office (415.388.5208 or in person). We apologize for any inconvenience.

Discounts

GROUPS – Bring eight or more people to receive a $7 discount on tickets. Click here or call 415.388.5208. SENIORS (65+) – $4 off any performances MILITARY – $6 off all performances. Learn more UNDER 30 – $22, all performances EDUCATOR – $12, all performances (limit 2). Must teach at a Marin County School. Contact the Education Dept. to request. TEENS – $10, all performances

Discounts and special rates available only by calling or visiting the Box Office in person: (415) 388-5208 

Promo Codes distributed for online redemption subject to availability.  Only ONE (1) Promo Code will be valid per order.  Promo Codes do not apply to Best Deal ($25) tickets.

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Cast

  • L. Peter Callender*

    L. Peter Callender*

    Burbage/Boatman/Adam

    L. Peter Callender returns to MTC having appeared as Mr. M in My Children  My Africa!, Seven Guitars, Circle/Mirror/Transformation, The Convert, Swimmers (Best Featured Actor), and Thomas and Sally. Mr Callender is Artistic Director of African-American Shakespeare Company where he has performed as Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, Antony in Antony and Cleopatra  and directed Twelfth Night, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Raisin in the Sun, Much Ado About Nothing and Jitney. Other directing credits include: Jitney (Best Director Award) and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Best Director nomination) at American Stage Company, St Petersburg, Fl, and Safe House at Aurora Theater. Callender is also an Artistic Associate at California Shakespeare Theater having appeared in over 25 productions. A few favorites include: SlangTalkMan/Sykes in Spunk, Pickering in Pygmalion, Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Bolingbroke in Richard II, Roebuck Ramsden in Man and Superman. At Aurora Theater: Robert Mugabe in Breakfast With Mugabe, Sam in "MASTER HAROLD"...and the boys and Permanent Collectionlpetercallender.com

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  • Ben Euphrat*

    Ben Euphrat*

    Sam/Frees/Catling/Ensemble

    Ben Euphrat is an actor, musician, and musical director. Recent credits include the San Francisco and off-Broadway productions of Ideation with SF Playhouse, Project Ahab; Or the Eye of the Whale at Central Works (acting/music direction) [nominated: Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Production of Musical from Theatre Bay Area], Mirandolina at Center Rep, Twelfth Night at Shotgun Players (acting/music direction), HIR at the Magic Theatre, and Good People at Marin Theatre Company. He's worked as a musician/actor at ACT, Theatreworks and various other regional theatres throughout the west coast as well. Ben has worked extensively in film and commercial, and has studied improv in LA with the Groundlings and IO West. His most recent musical project, Where the Shadows Lay Darkest, is available on his website now. That and more at beneuphrat.com.

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  • Lance Gardner*

    Lance Gardner*

    Kate/Lambert/Robin

    Lance Gardner previously appeared in MTC productions of Fuddy Meers, Equivocation, A Streetcar Named Desire, Lovers and Executioners, and A Short History of Nearly Everything. He most recently performed in Berkeley Rep’s An Octoroon.

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  • Thomas Gorrebeeck*

    Thomas Gorrebeeck*

    Wessex/Valentine/Peter/Ensemble

    Thomas Gorrebeeck is excited to be back at Marin Theatre Company after appearing in last season’s Miss Bennet. Regional credits: A Streetcar Named Desire (KC Actors Theatre), How to Steal a Picasso (The Unicorn Theatre). SF Bay Area credits: All My Sons (Jewel Theatre), Colossal (SF Playhouse), The Real Thing, The Monster-Builder, and Eccentricities of a Nightingale (Aurora Theatre Company), A Few Good Men (Hillbarn Theatre), Cymbeline (Marin Shakes), Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion (Livermore Shakes), Sleuth, and Dracula (CenterREP), Sense & Sensibility and The Chosen (TheatreWorks), Much Ado About Nothing (Cal Shakes), Hamlet, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Dead Man Walking, and The Three Musketeers (City Lights Theater Company). Mr. Gorrebeeck received his B.A. from New York University and is a proud member of AEA & SAG/AFTRA.

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  • Brian Herndon*

    Brian Herndon*

    Tilney/Wabash/Nol/Ensemble

    Brian Herndon happily returns to MTC, having appeared in As Thousands CheerThe Good GermanFailure: A Love Story and Swimmers. Locally, he has performed with TheatreWorks, San Francisco Playhouse, Central Works, and Center REP, among others. He acted with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival for five summer shows, and choreographed the fights for one more. He originated the role of Philip Elton in Paul Gordon’s musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, which has taken him to Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, St. Louis Rep, the Old Globe, Lincoln Center, and Arizona Theatre Company. Brian attended the Dell’Arte School and received his MFA from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He teaches at Odyssey Middle School in San Mateo, and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Love to Jocelyn, Gwen and Dogberry.

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  • Adam Magill*

    Adam Magill*

    Will Shakespeare

    Adam Magill recently appeared at Marin Theatre Company as Casey in The Legend of Georgia McBride, Jan in Native Son and Arthur de Bourgh in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Bay Area credits include: Macbeth (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Stupid F**king Bird(San Fransisco Playhouse), The Whale(MTC), The Mousetrap (Shotgun Players), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (City Lights Theater Company). Mr. Magill is a graduate of the Foothill Theatre Conservatory.

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  • Mark Anderson Phillips*

    Mark Anderson Phillips*

    Fennyman/Ensemble

    Credits - Off Broadway: Ideation (59E59 NYC); Regional/International: Hir (World Premiere), True West, Stones in His Pockets (Magic Theatre); The Velocity of Autumn, Fallen Angels, Time Stands Still, The 39 Steps, Opus,The Grapes of Wrath (TheatreWorks); Baskerville!, Noises Off, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Witness for the Prosecution, A Christmas Carol (CenterREP); Clybourne Park (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); Stage Kiss, Abraham Lincolns Big Gay Dance Party (SF Playhouse); The Big Meal, The Weir, Long Days Journey Into Night (San Jose Repertory Theatre); As You Like It, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Santa Cruz Shakespeare); Thomas and SallyGood People, Waiting for Godot, Tiny Alice (Marin Theatre Company); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Arizona Theatre Company); Double Indemnity (A Contemporary Theatre Seattle); Salomania, Miss Julie, Salome, Small Tragedy (Aurora Theatre); Measure for Measure, Henry V (California Shakespeare Theatre); Joan Rivers, a Work in Progress (Edinburgh Fringe Festival).markandersonphillips.com

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  • Stacy Ross*

    Stacy Ross*

    Queen Elizabeth/Mistress Quickly/Nurse/Molly

    Stacy Ross is happy to return to MTC, having most recently appeared in The Way West (as well as God of Carnage, Killer Joe, Spring Storm among others). She lives and works in the Bay Area and most recently worked with Symmetry Theatre (The Other Place) the Aurora (Leni) and California Shakespeare Theatre (Much Ado About Nothing). Other theatres she’s worked at include ACT, Berkeley Rep, Center Stage(Baltimore) SF Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, 59E59 (New York) and the late, lamented San Jose Rep. She is a member of Actors Equity and Playground. 

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  • Robert Sicular

    Robert Sicular

    Henslowe/De Lesseps/Ensemble

    Robert is delighted to return to the Marin Theater Company where he was previously seen as Uncle Charlie in August: Osage County, William Fox in Fetch Clay Make Man, Marvin in Magic Forest Farm and Mr. Lockhart (aka the Devil) in The Seafarer. He has also performed locally with the Berkeley Rep, ACT, Word for Word, TheatreWorks, San Jose Rep, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and the California/Berkeley Shakespeare Festival. Other theaters include South Coast, Seattle and Saint Louis Repertory Theatres, the Denver Center Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Sacramento Theatre Company; the Colorado, Lake Tahoe, Santa Fe Shakespeare Festivals, the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, and for eight years, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Screen credits include the Sci-Fi comedy thriller, Never Die Twice; the Bollywood potboiler, Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya; and the role of “Dad” in Josh Kornbluth’s Love and Taxes. Robert attended the University of California at Berkeley and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. robertsicular.com

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  • Sango Tajima

    Sango Tajima

    Webster/Gregory/Benvolio/Abraham/Ensemble

    Sango Tajima has appeared at MTC as Mowgli in The Jungle Book for their TYA Program. An Oakland-based actor, she has recently appeared in The Mineola Twins and Life is a Dream at Cutting Ball Theater; Stegosaurus (or) Three Cheers for Climate Change at FaultLine Theater; Clown Mama at Ragged Wing Ensemble, Bad Kitty at Bay Area Children's Theater; and We Are Pussy Riot or Everything is P.R. at Theatre Battery (Seattle, WA). She is a member of a political theatre collective, The Bonfire Makers, with whom she has created and performed We Go Boom and PLACE to LAND. Tajima is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.F.A. in Acting. You can see her on the MTC stage again in their upcoming production of The Wolves.

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  • Kenny Toll*

    Kenny Toll*

    Marlowe/Ned Alleyn/Ensemble

    Kenny Toll is happy to be back at MTC after appearing in last season’s Family Series plays The Jungle Book and Hare & Tortoise. Kenny has appeared in The Heir Apparent at Aurora Theatre, Bad Jews at the Magic, Peter and the Starcatcher at TheatreWorks, Manifesting with Hope Mohr Dance, Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare at the Castle in Ohio, Ondine at Cutting Ball, EurydiceAntigonickThe Coast of Utopia and Woyzeck at Shotgun Players, Henry IV at John Hinkle Park. He was nominated for a TBA Award for his performance in Dracula Inquest at Central Works.

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  • Megan Trout

    Megan Trout

    Viola de Lesseps

    This is Megan's first production with Marin Theater Company. Other Bay Area credits with: Shotgun Players (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Grand ConcourseThe Village BikeHamlet [a roulette], The Mousetrap, Eurydice, Bonnie & Clyde, The Coast of Utopia), Aurora Theatre (Widowers’ Houses [2018], A Bright New Boise, Metamorphosis), Central Works (Dracula Inquest, Richard the First), Just Theater (We are Proud to Present), the Oneill Foundation (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), and Boxcar Theater’s Sam Shepard Festival (A Lie of the Mind, Buried Child)megantrout.com

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  • Liam Vincent*

    Liam Vincent*

    Ralph/Ensemble

    Shakespeare in Love marks Liam's 10th production at MTC having made his debut in Picnic almost twenty years ago. Bay Area credits include multiple productions at American Conservatory Theater. CalShakes, TheaterWorks, Magic Theatre, SF Playhouse, Aurora Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, San Jose Rep, Center Rep. Word for Word, SF Shakespeare Festival, Campo Santo, Shotgun Players and Zspace. Off Broadway he has worked at SoHo Rep and with The Civilians. Regional Credits: Huntington Theater, The Alliance, Portland Center Stage, Arizona Theater Company, Pasadena Playhouse. He is a proud Graduate of Boston University.

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  • Molly the Dog

    Molly the Dog

    Spot the Dog

    Molly is a 9 year old cocker poodle mix who lives in Mill Valley. She thanks Marin Theatre for the opportunity to make her debut performance with such talented fellow cast members under the inspired direction of Jasson Minadakis. She sends her love to her many friends, canine and human, on Mt. Tam, at Peet’s and at MTC.

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Creative Team

  • Tom Stoppard

    Tom Stoppard

    Screenwriter

    Plays: The Hard Problem, The Real Inspector Hound, After Magritte, Jumpers, Travesties, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (with André Previn), Dirty Linen, New-Found-Land Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth, Night and Day, TheReal Thing, Hapgood, Arcadia, Indian Ink, The Invention of Love, The Coast of Utopia, Rock’n’Roll. Adaptations: On the Razzle (Nestroy), Rough Crossing (Molnar). Tom’s most recent work for TV was Parades End; for radio Darkside (with Pink Floyd); and for film Anna Karenina. His film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead won the Venice FIlm Festival Prix d’Or, and Shakespeare in Love won an Academy Award.

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  • Marc Norman

    Marc Norman

    Screenwriter

    Two-time Academy Award winning writer-producer Marc Norman is the co-screenwriter (with Tom Stoppard) and a producer of the unique romantic comedy S􀀌hakespeare in Love, released by Miramax Films in December of 1998. The film was ultimately nominated for 13 Oscars and received a total of seven, including for Original Screenplay and Best Picture, for which Norman also received an Oscar as a producer. 

    Norman first envisioned the idea for his screenplay in 1990 while working with director Ed Zwick. His idea was to portray a young William Shakespeare - before he achieved success - as a struggling writer working to create his first truly great play; "Romeo and Juliet." Before then, Shakespeare had written several plays and poems, but, in fact, it wasn't until "Romeo and Juliet" that he became the preeminent playwright of his time and demonstrated that a genius resided among the relatively new order of writer known as playwrights. 

    What, however, inspired Shakespeare to reach deeper and farther than he had before with "Romeo and Juliet?" Love, of course, was Norman's premise, and he began writing the screenplay for Universal Pictures. Tom Stoppard joined the two filmmakers as a co-wr\ter. As happens too often, a good idea lay dormant until Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein found the project and thought it a perfect vehicle for Gwyneth Paltrow. Weinstein acquired the rights to the screenplay from Universal and started production with director John Madden in 1998. The film also stars Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare, Oscar winner Geoffrey-Rush, Dame Judi Dench, Ben Affleck, and Tom Wilkinson. 

    Born-and-raised in Hollywood, Norman attended Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he received his Master's degree in English Literature and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa society. Norman spent most of his free time following graduation writing poetry, short stories and, ultimately, three novels. 

    He started entertainment career in the Universal Studios mail room, along with other young men including producer Mike Medavoy and directors Walter Hill and John Badham. He subsequently worked for Leonard Stern, the producer of Get Smart. Stern encouraged him to move to New York City, where he worked for David Suskind and Daniel Melnick. Returning to Los Angeles, he wrote a screenplay that, though it didn't sell, attracted several offers to write for episodic television programs. A subsequent screenplay, The Challenge, was turned into one of the first "ABC Movies of the Week," starring Darren McGavin and Mako. He continued writing movies for television before selling his original scrienplay Oklahoma Crude to Columbia for Stanley Kramer to direct for the big screen. The film, starring George C. Scott and Faye Dunaway; was profitable, and Norman was launched as a feature writer. 

    Norman's happiest experience was on his next film, Zandy's Bride, which he wrote for stars Gene Hackman and Liv Ullmann. He next co-wrote The Killer Elite with Oscar-winner Stirling Silliphant, Sam Peckinpah's revenge-themed thriller starring James Caan and Robert Duvall; and the Irwin Winkler production of Breakout (co-written by Howard B. Kreitsek and Elliot Baker), starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland and Robert Duvall. 

    Norman, a pilot, appeared as a stunt flyer with his classic bi-plane in The Great Waldo Pepper. Inspired by the experience, he subsequently wrote and directed the original play Ormer Locklear, about the first wing walker, which premiered at the Mark Taper Forum. Television producer Bruce Paltrow attended Norman's play and offered him the opportunity to direct several episodes of The White Shadow. (Paltrow's daughter, Gwyneth, coincidentally starred in Shakespeare in Love.)

    Taking a break from his movie work, Norman wrote his extensive What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting in 2006, a single-volume overview not only his profession but the Hollywood context it occupied over the 100 years of its existence, as well as a cultural history of the movie century. Random House published the book to welcoming reviews in 2007 - Salon judged it one of the best books of the year, and it appeared as a Three Rivers paperback in the fall of 2008.

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  • Lee Hall

    Lee Hall

    Playwright (adaptation)

    Born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1966. 

    Film: War Horse, DreamWorks, 2011, Billy Elliot, Working Title Films, 2000 

    Theatre: Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, National Theatre of Scotland/Live Theatre, 2015, UK tour and National Theatre, 2016; The Pitmen Painters, Live Theatre/ Royal National Theatre, 2007/8/9, Broadway, 2010, West End, 2011; Billy Elliot - the Musical;  Cooking with Elvis - Newcastle / West End

    Theatre Adaptations: Shakespeare In Love, Noel Coward Theatre, The Barber of Seville  Bristol Old Vic, 2003, The Good Hope Royal National Theatre; Mother Courage; tour/ West End; The Adventures of Pinocchio Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith A Servant to Two Masters RSC/ Young Vic 1999; Mr Puntila and his man Matti Almedia Theatre, 1998

    Opera:  English adaptation of Il Pagliacci, English National Opera, 2008.

    Radio (all BBC): I Luv You Jimmy Spud, 1996, Spoonface Steinberg, 1997. I Love You, Ragie Patel, 1997, The Sorrows of Sandra Saint, 1997; Blood Sugar, 1997; Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (from Vargas Llosa) 1998; Gristle, 1999; Child of the Snow, 2000; Child of the Rain, 2000.

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  • ​Jasson Minadakis

    ​Jasson Minadakis

    Director

    Jasson Minadakis is in his 12th season as artistic director of Marin Theatre Company, where he has directed Thomas and SallyGuards at the TajAugust: Osage CountyThe Invisible HandAnne BoleynThe ConvertThe WhaleFailure: A Love Story, the world premiere of Lasso of TruthThe Whipping Man (San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Awards for Best Production and Best Acting Ensemble), Waiting for GodotOthello: the Moor of VeniceThe Glass Menagerie, Edward Albee’s Tiny Alice, the world premiere of Libby Appel’s adaptation of Chekhov’s SeagullHappy Now?Equivocation(SFBATCC Award, Best Director), the world premiere of SunlightLydiaThe SeafarerFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de LuneA Streetcar Named Desiresaid SaïdLove Song, and The Subject Tonight is Love. As artistic director of Actor’s Express Theatre Company, he directed The PillowmanBug; The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer; Echoes of Another Man;Killer Joe; Burn This; The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?Blue/Orange; and Bel Canto. As producing artistic director of Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, he directed Jesus Hopped the ’A’ TrainChagrin Falls (2002 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Production), and numerous others, including 19 productions of Shakespeare. Regional credits include The Whipping Man at Virginia Stage Company, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Hamlet at Georgia Shakespeare, Copenhagen at Playhouse on the Square (2003 Ostrander Theatre Award for Best Dramatic Production), and Bedroom Farce at Wayside Theatre.

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  • Betsy Norton*

    Betsy Norton*

    Stage Manager

    Betsy Norton most recently stage managed Thomas and Sally after four seasons (and over 15 shows!) as Production Assistant for the company. Other works include: stage managing Mike Birbiglia: The New One (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), PAing Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) and Amélie: A New Musical (Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Center Theatre Group), and stage managing for the MTC summer camps. Betsy is a proud new member of Actors' Equity.

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  • Kat Conley

    Scenic Designer

    Kat Conley is ecstatic to be returning to Marin Theatre Company, after previously designing The Invisible Hand, The Whipping Man, The Glass Menagerie and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Based in Atlanta, GA since 2000, Kat has designed scenery for The Arena Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Alliance Theater, Orlando Shakespeare, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, Virginia Stage, Georgia Shakespeare, the Atlanta Ballet, Actor’s Express, The Center for Puppetry Arts, 7 Stages, and Theatrical Outfit, among others. She is an Associate Artist with both Georgia Shakespeare and Actor’s Express. For the past 17 seasons Kat has also served as the Charge Scenic Artist for the Alliance Theater. Whether dramatically challenging, visionary or escapist, all theater and art is important, thank you for supporting it in your community.

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  • Katie Nowacki

    Katie Nowacki

    Costume Designer

    Katherine Nowacki is a Bay Area based costume designer and stylist. Previously at MTC she designed costumes for Gem of the Ocean. Recent work includes Pandora's Gift at Z Space with musical group VOLTI, Xtigone at African-American Shakespeare Company, A Raisin in the Sun and A Winter's Tale at California Shakespeare Theater, and Death of a Salesman at Theatreworks Colorado Springs. Her designs have been seen throughout California, Colorado, Oregon, and Texas. She holds an MFA from Southern Methodist University, a BFA from Southern Oregon University, and studied dance/ performance art/ and multi-media design as part of a graduate workshop at the renowned artist residence and laboratory Les Subsistances in Lyon, FR. A long admirer of August Wilson's work she is thrilled to be a part of Gem of the Oceanand making her Marin Theatre Company debut.

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  • Kurt Landisman

    Kurt Landisman

    Lighting Designer

    Kurt Landisman has designed lighting for over 50 of MTC’s productions, including The Legend of Georgia McBrideAugust: Osage CountySwimmers, Choir Boy, The Whale, August Wilson’s Fences, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, Topdog/Underdog, Othello, the Moor of Venice and Seven Guitars. His lighting designs have been seen at most Bay Area theaters including A.C.T., Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, Aurora Theatre Company, Center REP, San Francisco Opera, Cal Shakes, Magic Theatre and TheatreWorks. He has received numerous San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Drama-Logue awards. Nationally, Landisman’s designs have been seen at Arizona Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Los Angeles Opera, Minnesota Opera, Sacramento Opera, Virginia Opera, Tulsa Opera, Ballet Arizona, Guthrie Theatre and Cincinnati Playhouse, as well as Off-Broadway at Circle Rep and Douglas Fairbanks Theatre. His association with playwright Sam Shepard included the world premieres of True West and Fool for Love. Internationally, his designs have been seen in Tokyo, Singapore and Shanghai. kurtlandisman.com

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  • Jennifer Reason

    Jennifer Reason

    Music Director

    Jennifer Reason, 2016 recipient of Sacramento Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, is a Music Director who is in demand in a variety of genres. Her nearly 30 musical theater credits include the world premiere of Max Understood, a production aiming to raise autism awareness (Director, David Schweizer/Producer, Paul Dresher). She is Music Director of the Rogue Music Project, a music collective formed to challenge current perceptions of opera through unpredictable, adventurous, and socially conscious performances. She is also founding member of Citywater, Inc, an ensemble that focuses on the production of quasi-staged and avant-garde works such as Steven Mackey’s Ravenshead, Schöenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, and George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae, as well as brand new commissions. Outside of theater, Jennifer is an internationally engaged pianist and singer, including appearances at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Vatican, and multiple European festivals, as well as the Artistic Director of RSVP, a 16-voice a cappella group that performs to raise money for local and underfunded charities. Please visit www.jennifer-reason.com for more information.

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  • Sarah Huddleston

    Sarah Huddleston

    Sound Designer

    Sara Huddleston is pleased to return to MTC where she previously designed sound for Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley and Gem of the Ocean. Other Bay Area sound design credits include: GrandeurFool for LoveDogeatersFred’s Diner, And I And SilenceEvery Five MinutesHirArlingtonTerminusSe Llama CristinaAny Given DayThe Brothers Size, Mrs. Whitney, Goldfish, Evie’s Waltz, The K of D (Magic Theatre); Octopus (Magic/Encore Theatre Company); I Call My Brothers410 [Gone] and Invasion! (Crowded Fire), Autobiography of a Terrorist (Golden Thread Productions); In On It and T.I.C (Encore Theatre Company); The Shaker Chair (Encore Theatre Company/Shotgun Players); Macbeth (Shotgun Players); Three on a Party (Word for Word); A Round Heeled Woman (Z Space). Sara most recently acted as Associate Sound Designer for David Van Tieghem on Magic Theatre's world premiere production of The Eva Trilogy. Next up: Reel to Reel at Magic Theatre. 

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  • Dave Maier

    Dave Maier

    Fight Director

    Dave Maier returns to Marin Theatre Co. after choreographing fights for last season’s peerless. Other Marin Theatre Co. credits include The Convert and Othello.  He is the resident fight director at San Francisco Opera and California Shakespeare Theatre.  His work has been seen at ACT, Berkeley Rep, SF Playhouse, Center Rep, Aurora Theatre and Ubuntu Theatre Project among others.  He is a proud company member with the Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA.  He has won several awards for his work including the 2017 Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Fight Choreography for his work on Fool For Love at the Magic Theatre. Dave is certified as an instructor of theatrical combat through Dueling Arts international and is a founding member of Dueling Arts San Francisco.


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  • Liz Tenuto

    Liz Tenuto

    Choreographer

    Liz Tenuto is an American choreographer who specializes in dance for theater and film. Her choreography has been seen in national TV commercials (Pepsi, SalesForce, NARAL), award winning music videos (Lucius, Magana), and in productions at The American Conservatory Theater, West Edge Opera, The Asian Art Museum, The Cutting Ball Theater, Shotgun Players, and The Aurora Theater. Liz was a resident choreographer for sketch comedy group, Killing My Lobster, and has also been presented in The Comedy In Dance Festival (New York). Liz's work has won and been nominated for awards including a "Vimeo Staff Pick," "Best Choreography" by Theater Bay Area, "Best Laugh" by The Stuart Excellence Award in Bay Area Theater, and "Best Dance" by Music Video Underground. More information: www.danceandahalf.com and on instagram @liztenuto

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  • ​Jessica Berman

    ​Jessica Berman

    Dialect Coach

    Jessica Berman is a dialect, voice, and text coach. Her previous work at MTC includes The Legend of Georgia McBride, Native Son, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, and August: Osage County. Ms. Berman has led dialect workshops for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has taught voice, speech, and dialects at U.C. Berkeley, Academy of Art University, and in A.C.T.’s Summer Training Congress. Recent dialect coaching credits include: Monsoon Wedding, An Octoroon, and Hand to God (Berkeley Rep), The Baltimore Waltz, Sojournersrunboyrun, and Fred’s Diner (Magic Theatre), Fences (California Shakespeare Theater), Jerusalem(San Francisco Playhouse), and Punk Rock, Tomorrow, and The Life to Come (A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory). She holds an M.A. in Professional Voice Practice from the Birmingham School of Acting, and an M.F.A. in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

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  • ​Laura Brueckner

    ​Laura Brueckner

    Production Dramaturg

    Laura Brueckner has been supporting productions and playwrights with her dramaturgical work for over 20 years, with an emphasis on digital dramaturgy, world premieres, and commissions. During this time, she has been proud to count among her collaborators stellar artists such as MTC Playwright in Residence Lauren Gunderson, Christopher Chen, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Mina Morita, Marissa Wolf, Idris Goodwin, Lachlan Philpott, and Dominique Serrand, as well as groundbreaking companies Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Crowded Fire Theater, The New Harmony Project, Playwrights Foundation, and, now, Marin Theatre Company. As an artist, she is committed to theatre as a path of social action, critical inquiry, discovery, and delight. Her journalistic writing on artistic process and audience engagement has been published by HowlRound and Theatre Bay Area; her dramaturgical writing has been published by Berkeley Rep, California Shakespeare Theater, and Crowded Fire. A current member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, she holds a B.A. in English dramatic literature (magna cum laude) from U.C. Berkeley and a Ph.D. in dramaturgy from U.C. San Diego.

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  • Dori Jacob

    Dori Jacob

    Casting Director

    Dori Jacob joined Marin Theatre Company as the casting director in May 2015. For the previous four seasons, she served as the director of new play development for Magic Theatre in San Francisco, and dramaturged its world premieres of Octavio Solis’ Se Llama Cristina, Linda McLean’s Every Five Minutes, Christina Anderson’s PEN/MAN/SHIP, and John Kolvenbach’s Sister Play. As resident producer for Magic Theatre’s developmental programming, Ms. Jacob’s credits include 2011-2015 Virgin Play Series, the 2012 Asian Explosion Reading Series, and the 2013 Costume Shop Festival. Further Bay Area dramaturgy/producing/casting credits include: Assassins at Shotgun Players, Marilee Talkington’s The Creative Process at SOMArts, Laura Schellhardt’s The Comparables, and Elizabeth Hersh’s Shelter in Place at Playwrights Foundation. Ms. Jacob previously served on the executive board and literary committee for the National New Play Network, is a current member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, and is a graduate of U.C. Santa Cruz and N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts.

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  • ​Alessandro McLaughlin

    ​Alessandro McLaughlin

    Assistant Director

    Alessandro McLaughlin is excited for his first show at MTC! Currently an Artistic Direction Intern, Alessandro hails from Andover, Massachusetts and attended Clemson University in South Carolina where he received a B.A. in Performing Arts with a concentration in Theatre and an emphasis in Directing. At Clemson he performed in several plays, ran a student theatre company, directed two shows (Cock and Closer), and assistant directed many professional productions at the Warehouse Theatre. He would like to thank his family for their support all the way from the East Coast, Jasson for this amazing opportunity, and Trevor for "love like there has never been in a play!" 

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* Denotes member of Actors Equity Association
+ Member, United Scenic Artists
^ Member, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers

Reviews

  • Review: ‘Shakespeare in Love’ hits Marin Theatre Company stage

    People love to speculate about William Shakespeare. Countless scholars and devoted hobbyists have tried to fill in the considerable biographical blanks of the artist who died 401 years ago. An extremely vocal subset insists that Shakespeare didn’t even write his plays and would very much like to tell you who did, as if we all didn’t know by now that they were actually written by Dracula.

    Marin Theatre Company’s latest show, “Shakespeare in Love,” imagines an entire romance for the great English playwright, as the title implies. It’s not an earnest attempt to put the pieces together but a fanciful fictional exercise in “wouldn’t it be funny if...”

    And yes, it’s the same story as the 1998 Miramax feature film (produced, alas, by Harvey Weinstein) that won seven Academy Awards, including best picture and best screenplay. The stage version premiered on London’s West End in 2014 and first hit the US in February of this year (Valentine’s week, naturally) at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Lee Hall, writer of the film “Billy Elliot” and the musical based on it, adapted the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.

    It’s a little bit of a surprise — or perhaps a relief — that it hasn’t been turned into a musical. There’s plenty of music in MTC artistic director Jasson Minadakis’ lively production, however. Musical instruments are strewn around Kat Conley’s contemporary set of skeletal scaffolding (interestingly reminiscent of the set for the company’s last play starring Shakespeare, Bill Cain’s “Equivocation” in 2010), and the impressive cast of 13 local actors plays them often throughout the play. They also occasionally break out into somber renditions of familiar songs from Shakespeare plays, music directed by Jennifer Reason.

    Its plot pared down a bit from the original film, the play depicts a young Will (winningly earnest Adam Magill) struggling to make a dent in his promised play “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter.” When he meets Viola (passionately eloquent Megan Trout), a rich merchant’s daughter who wants more than anything to be an actor — a job forbidden for women — their romance provides the template and much of the dialogue for the “Romeo” play he actually writes.

    The show has a rollicking cast of characters that the Marin cast brings to life beautifully. L. Peter Callender is bursting with personality as blowhard actor Richard Burbage, and Kenny Toll is a similarly swaggering thespian as Ned Alleyn. Toll also plays a suave Christopher Marlowe who’s always feeding Will great lines and ideas, even acting as his Cyrano for Will and Viola’s version of a balcony scene. Robert Sicular is a hearty playhouse owner bedeviled by Mark Anderson Phillips’ sinister loan shark who soon becomes enthralled by the magic of the theater.

    Stacy Ross makes a pricelessly imperious and sharp-witted Queen Elizabeth in grandly regal period getups by costume designer Katherine Nowacki, as well as playing Viola’s tender and quick-thinking Nurse. Thomas Gorrebeeck is haughty and menacing as Viola’s arranged fiancé, and Sango Tajima is an impish and amusingly bloody-minded lad. Brian Herndon doubles as the disdainful, Malvolio-like Lord Chamberlain and a stuttering wannabe actor, often with some impressive quick-changes. Lance Gardner, Ben Euphrat and Liam Vincent round out the cast charmingly in a multitude of roles.

    The central love story is somewhat thorny considering that Shakespeare was married for his entire adult life. A marriage that, like everything else in his life, is the subject of much scholarly speculation is shrugged off here with a few dismissive lines. Even so, the romance is sold well, and sold hard, with countless parallels to “Romeo and Juliet.”

    More than that, the whole play is a love letter to theater, and how things tend to come together out of chaos when it’s time to hit the stage. In addition to the gleefully fictitious suggestions of where Will got his ideas, it’s full of sly quotes from other Shakespeare plays strewn willy-nilly out of context. (“Out, damned Spot!” is said to an actual dog that threatens to steal the show.) You don’t have to be a devoted Shakespearean to succumb to its considerable charms, although of course it helps.

    — Sam Hurwitt, Marin IJ Read full review
  • "Shakespeare in Love" ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ (FIVE STARS!)

    The cast is perfect. The writing is sublime. The actors sing and play their own instruments. The boy gets the girl, kind of, though it's a moot point since the action took place more than five hundred years ago. Bottom line: Marin Theater Company's production of "Shakespeare in Love" is as good as theater gets. Barring a December surprise, this is the best show we've seen all year.

    Adam Magill is a star. As young Will Shakespeare, during an age when females are not allowed on a theater stage, he is finding it impossible to find male actors capable of conveying the passion he writes into his characters. Enter Viola de Lesseps (Megan Trout), a beautiful young woman disguised as a man so she might also become an actor, and bingo! We now have more passion than the authorities can deal with. Magill and Trout make us believe they mean it when they kiss, something as rare on the Bay Area theater stage as an unlimited arts budget. 

    The entire cast shines. L. Peter Callender, Stacy Ross, Kenny Toll, Mark Anderson Phillips, Robert Sicular and Thomas Gorrebeeck have the greater roles, but there are two show-stoppers in the supporting cast as well: Sango Tajima as the irrepressible young boy who can't quite get anyone to recognize him ( the "Anybodys" character from West Side Story) (Tajima also plays violin in the band); and the audience's favorite Molly (Spot the dog). The Queen does prefer a story with a dog, you see. On Opening Night, Molly, a cross between a standard poodle and a cocker spaniel) kept staring at the audience and wagging her tail as they Oooohed and Ahhhed. What a ham.

    This is a collaboration of geniuses. First Shakespeare, then Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman's screenplay for the movie, and now Lee Hall's adaptation of the film for the stage. We know that with a cast of fourteen, each playing multiple roles, there are in fact hundreds of sticky spots. But everything feels seamless. Credit must be given to Jasson Minadakis for Direction, as well as to Scenic Designer Kat Conley, Costume Designer Katherine Nowacki and Music Director Jennifer Reason.

    Quickly, away ye to the Buy Now key. Go fast, while tickets remain. Like us, you will want to go again.

    We are waiting for the white smoke to come out of the Awards Division Office at San Francisco Theater Blog, because there are rumors of...wait...wait, yes!The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division has awarded "Shakespeare in Love" FIVE STARS! This is the first Five Star Review in more than four years: one star each for story, acting, directing, set and dog. How do you feel about that, Sango Tajima?

    Read full review
  • “Shall I compare … compare … compare thee … to a mourner’s play?”

    A young Will Shakespeare struggles to find the word -- any word -- to start his latest sonnet.  Only after a whispered “summer’s day” comes from his best pal and more-popular-playwright-than-he, Kit Marlowe, does his inspiration begin to kick in (especially as Kit continues to prod with more choice words and lines).  

    Every writer certainly has a slump from time to time, but Will’s is bigger than Falstaff’s belly.  He is fiercely searching for a new muse in his life, someone who can save him from yet another lame comedy about pirates and their dogs.  That his inspiration will arrive as a young woman of wealth — one already betrothed to a Lord but one who is desperate to be on the stage that English law forbids her to be so — is just the kind of set-up any young playwright might die a thousand deaths to have.  Certainly it worked well for Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard as the backbone for their 1998 Academy Award winning film Shakespeare in Love, and it is a tantalizing backdrop for the play by the same name.  Adapted to the stage by Lee Hall, Shakespeare in Love is now playing in a must-see, exceedingly entertaining production at Marin Theatre Company.

    Framed as a play within a play, Shakespeare in Love takes us back to the late sixteenth century as the playwright-in-the-making, still early in his career, is looking for an advance for his next play from one (or actually both) of London’s rival troupes. He is also in frantic search for a new idea of what is the world to write as a follow-up to his recent Two Gentleman of Verona.  The Queen (as in Elizabeth) has requested a play with a dog in it; the theatre entrepreneur Henslowe has hired him to write a comedy entitled Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter; but Kit Marlowe keeps pumping him with ideas about a love story of the son and daughter of two rival, Italian families — a story that is destined to be as tragic as it is beautiful.  

    That story begins to play out in real life when Will meets Viola de Lesseps after sneaking into a party her father is giving in honor of her expected engagement to Lord Wessex — a union she has no interest in making.  What Viola does want to do is to fall in love with the handsome playwright she on the sly kissed (and much more) at her engagement party.  And she is determined to be in his upcoming play.  

    To do the latter, she dresses as a new actor in town named Thomas Kent and lands the lead role of someone called Romeo in Will’s play — one he writes as the two secret lovers live the developing script day by day (actually night by night) with new pages guiding both rehearsals and their making of love.  All the while, even though Will keeps promising the impatient Henslowe that a happy ending (and maybe a pirate or two) is coming, everything in the emerging script and in his own life begins to point otherwise.

    Adam Magill and Megan Trout could hardly be better than they are as Will and Viola.  Mr. Magill has all the angst, impatience, and near-suicidal tendencies of a writer in trouble until he transforms into an energized and ebullient creator of iambic pentameter lines that seem to flow with full ease of guaranteed excellence.  That metamorphosis is seen and heard in his whole demeanor as he embodies, after meeting his Juliet, the very Romeo he is creating word for word.  In the beginning, he is an impetuous boy-barely-man who is willing to risk life and limb for just one forbidden kiss.  That kiss stimulates the flow of all kinds of juices within him, one of which fortunately for the world is the ever-increasing ability to write beautiful verse without Marlowe’s prompting.  

    As Thomas the actor, Viola the aristocrat, and Viola the lover, Megan Trout reigns supreme.  When dressed in hat and mustache as the disguised Thomas, she is a talented Romeo in rehearsal whose lines are delivered with a sensitivity and sensuality that her fellow actors fully admire (none but Will knowing that there is a reason this Thomas brings something unique they have never seen before among their colleagues on stage).  As Viola the betrothed, Ms. Trout is reluctantly dutiful, courageously sneaky, and proudly resistant all at the same time (especially the last when repeatedly barked commands by her fiancé Lord Wessex, played with full aristocratic and chauvinistic snobbery and haughtiness by Thomas Gorrebeeck).  But when Viola the lover, Megan Trout is a Juliet prototype who could inspire almost any would-be poet.  Arm-in-arm with her Will with lips touching lips, the two create a script that causes all watching hearts to skip more than a beat or two.

    Like in most of the Bard’s canon of plays, many of the minor, lower-class characters of Shakespeare in Love are memorably delicious and delightful.  Similar to the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Viola’s nurse is often a show-stopper, well worth watching every moment she is on stage.  As the nurse who supports and continually covers up on the sly Viola’s love affair with Will, Stacy Ross is particularly hilarious as she covers her ears and sings in off-key (and loudly) in order to hide from herself and the rest of the household the rather loud love-making coming from her mistress’s bed.  Ms. Ross is also a bawdy tavern owner, Mistress Quickly, who gives a young Sam (Ben Euphrat) a chance to leave for a moment his normal role as lady on stage to be a man in bed.  And as Queen Elizabeth, Ms. Ross reigns supreme, especially in the wry humor she so well delivers in both her voice and her royal countenance. 

    Robert Sicular is Henslowe, the impatient and worried owner of the Rose Theatre, whose overall jovial demeanor and friendship to Will betrays the persistent pushiness he tries to use to get Will to write in his pirates and ensure the tragedy-in-the-making has a happy ending.

    An impish dwarf of a kid named John Webster, as deliciously and devilishly played by Sango Tajima (among four other roles), has a myriad of ways to don a face-filling frown; and while she plays the bad boy, it is tough in the end not to love her John.  Kenny Toll plays with flair, heart, and fun two key chums of Will: his inspiration for needed words to woo Viola and fellow playwright, Christopher Marlowe, and a exceedingly handsome and seasoned actor named Ned Alleyn.

    Winning the hearts of his fellow actors as well as we the audience is Liam Vincent as a stuttering, wanna-be thespian, Ralph, who becomes an unlikely star. L. Peter Callender is the bombastic and blustery Burbage, Henslowe’s rival theatre owner, and proves that the union among actors is even stronger than the drive to secure one’s own packed house.  Lance Gardner and Brian Herndon each ably take on multiple roles, with the latter being the pompously pious Tilney who keeps trying to close the very theatres that his sovereign queen likes to attend. 

    And as he often does when on a local stage, Mark Anderson Phillips leaves a fantastically memorable impression as Fennyman, the money man behind Will’s production who goes from demanding bully to  a sentimental producer with a big heart and a bigger desire to be on stage himself.

    The intimate Marin Theatre is a perfect setting for Director Jasson Minadakis to give this production the kind scrappy, make-shift feel that provides authenticity to Shakespeare’s early, low/no budget beginnings.  With many of the actors also picking up instruments to provide music along the way (under music direction by Jennifer Reason) and with they and others often watching scenes playing out around them (as if observing fellow thespians rehearsing), there is a real feeling of excitement, spontaneity, and community throughout the production.  The warehouse look and feel of Kat Conley’s excellent scenic design where a rolling ladder becomes a balcony or a staircase and trunks and boxes in the background serve as seats and leaning posts enhances the director’s and the playwright’s vision for the play’s raw energy.  

    Katherine Nowacki’s costumes establish the rag-tag nature of many of the characters while also letting us see the aristocrats and queen in all the finery and exaggerated collars that we also see in textbooks and museum paintings (not to mention PBS series).  The lighting of Kurt Landisman is a particular star in this production as he creates light that seems to seep in from unseen cracks and to have the glow of candles and torches.  Sword fight scenes are wonderfully planned and choreographed for both laughs and thrills by Fight Director Dave Maier and Choreographer Liz Tenuto.

    Lee Hall’s adaptation of the Norman/Stoppard screenplay emphasizes even more than the original flm the determination of one woman to forge a place on the world’s stage — or at least on London’s — for talented actors of her sex.  While we as audience are moved by the doomed love story of Romeo and Juliet, we cannot help but be thrilled by the stand this fictional feminist of sorts takes in the stead of all the women who did dare to make their historic ways onto the forbidden stage.  Brava and bravo to Viola and to Lee Hall as well as to Marin Theatre for this engaging, enthralling, and educating Shakespeare in Love.

    — Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys Read full review
  • “Shakespeare in Love”at Marin Theatre Company

    Though movie houses used to regularly run double features (and some art houses still do), it’s just not something that’s done in legitimate theatre – for rather obvious reasons. Which is too bad, because one could make a great double bill out of Something Rotten! and the current offering at Marin Theatre Company, Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s delightful  Shakespeare in Love, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall. 

    Both imagine Shakespeare as something more than a poet. In Something Rotten! the Bard is a preening narcissist, reveling in his celebrity like a starlet on a red carpet illuminated by flash bulbs and klieg lights. This Shakespeare (Adam Magill) is almost a polar opposite: a more complete, well-rounded character, full of anxieties and insecurities – and not necessarily the author of every word attributed to him.

    If you’re one who subscribes to the hagiography that has exalted Shakespeare as the sole author of all his works, you might be offended by the many scenes where some of the Bard’s most famous lines or plot points come from the mouths of other characters, primarily Christopher Marlowe (Kenny Toll). Shakespeare’s contemporary and fellow poet/playwright, he assists Shakespeare in his wooing of Viola de Lesseps (Megan Trout), daughter of a wealthy merchant, who wants nothing more than to be on stage. While it can be a little disconcerting to watch Shakespeare stumble over “Shall I compare thee to…” and then have Marlowe whisper the lines of this famous sonnet so Shakespeare can repeat them to his beloved, this is not a historical play, and though some of the characters are based on actual people, it’s best to forget any preconceptions and let this delightful bit of entertainment cast its spell.

    The cunningly-crafted script is brilliant, with a relatively intricate plot and elements of mistaken identity, cross-dressing, and conflicts between classes of the sort Shakespeare employed liberally. 

    The story takes place early in Shakespeare’s career, soon after the premiere of Two Gentlemen of Verona, while he is trying to write his next play, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter. Suffering from writer’s block and under pressure from his patrons, with his usual troupe of actors out in the provinces, Shakespeare faces “insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.”  No disaster here, though, as Shakespeare and his company will somehow navigate their way to a happy ending – that is a direct result of his completing one of the greatest of all theatrical tragedies.

    One of the most thrilling aspects of theatre for me is how a company comes together to create a world on stage. And so it is here – on two levels. First, there is the fictional company portrayed on stage, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, of which Shakespeare was a member, and who performed most of his plays. The second, deeper level, is the company of actors director Jasson Minadakis has assembled. Watching them interact and play with (and off of) each other, seeing them in almost-balletic stage combat (wonderfully choreographed by fight director Dave Maier), witnessing their passion and respect for each other, this alone is worth the price of admission. There simply are no weak links.  This is an all-star team of Bay Area actors. However, special attention should be drawn to several cast members.

    First, Robert Sicular, who never fails to impress. His ability to project power (as theater owner Philip Henslowe and merchant De Lesseps) – and then pierce that façade with the curl of a lip or a subtle physical deflation is wondrous to behold. L. Peter Callender is likewise brilliant in his roles, and Stacy Ross brings a wonderful regal bearing to her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth. (She gets one of the biggest laughs of the night when the queen absolutely burns Lord Wessex, who is marrying Viola De Lesseps for her money. When he mentions a fortune to the queen, she icily replies “I thought you were here because you had none.” Finally, ensemble member Sango Tajima is marvelous, exhibiting boundless physicality combined with a precision of movement that is nothing short of perfection.

    For lovers of Shakespeare, this is a must-see. You’ll have a wonderful time catching all the different references to various plays and lines from plays (as when Spot the dog is sent offstage), and how the authors have mirrored many of Shakespeare’s signature tropes to delightful effect. But fan of the Bard or not, the music and the comedy and the romance and the wordplay are almost guaranteed to enchant.

    — Patrick Thomas, Two on the Aisle Read full review

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