The Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) has announced the cast and creative team for Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline. The production’s preview performance will take place Thursday, June 29, at 7:30 p.m. The production will run through August 12, 2017. Dates and times will vary and can be found on the production calendar.
Cymbeline is one of Shakespeare’s most fantastical plays, making it a perfect fit for ISF’s magical 40th! A brilliant princess, an evil queen, a misguided king, and a thoroughly rotten clown are just some of the characters in this fairy tale romance, made even more whimsical and theatrical by Chris Coleman’s six-person adaptation, in which five actors and a musician play all the parts!
The principal roles in Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline feature Nisi Sturgis (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) as Imogen, Jordan Coughtry as Posthumus, and ISF regular Thomas Anthony Quinn (recently featured in NBC’s Chicago P.D.) as Cymbeline. Primary roles for the other three cast members include Thom Miller as Iachimo, Patrick Toon as Pisanio, and Raffael Sears as the piano-playing musical guide.
Directing Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline is Andy Park. He returns to ISF after directing last season’s popular musical Peter and the Starcatcher and the well-received Failure: A Love Story in 2013. Park was recently chosen as the artistic director of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre in Lincoln. Joe Klug, set designer, is making his debut with ISF after designing several productions in Chicago and Milwaukee. Other design team members include Nicholas Hartman, costumes; Kieran Pereira, sound; and Dan Ozminkowski, lighting.
Chris Coleman is the artistic director of the Portland Center Stage in Oregon where he premiered his adaptation in 2012. Based on legends about early Celtic kings, Cymbeline explores familiar Shakespearean themes of jealousy and innocence wronged. Coleman has added a piano-playing wit who becomes the narrator and guide through an ancient landscape.
Tickets are available at ISU’s Center for Performing Arts box office Monday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m. or by calling 309-438-2535 during box office hours. Tickets can also be purchased online by visiting IllinoisShakes.com. Single ticket prices range from $12-$49. All performances of Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline will take place at the Ewing Theatre, located at the corner of Emerson Street and Towanda Avenue.
Season tickets are still available and include all three plays of the 2017 Season. Prices range from $35 to $128. For more information about the Festival and its 40th season, visit IllinoisShakes.com.
Illinois State University alumni, family, and friends are invited to the annual alumni night at the Festival on Saturday, July 15. The special event includes a backstage tour of the theatre, dinner, and a program with remarks by President Larry Dietz, College of Fine Arts Dean Jean Miller, and Illinois Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Kevin Rich.
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival is a professional Shakespearean festival that is a part of the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University. The Festival is increasingly recognized nationally as a resident company of artists producing a rotating repertory season of Shakespeare plays and new works in the spirit of Shakespeare performed during the summer months on the grounds of the Ewing Cultural Center.
