Shakespeare in LA

Independent Shakespeare Co., presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, has announced its Fall/Spring Studio Season, which includes the premiere of a new adaptation of Edmund Rostand’s classic, Cyrano de Bergerac, the return of A Christmas Carol, performed – with a little artistic license – by David Melville, and a studio-exclusive production of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Tickets for all shows are available online at www.iscla.org.

October 24 – November 24, 2013
CYRANO
By Edmond Rostand
New translation and adaptation by André Martin
Directed by ISC Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma
Cast: Kevin Angulo, Claudia de Vasco, André Martin, Sean Pritchett, and Amy Urbina.

Dazzling humor, soaring romance and thrilling sword-play are the hallmarks of Rostand’s most famous work. In this entirely new adaptation, seven actors bring the theatricality and panache of Rostand’s masterpiece to the Studio Stage. 

Says writer and actor André Martin, “It’s every French actor’s dream to someday spirit-gum an exaggerated nose to his face and play the swashbuckling hero who has enjoyed instant and phenomenal fame since appearing on stage in 1897. Since then, this play has continued to delight audiences on an international level, and not without reason: it’s a story filled with heroic feats and swordfights, idealistic love and romance, chivalric deeds and virtuoso. It’s dramatic. It’s funny. It’s tragic. It’s a great love-story, told by a man who speaks his heart and says what he thinks.”

Adds director Melissa Chalsma says, “Our Studio is a space where we explore and re-imagine classical plays. André’s adaptation is thrilling. It creates a structure for the actors and the production to be endlessly inventive while distilling the emotional power of the story. It’s been conceived specifically for our indoor space, and it’s an extraordinary opportunity to connect on a deeply personal level with audiences, as the Studio is so much smaller than our summer home in Griffith Park.”

December 5 – December 22, 2013
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Based on an adaption author Charles Dickens made of his famous Christmas story and performed by David Melville, this L.A. tradition is back for the holidays as Melville recreates the experience of a public reading of A Christmas Carol, given by Dickens himself.

April 3 – May 3, 2014
ROMEO & JULIET
By William Shakespeare
Athletic staging and visually rich design create a world of adolescent longing, joyous love, and dire consequences. This intimate production will play for the public exclusively in the Studio.

Independent Shakespeare Co. in the Studio is an intimate 49-seat venue at the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex where ISC presents original works and re-imagined stagings of classic stories. 3191 Casitas Avenue #168 | Los Angeles, 90039. www.iscla.org