Imagine if Shakespeare’s best villains were taken out of their respective plays, reassembled Frankenstein-style, and finally got to be the focus of their own stories. The California Shakespeare Ensemble will do just that in Shakespeare’s VILLAINS as the company weaves three of the Bard’s finest antagonists into one engaging 90-minute show, using only Shakespeare’s original words. Lineage Performing Arts Center will host the CSE every Sunday at 8pm from Oct. 27 – Nov. 17 in this dark tragicomic look at what it means to be a “villain”.
Shakespeare’s most well-known villains like Iago and Richard III have a long history of fandom. But some of The Bard’s more complex villains may actually show us how much evil is in all of us. Is Shylock really a villain? Is Macbeth? The show follows three of Shakespeare’s villains – Shylock (Merchant of Venice), Macbeth (Macbeth), and Tybalt (Romeo and Juliet) – using Shakespeare’s original words and their own separate stories, but with a new adaptation and edit by CSE artistic director Brian Elerding, who also directs.
The cast features veterans of stage and screen including Samantha Whittaker (Ophelia from Trevor Nunn’s Hamlet at the Old Vic in London), Samantha Sloyan (winner of LA Drama Critics Circle and LA Weekly awards, recurring on ABC’s Scandal), Fred Cross (The Joe Schmo Show, and Second City alum), and Alex Weed (Pretty Little Liars, CSI: NY, Criminal Minds).
Tickets are $20 (or $35 with a limited edition of the published script with admission). Tickets can be purchased at californiashakespeare.org or through BrownPaperTickets.com. Doors open at 7:30 for pre-show drinks, show at 8pm
Due to stage violence and some literary innuendo and double entendre, the ensemble recommends the show for adults and teens. There is no nudity, but the show is designed for children 12 years of age and older.
VILLAINS
Oct. 27 – Nov. 17, 2013
California Shakespeare Ensemble
Lineage Performing Arts Center
89 South Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105
Shakespeare in LA 