Nigel Gore, Merritt Janson, Tina Packer, Finn Wittrock, et al. Set for Shakespeare & Company’s 2011 Season

Shakespeare & Company has announced the plays that will comprise its 2011 season as well as preliminary casting for certain productions.

In the mainstage Founders Theatre, the company will produce Shakespeare’s As You Like It (June 24 – September 4), directed by Tony Simotes and featuring Merritt Janson as Rosalind. Also scheduled for this space is Daniela Varon’s staging of Romeo and Juliet (July 8 – September 3), which will star Finn Wittrock as Romeo. The third production in this theater will be a remounting of Simotes’ staging of Steven Canny and John Nicholson’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (July 21 – September 4), featuring its original 2009 cast: Jonathan Croy, Josh Aaron McCabe and Ryan Winkles.

The first production for 2011 in the company’s smaller Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre will be Tina Packer’s Women of Will: The Complete Journey (Parts I-V), to run May 27 – July 10. Eric Tucker will direct Packer and acting partner Nigel Gore in this five part exploration of the Bard’s works. Also scheduled for this space is Shelagh Stephenson’s comedy The Memory of Water (June 16-September 4), which will feature Elizabeth Aspenlieder, Corinna May, Annette Miller and Kristin Wold. Packer will return to the Bernstein stage for Margaret Engel and Allison Engel’s Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins (August 3- September 4), a portrait of the sometimes controversial columnist.

In addition to these three productions, the theater will house a production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona (July 6 – September 3), to be presented by the theater’s Performance Intern Company, under the direction of Dennis Krausnick.

During the fall and winter, the theater will also produce Patrick Barlow’s The 39 Steps, David Sedaris’ The Santaland Diares< directed by Simotes and featuring Peter Davenport, and Moliere's The Learned Ladies, featuring Packer. Schedules and complete casting for these piece will be announced shortly.

Shakespeare & Company’s programming will be rounded out with special offerings on the July 4 holiday, two performances by the Shakespeare & Young Company on August 17 * 19; and the theater’s annual Studio Festival of Plays, to be offered on September 5. In addition, the theater will host Wednesday Q&A sessions throughout the summer, offered in conjunction with each of the productions.