Shakespeare Theatre Announces Casting for THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

The Shakespeare Theatre Company, recipient of the 2012 Regional Theatre Tony Award, announces casting for the first two mainstage productions of its 2012-2013 Season. The Government Inspector, running from September 13 – October 28 at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street NW), and A Midsummer Night's Dream, running from November 15 – December 30 at Sidney Harman Hall(610 F Street NW), both feature new and familiar faces to STC's stages.

STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn directs Nikolai Gogol's satire The Government Inspector, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher. The first Russian play to grace the STC mainstage, its cast includes STC Affiliated Artists Floyd King as the Postmaster, Nancy Robinette as Anna, David Sabin as the Judge, Derek Smith as Hlestakov and Tom Story as the Doctor. Rounding out the cast are Claire Brownell as Marya, Liam Craig as Osip, Rick Foucheux as the Mayor, Sarah Marshall as Grusha/Innkeeper's Wife/Corporal's Widow, Hugh Nees as Bobchinsky, Lawrence Redmond as the Hospital Director, Craig Wallace as the School Principal and Harry Winter as Dobchinsky.

In Gogol's hilarious satire of provincial Russian bureaucracy, Hlestakov, a civil servant who is running out of money, travels from Saint Petersburg to a small town where his imagination runs rampant. When bumbling town officials mistake him for an incognito inspector investigating them for corruption, a comedy of errors begins and chaos ensues. The Government Inspector satirizes corruption and self deception.

This holiday season, STC will bring to the stage one of Shakespeare's most beloved works, A Midsummer Night's Dream. STC Affiliated Artist Ethan McSweeny directs a cast that includes STC Affiliated Artists Adam Green as Puck and Ted Van Griethuysen as Peter Quince as well as Robert Beitzel as Lysander, Christopher Bloch as Starveling, Robert Dorfman as Snug, Bruce Dow as Bottom, Susannah Flood as Helena, David Graham Jones as Francis Flute, Chris Myers as Demetrius, Amelia Pedlow as Hermia, Lawrence Redmond as Egeus, John Tillotson as Tom Snout and Sara Topham as Hippolyta/ Titania. Ensemble members include Maxwell Balay, John Bambery, Jacqui Jarrold, Joe Mallon, Max Reinhardsen, Rohan Saxena, Gracie Terzian, Jessica Thorne and Katherine Turner.

A Midsummer Night's Dream tells the story of mismatched lovers Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena who flee to the forest outside Athens, but run into a supernatural squabble that will alter their destinies forever. Will mischievous Puck create harmony or cacophony within the forest? Will Bottom and his Mechanicals put on a successful show for the Duke? Love, magic and wonder fill the air as dreams blend with reality in this Shakespeare classic.

To reserve tickets or for more information, call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org.

*Complete company including creative team will be announced at a later date. Artists and dates subject to change.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has become one of the nation's leading theatre companies. Today, STC is synonymous with artistic excellence and making classical theatre more accessible. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Kahn and Managing Director Chris Jennings, STC's innovative approach to Shakespeare and other classic playwrights has earned it the reputation as the nation's premier classical theatre company. By focusing on works with profound themes, complex characters and poetic language written by Shakespeare, his contemporaries and the playwrights he influenced, the Company's artistic mission is unique among theatre companies: to present theatre of scope and size in an imaginative, skillful and accessible American style that honors the playwrights' language and intentions while viewing their work through a 21st-century lens.

A leader in arts education, STC has a stable of initiatives that teach and excite learners of all ages, from school programs and acting classes to discussion series as well as accessible programs like the annual Free For All, one of STC's most beloved annual traditions, allowing audiences to experience Shakespeare at no charge.

Located in our nation's capital, STC performs in two theatres, the Lansburgh Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall in downtown Washington, D.C., creating a dynamic, cultural hub of activity that showcases STC as well as outstanding local performing arts groups and nationally renowned organizations. STC moved into the 451-seat Lansburgh Theatre in March 1992, after six years in residency in the Folger Library's Elizabethan theatre. At that time the Penn Quarter neighborhood was not considered desirable by many; since then, STC has helped drive its revitalization. The 774-seat Sidney Harman Hall opened in October 2007.