Download LOVE`S LABOR`S LOST THREE SISTERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2010
Contact: Osheen Jones
[email protected]
Columbia University School of the Arts,
Theatre Arts Program
Presents
LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST
Written by William Shakespeare
&
THREE SISTERS
Written by Anton Chekhov
Translated by Paul Schmidt
Directed by ANDREI SERBAN
November 11—21, 2010
Presented in Repertory
The Riverside Theatre
91 Claremont Avenue
Between 120th and 122nd Streets
$15 General Admission/ $5 Seniors
FREE with Columbia University ID or any other valid student ID
Renowned Romanian stage director Andrei Serban introduces two bold new productions,
developed with a cast of Columbia University actors emerging from an extended
ensemble training process helmed by the director himself. Two great works by two of
history’s most admired playwrights—Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost and Chekhov’s
Three Sisters—will be presented in repertory at The Riverside Theatre from November
11 through 21.
Known for his iconoclastic interpretations of classic plays, Serban has had great
international success, presenting acclaimed productions at Lincoln Center, the A.R.T., the
Public Theater, the Metropolitan Opera and La MaMa as well as at numerous
international houses. His seminal production of The Cherry Orchard at Lincoln Center in
1977 was hailed by the New York Times as “a celebration of genius, like the cleaning of a
great painting, a fresh exposition of an old philosophy.” Serban is known for reinvigorating the classics while honoring the text, saying himself: “We need to find new
images that are fresh. It’s interesting for me to try something traditional and still to keep
it alive, surprising.”
Serban, who heads the Acting MFA program at Columbia, occasionally encounters a
class of students with whom he particularly connects. Fifteen years ago he directed a
graduate thesis production of Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle at La MaMa where it
received glowing reviews: “Thanks to Mr. Serban’s nimble staging… and the passion of
a disciplined troupe of graduate acting students from Columbia University, this revival
comes as pleasant a surprise as an unexpected day off from school… There is a piquant
immediacy, a poignant freshness, in the actors’ portrayals that suits Brecht’s see-through
characters” (the New York Times). Serban feels that the Acting class of 2011 is just as
promising; he reorganized his schedule to work particularly long hours with the students.
These productions represent a unique artistic collaboration that has come into being as a
result of the class’s prolonged training.
Returning from a busy summer directing Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri at the Opera
National de Paris and Three Sisters at the National Theater in Budapest, Serban is now in
rehearsal at Columbia for both shows. Love’s Labor’s Lost, an intelligent comedy full of
philosophical reflection, will be staged with a strong choral element and an emphasis on
the language’s natural poetry. Serban’s revolutionary take on Three Sisters emerges from
a year’s gestation of work on the play with the young company. The production, which
uses popular music and an unconventional casting approach in which several actors play
each part, retains the humor, solemnity, and absurdity of Chekhov’s masterpiece while
making it feel refreshingly modern.
Tickets for events at The Riverside Theatre can be purchased online
(www.ColumbiaStages.org) or by visiting the box office of The Riverside Theatre. Box
Office hours are Thursday-Saturday, 4-8pm; Sunday 12-4pm and 1 hour prior to all
performances.
Performance Schedule: (all performances at The Riverside Theatre, 91 Claremont
Avenue between 120th and 122nd Sts.)
Thursday, November 11 at 8pm
Saturday, November 13 at 8pm
Sunday, November 14 at 2pm
Sunday, November 14 at 7pm
Tuesday, November 16 at 8pm
Wednesday, November 17 at 8pm
Thursday, November 18 at 8pm
Friday, November 19 at 8pm
Saturday, November 20 at 2pm
Saturday, November 20 at 8pm
Sunday, November 21 at 2pm
Sunday, November 21 at 8pm
Love’s Labor’s Lost
Three Sisters
Three Sisters
Love’s Labor’s Lost
Love’s Labor’s Lost
Three Sisters
Love’s Labor’s Lost
Three Sisters
Three Sisters
Love’s Labor’s Lost
Love’s Labor’s Lost
Three Sisters
Columbia Stages is the producing arm of the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre
Studies of Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Columbia Stages presents a season
of graduate actor and director productions as well as an annual festival of new plays by
emerging playwrights. The theatre program offers MFA degrees in acting, directing,
playwriting, dramaturgy, stage management, and theatre management and producing. The
goal of the program is to provide each student with the foundation for a career in
professional theatre as well as the tools to embrace an ever-changing theatrical landscape
and shape the future of the theatre.
For more information, visit www.ColumbiaStages.org