NEW HAVEN’S EDGERTON PARK TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE EXOTIC ELIZABETHAN LOCALES OF SICILIA AND BOHEMIA FOR ELM SHAKESPEARE’S THE WINTER’S TALE, AUGUST 19TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 5TH

James Andreassi, Artistic Director of New Haven’s Elm Shakespeare Company, has announced the cast for the company’s 15th anniversary summer show, The Winter’s Tale.  Shakespeare’s tale of romance and jealousy, abandonment and passion, plus a touch of magic, will play in New Haven/Hamden’s Edgerton Park from August 19th through September 5th, 2010.

Admission to The Winter’s Tale, which will be directed by Mr. Andreassi, is FREE with donations suggested.

 Playing the leading role of the jealous King Leontes of Sicilia will be veteran actor Mark Zeisler, last seen in Elm Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Matchmaker in 2008.  His wife Hermione, suspected of infidelity, will be played by Branford native Nadia Bowers, who began her career with Elm Shakespeare’s inaugural production of The Tempest in 1996 and subsequently appeared with the company in Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Othello.  King Polixenes, her suspected paramour, will be played by Eric Martin Brown, seen last summer in Elm Shakespeare’s The Imaginary Invalid and Holiday, which was nominated for a Connecticut Critics Circle Award as Outstanding Production of a Play.  Other Actors Equity Association members in the cast include Tracy Griswold and Aaron Moss, making their Elm Shakespeare debuts, and returning actors Colin Lane, Raphael Massie, and Sarah Peterson.

Set design for The Winter’s Tale is by Tim Brown with lighting by Jamie Burnett, costumes by Elizabeth Bolster, and sound and original music by David Stephen Baker.

Performances of The Winter’s Tale begin on Thursday, August 19th and continue on a Tuesday through Sunday evening schedule through September 5th. 

All Elm Shakespeare performances are free of charge, with donations welcomed and family audiences are always encouraged to attend.  Performances begin at 8:00 pm in Edgerton Park , entrance at 75 Cliff Street , near the corner of Cliff Street and Whitney Avenue , in New Haven .  Audience members are encouraged to bring picnics, blankets, and lawn chairs.  Reservations are not necessary.

  For additional information on Elm Shakespeare Company call 203.393.1436 or visit its website at www.elmshakespeare.org.

Founded in January of 1995, The Elm Shakespeare Company has rapidly become one of New Haven 's most exciting arts education organizations. In collaboration with the Yale Center for British Art, the Company has forged an alliance with the High School in the Community and developed an innovative Artist in Residency Program.  In the summer of 1996, Elm Shakespeare presented its first professional production, William Shakespeare's The Tempest.  With a cast composed of professional, pre-professional, and student performers, The Tempest was presented free of charge in New Haven 's Edgerton Park to an audience of 3,500.  Since 1996, Elm Shakespeare Company's audience has grown to over 30,000 attending performances throughout the month of August.