Complete Cast and Creative Team Announced for
the Summer Shakespeare Festival Production of
KING RICHARD II,
Directed by Erica Schmidt and
Featuring Star of Stage and Screen Robert Sean Leonard

Performances Run June 11 – July 15, 2017

SAN DIEGO (May 30, 2017)—The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team of the first offering in the 2017 Summer Shakespeare Festival: William Shakespeare’s epic King Richard II, helmed by award-winning director Erica Schmidt (Off Broadway’s A Month in the Country, All the Fine Boys, Humor Abuse) in her Globe debut. The play will run June 11 – July 15, 2017, in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Previews run June 11 – 17. Opening night is Sunday, June 18 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now to the general public.

The Old Globe’s summer season kicks off with one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s towering cycle of history plays. Convinced of his divine right to rule, King Richard acts recklessly and provides the canny Henry Bolingbroke an opening to seize the crown. Filled with magnificent verse and memorable characters, the exciting and dramatic King Richard II is a moving and insightful portrait of how the forces of history collide and combust to shape a nation’s political landscape.

As previously announced, Tony Award winner Robert Sean Leonard will take on the title role of King Richard II. Globe audiences will remember him from his memorable roles as Henry Higgins in Pygmalion in 2011 and Edgar in Jack O’Brien’s King Lear in 1993 opposite Hal Holbrook. Leonard is probably best known for playing Dr. James Wilson for eight seasons on the hit television series “House” and for playing Neil Perry in Dead Poets Society, his film debut. He also has over a dozen Broadway credits, including The Invention of Love, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Music Man, Arcadia, and this season’s Sunday in the Park with George.

Joining him in the cast are John Ahlin (Broadway’s Waiting for Godot, Journey’s End, Macbeth) as Earl of Northumberland; Jake Horowitz (King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, David Cromer’s Our Town Off Broadway) as Duke of Aumerle; Old Globe Associate Artist Charles Janasz (32 productions at The Old Globe, most recently 2013 Shakespeare Festival) as John of Gaunt and Gardener; Patrick Kerr (Globe’s Love’s Labor’s Lost and Twelfth Night, “Frasier,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) as Duke of York; Tory Kittles (“Colony,” “True Detective,” “Sons of Anarchy”) as Henry Bolingbroke; Ian Lassiter (The Cherry Orchard and War Horse on Broadway) as Thomas Mowbray, Welsh Captain, and Keeper; Lizabeth Mackay (Globe’s Faith Healer, Broadway’s Crimes of the Heart) as Duchess of York and Servingwoman; James Joseph O’Neill (a dozen Globe credits, include Macbeth last year) as Bishop of Carlisle; and San Diego local Connor Sullivan (Globe’s Sense and Sensibility, The Metromaniacs) as Lord Willoughby.

The cast also includes students in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program: Amara James Aja as Bushy and Sir Stephen Scroop; Samuel Max Avishay as Harry Percy; Nora Carroll as Queen Isabel; Renardo Charles Jr. as Lord Ross; Ajinkya Desai as House of Norfolk Herald; Talley Beth Gale as Lady 1 and Servingwoman; Daniel Ian Joeck as Bagot and Earl of Salisbury; Lorenzo Landini as Green and Duke of Surrey; Jose Martinez as House of Hereford Herald; Christina A. Okolo as House of Norfolk Herald and Servingwoman; Suzelle Palacios as Lady 2, Groom, and Servingwoman; Larica Schnell as House of Hereford Herald, Gardener, and Servingwoman; and Samantha Sutliff as Duchess of Gloucester, Gardener, and Servingwoman.

The creative team of King Richard II includes two-time Tony Award winner John Lee Beatty (Scenic Design), Andrea Lauer (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), Sten Severson (Sound Design), Ursula Meyer (Voice and Text Coach), Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).

“It’s been five years since we’ve produced one of Shakespeare’s history plays in our renowned Summer Festival, and I’m thrilled to put King Richard II, one of my favorites, center stage,” said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “It’s a rich and exciting work, full of great poetry and pageantry, and it asks pointed and resonant questions about patriotism, leadership, and how politics shape a nation’s destiny. Robert Sean Leonard, one of the most gifted actors of his generation, is perfect for the title role, a potent monarch with the soul of a poet, and Erica Schmidt’s smart and vibrant production will make for a wonderful night in the theatre.”

Erica Schmidt (Director) has directed All the Fine Boys, which she also wrote (The New Group); Ivan Turgenev’s A Month in the Country (Classic Stage Company); Dennis Kelly’s Taking Care of Baby and Humor Abuse, which she also co-created and wrote and for which she received a Lucille Lortel Award (Manhattan Theatre Club); Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s I Call My Brothers, the Obie Award-winning Invasion!, and Gary Mitchell’s Trust, for which she received a Joe A. Callaway Award nomination (The Play Company); Rent (Tokyo); Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Sorcerer, and Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land (Bard SummerScape); Carnival (Paper Mill Playhouse); Quincy Long’s People Be Heard (Playwrights Horizons); As You Like It, for which she won the New York International Fringe Festival Award for Best Direction (The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, chashama); Debbie Does Dallas, which she also wrote(Off Broadway for The Araca Group); and Spanish Girl (Second Stage Uptown). Ms. Schmidt’s upcoming credits include directing and adapting Mac Beth featuring seven schoolgirls (Seattle Repertory Theatre), and directing and adapting the book for Cyrano in collaboration with new music from Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Matt Berninger of The National (Goodspeed Musicals). Ms. Schmidt was a Princess Grace Award recipient in 2001.

King Richard II is supported in part through gifts from Production Sponsors Hal and Pam Fuson, Darlene Marcos Shiley, and Qualcomm, as well as Artist Sponsors Diane and John Berol (for Robert Sean Leonard) and The Jeannie Polinsky Rivkin Artistic Fund (for Erica Schmidt).

King Richard II is only the first offering in the 2017 Summer Shakespeare Festival. Next in the Globe’s outdoor theatre under the stars will be Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Hamlet, one of the greatest plays ever written. Directed by the Globe’s own Barry Edelstein, this exhilarating new production will run August 6 – September 10.

Additional events taking place during the run of King Richard II include:

• INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at 6:30 p.m.
  An opportunity to closely connect with productions both onstage and backstage. A panel selected from the artistic company of each show (playwrights, actors, directors, designers, and/or technicians) engages patrons in an informal and illuminating presentation of ideas and insights to enhance the theatregoing experience. Reception at 6:00 p.m. FREE.

• POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesday, June 20; Wednesday, June 21; and Tuesday, June 27, 2017.
  Join us after the show for an informal and enlightening question-and-answer session with cast, crew, and/or Globe staff members. Get the inside story on creating a character and putting together a professional production. FREE.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE GARDEN: Tuesday, June 20; Wednesday, June 21; Thursday, June 22; Friday, June 23; and Saturday, June 24; all at 7:00 p.m.

A series of informal presentations that enhance the Summer Shakespeare Festival experience. These seminars feature members of the Festival creative team and take place in the Craig Noel Garden before each performance. FREE.

SINGLE TICKETS to King Richard II start at $30 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more. Performances begin on June 11 and continue through July 15, 2017. Performance times: All performances begin at 8:00 p.m. Previews: Sunday, June 11; Tuesday, June 13; Wednesday, June 14; Thursday, June 15; and Friday, June 16. Opening night is Sunday, June 18. Regular performances: Tuesdays through Sundays. There is an added performance on Monday, July 3. There are no performances on Saturday, June 17; Tuesday, July 4; or Sunday, July 16.

LOCATION and PARKING INFORMATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego’s Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. Through a special arrangement with the San Diego Zoo, Old Globe evening ticket-holders have the opportunity to pre-purchase valet parking in the Zoo’s employee parking structure. With a drop-off point just a short walk to the Globe, theatregoers may purchase fast, easy, convenient valet parking for just $20 per vehicle per evening. Pre-paid only, available only by phone through the Old Globe Box Office. Call (619) 234-5623 or visit
www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/valet-parking.

There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. The Balboa Park valet is also available during performances, located in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/detailed-directions.

PLEASE NOTE: To look up online or GPS directions to The Old Globe, please do not use the Delivery Address above. There is only a 10-minute zone at that physical address. For GPS users, please click here for the map coordinates, and here for written directions to The Old Globe and nearby parking in Balboa Park.

CALENDAR: The Old Man and The Old Moon (5/13–6/18), The Imaginary Invalid (5/27–7/2), King Richard II (6/11–7/15), Guys and Dolls (7/2–8/13), Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood! (7/22–8/27), Hamlet (8/6–9/10), Benny & Joon (9/7–10/22), The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey (9/30–10/29), Globe for All Tour: Twelfth Night (10/31–11/19), Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (11/4–12/24), M.F.A.: Romeo and Juliet (11/11–11/19), The Importance of Being Earnest (1/27/18–3/4), Uncle Vanya (2/10–3/11), American Mariachi (3/23–4/29), The Wanderers (4/5–5/6), A Thousand Splendid Suns (5/12–6/17), Native Gardens (5/26–6/24).

PHOTO EDITORS: Digital images of The Old Globe’s productions are available at www.theoldglobe.org/press-room.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country’s leading professional regional theatres and has stood as San Diego’s flagship arts institution for over 80 years. Under the leadership of Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary, and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theatre’s artistic and arts engagement programs. Numerous world premieres such as the 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Bright Star, Allegiance, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,and the annual holiday musical Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theatres across the country.

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CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

John Ahlin (Earl of Northumberland) has appeared on Broadway in Waiting for Godot with Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin, Journey’s End (Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play), The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Voices in the Dark, One Mo’ Time, Whoopee!, and Macbeth. His Off Broadway credits include Orson’s Shadow, Gray Area, and The Front Page. His favorite regional credits include Floyd Collins (The Old Globe, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Goodman Theatre), The Critic/The Real Inspector Hound (Shakespeare Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater), Henry IV, Part II and King Lear (Utah Shakespeare Festival), The Guardsman (The Kennedy Center), and performances at Pittsburgh Public Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, and La Jolla Playhouse. Mr. Ahlin has appeared in over 40 Shakespeare productions (portraying Falstaff 11 times). His television and film credits include “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Third Watch,” “As the World Turns,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” and Inside Llewyn Davis. Mr. Ahlin co-authored and performed ChipandGus,which won the highest awards at the 20th annual New York International Fringe Festival before successful Off Broadway and regional runs.

Amara James Aja (Bushy, Sir Stephen Scroop) was recently seen at the Globe in The Blameless, Love’s Labor’s Lost, and Macbeth. He just completed his second year in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program.Mr. Aja’s previous credits include Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Oliver in As You Like It, and Arthur in Acquainted with the Night in the program, as well as Much Ado About Nothing and The Tempest with Ithaca Shakespeare Company.

Samuel Max Avishay (Harry Percy) is an M.F.A. student at The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. From Los Angeles, he trained at UC Berkeley, American Conservatory Theater’s Summer Training Congress, and Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. His prior credits include Chuck in The Maderati,Chorus in Ajax, and Thurio in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Old Globe/USD) and Achilles in Aulis: An Act of Nihilism in One Long Act (Zellerbach Playhouse).

Nora Carroll (Queen Isabel) is currently enjoying her first year of The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, where she was last seen as Rena in The Maderati. Some of her credits include Athena in Ajax and Outlaw in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Old Globe/USD), June in BLKS (Ojai Playwrights Conference), Allison understudy in Fabulation (Pulse Theatre Company Chicago), Clarence and Hastings in Richard III, The Bastard in King John, and Margery in Vinegar Tom (Tisch School of the Arts).

Renardo Charles Jr. (Lord Ross) last appeared on Comedy Central’s “Detroiters” as Thomas. He has appeared with The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program as Teucer in Ajax, Ritt in The Maderati, and Antonio in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. His stage work includes Lewis in King John, Belize in Angels in America, Jackson in Pantomime, Costard in Love’s Labour’s Lost, and the title role in Othello.

Ajinkya Desai (House of Norfolk Herald) is a graduating international student in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. His credits there include Speed in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Touchstone in As You Like It, Shamrayev in The Seagull, Maxwell in Acquainted with the Night,and Agamemnon/Chorus in Ajax. He also appeared at the Globe in Love’s Labor’s Lost and Macbeth last summer. His first acting experience in the U.S. was at UC San Diego, where he played Egeus and Snout in an undergraduate production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also has many community stage and street theatre credits in India.

Talley Beth Gale (Lady 1, Servingwoman) was recently seen in Love’s Labor’s Lost and Macbeth at the Globe. She is a second-year M.F.A. student in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Her professional credits include the staged reading of Anda’s Love and understudying Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Red Velvet, and The Last Match (The Old Globe), understudying This Is Our Youth (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), and EL Stories: Love Train (Waltzing Mechanics). Her M.F.A. credits include The Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You Like It, The Seagull, Ajax, and Acquainted with the Night.

Jake Horowitz (Duke of Aumerle) has appeared Off Broadway in The Sensuality Party (The New Group), King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre for a New Audience), and Our Town directed by David Cromer (Barrow Street Theatre). His regional credits include Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (Dallas Theater Center) and Katurian in The Pillowman (Zoo City). He has also appeared in the films The Vast of Night (upcoming), Adam Bloom, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Julie Taymor. He is a founding member of Zoo City.

Charles Janasz (John of Gaunt, Gardener) is an Associate Artist of The Old Globe and has appeared here in 32 productions, including the Summer Shakespeare Festivals of 1985 and 2004–2013. He appeared on Broadway in the 1999–2000 revival of Amadeus, and he has been a leading company member and returning guest artist of both Guthrie Theater and Arena Stage. His other credits include work at Ahmanson Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Geffen Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, The Empty Space, Huntington Theatre Company, Walker Art Center, Loring Playhouse, and Hartford Stage.

Daniel Ian Joeck (Bagot, Earl of Salisbury) will enter his second year as an M.F.A. candidate with The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program this fall. In the program, he has played Martin in The Maderati, Menelaus in Ajax, and The Duke in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. His other regional credits include Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew (Nebraska Shakespeare Festival), The Learned Ladies, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and EveryActor (Shakespeare & Company), Julius Caesar, Macbeth, The Duchess of Malfi, Twelfth Night,and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Classical Actors Ensemble), Ramona Quimby (Children’s Theatre Company), Romeo and Juliet (Park Square Theatre), Come Hell and High Water (The Moving Company), A Midwinter Night’s Revel (Walking Shadow Theatre Company), These Are the Men and The Awakening (Savage Umbrella), Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight and Metamorphoses (Theatre Pro Rata), Criminal Genius (Wayward Theatre Company), and The Nerd (Starting Gate Productions).

Patrick Kerr (Duke of York) appeared in the recent Old Globe Shakespeare Festival productions of Love’s Labor’s Lost, Twelfth Night, and The Comedy of Errors. He was also recently seen in San Diego in the premiere of Hollywood at La Jolla Playhouse. His other Southern California performances include work at South Coast Repertory, Geffen Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, and others. On Broadway he was seen in You Can’t Take It with You starring James Earl Jones, and a revival of The Ritz. A veteran of many television programs, he is probably best known for recurring roles on “Frasier” and“Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Tory Kittles (Henry Bolingbroke) has appeared onstage as Dr. John Prentice in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (True Colors Theatre Company) and Stephen in Bones (Kirk Douglas Theatre). He made his feature film debut in Tigerland for director Joel Schumacher. His additional feature credits include Man Down, American Heist, The Sapphires, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Stop-Loss, Miracle at St. Anna, and Olympus Has Fallen. On television, he can currently be seen starring in the USA series “Colony.” His additional television credits include the HBO anthology series “True Detective” as well as HBO’s Bessie, BBC America’s “Intruders,” and FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.” He was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his work in Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias.

Lorenzo Landini (Green, Duke of Surrey) appeared last summer in the Old Globe productions of Macbeth and Love’s Labor’s Lost. He is a second-year M.F.A. student in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, for which his credits include The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Acquainted with the Night, The Seagull, As You Like It, and the title role in Ajax. Previously based in New York City, his credits include writing and performing his solo show When I Have Cancer in 30 Years and acting in The Miser (Brave New World Repertory Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (TheaterLab), King Lear (Theater 2020), and A View From the Bridge (The Secret Theatre). He also played rhythm guitar, sang, and composed music in the rock review GUNS, A Cabaret directed by Liz Swados.

Ian Lassiter (Thomas Mowbray, Welsh Captain, Keeper) has appeared on Broadway in The Cherry Orchard (Roundabout Theatre Company) and War Horse (Lincoln Center Theater). His Off Broadway credits include Ring Twice for Miranda (New York City Center), Pericles and An Octoroon (Theatre for a New Audience), Antony and Cleopatra (The Public Theater, Royal Shakespeare Company), Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (Kazino), and, as co-writer and performer, Mission Drift (Connelly Theater, National Theatre in London).His regional credits include Oliver!(Arena Stage), The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare & Company), An Iliad: Guerrillas at Troy(The Continuum Company in Florence), and Henry V (Two River Theater).

Robert Sean Leonard (King Richard II) has performed in the Broadway productions of Sunday in the Park with George; The Invention of Love (Tony Award); Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Tony nomination); Born Yesterday; The Violet Hour; The Music Man; The Iceman Cometh; Arcadia; Candida (Tony nomination); Philadelphia, Here I Come!; The Speed of Darkness; Breaking the Code; and Brighton Beach Memoirs. His Off Broadway credits include Prodigal Son, Fifth of July, Sally’s Gone, She Left Her Name, The Beach House, You Never Can Tell, and When She Danced. He also appeared in the West End revival of Our Town with Alan Alda at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre and as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird at London’s Barbican Theatre. His regional credits include King Lear and Pygmalion (The Old Globe), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Huntington Theatre Company), Dead End (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and The Glass Menagerie (Baltimore Center Stage). Born in New Jersey, Mr. Leonard began acting at age 14 at The Public Theater in New York. At 19, he made his film debut in the acclaimed Dead Poets Society. His film credits include Much Ado About Nothing, The Age of Innocence, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, Swing Kids, Tape, Chelsea Walls, and Whit Stillman’s The Last Days of Disco. He appeared for eight seasons on the Fox medical drama “House.”

Lizbeth Mackay (Duchess of York, Servingwoman) has spent most of her life working in the theatre, including Faith Healer at The Old Globe in 2002. She is based in New York, and her Broadway credits include Crimes of the Heart (Theatre World, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama-Logue Awards), The Price, The Heiress, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Death and the Maiden, and The Humans. Her recent Off Broadway credits include The Wayside Motor Inn (Drama Desk Award) and Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet. Regionally she has performed in Lewis Black’s One Slight Hitch, ’Night Mother (Elliot Norton Award), and Arthur Miller’s The Archbishop’s Ceiling (The Cleveland Critics Circle Theater Award). Her film credits include One True Thing and White Squall. Her television work includes all the “Law & Order” series.

Jose Martinez (House of Hereford Herald) is thrilled to be making his Summer Shakespeare Festival debut. He was most recently seen as Keene in The Maderati. Some of his other credits include Angelos in Ajax, Sir Eglamour in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Pepe in My Mañana Comes, Orcus in She Kills Monsters, Mau in Nation, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Vincent in Strange Bedfellows. Mr. Martinez is currently a student in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program.

Christina A. Okolo (House of Norfolk Herald, Servingwoman) recently appeared in the Summer Shakespeare Festival productions of Love’s Labor’s Lost and Macbeth. She is a student in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, for which she has appeared as Tekmessa in Ajax, Lucetta in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Celia in Acquainted with the Night, and Phoebe in As You Like It. She has also performed at Cloverdale Playhouse in Montgomery, Alabama, where her credits include A Raisin in the Sun and Clybourne Park. Her other credits include Broke-ology, A Song for Coretta, and No Child....

James Joseph O’Neil (Bishop of Carlisle) previously appeared at The Old Globe in Macbeth (1996, 2016), Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, Gate of Heaven, Mister Roberts, Henry IV Parts I and II, Dancing at Lughnasa, and, with the graduate program, Love’s Labour’s Lost and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mr. O’Neil performed on Broadway in Present Laughter (Roundabout Theatre Company) and Off Broadway in A Month in the Country directed by Erica Schmidt and Look Back in Anger (Classic Stage Company), Richard III (Epic Theatre Ensemble), and The Hired Man (47th Street Theatre). His regional credits includeBaltimore Center Stage, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Williamstown Theatre Festival, American Repertory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Mark Taper Forum, Huntington Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre, and more. His film and television credits includeAardvark, The Bourne Legacy, Fair Game, Zodiac, Acts of Worship, “Elementary,” “Madam Secretary,” “The Knick,” “Person of Interest,” and more. He received his M.F.A. from The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program (Group 8).

Suzelle Palacios (Lady 2, Groom, Servingwoman) is a second-year M.F.A. student in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. She recently appeared as Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and was seen last year in The Old Globe’s Summer Shakespeare Festival in Love’s Labor’s Lost and Macbeth. Her previous credits include Audrey in As You Like It (The Old Globe/USD), Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice (Houston Shakespeare Festival), and Our Country’s Good, The Miser, Blood Wedding, and The Crucible (University of Houston).

Larica Schnell (House of Hereford Herald, Gardener, Servingwoman) is originally from Cape Town, South Africa, and is in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. Her previous M.F.A. productions include The Maderati, Ajax, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. She also appeared in The Open Couple, Cape of Rebels, Twelfth Night at the Macbeths,and Dreams of Clytemnestra.

Connor Sullivan (Lord Willoughby) previously appeared at the Globe in Sense and Sensibility, The Metromaniacs, and the workshop production of When It Comes. His recent San Diegocredits include Sex with Strangers (San Diego Repertory Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (New Fortune Theatre Company), The Kid Thing (MOXIE Theatre), 4000 Miles and Jesus Hates Me (ion theatre company), and The Car Plays (Moving Arts/La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls Festival). His film credits include Thane of East County and A Life Lived. Mr. Sullivan has trained at the MeisnerChekhov Integrated Training Studio in San Diego and the Summer Training Congress at American Conservatory Theater.

Samantha Sutliff (Duchess of Gloucester, Gardener, Servingwoman) is making her Summer Shakespeare Festival debut. She was most recently seen as Hostess in The Two Gentlemen of Verona,Cuddles Molotov in The Maderati,and Chorus Leader 1 in Ajax with The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program. She is a B.M. graduate of the Frost School of Music at University of Miami. Before arriving in San Diego from Los Angeles, she starred in the award-winning film Plaything and the hit web series “The Leslie,” following two years working for Carnival Cruise Line as a vocalist. Some of her favorite roles include Antigone in Antigone and Mary Lane in Reefer Madness (University of Miami).

John Lee Beatty (Scenic Design) has designed the Globe productions of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Cornelia, Dancing in the Dark, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,and Redwood Curtain. His 110 Broadway credits include Sweat, Disgraced, The Nance, After Midnight, Good People, Venus in Fur, Other Desert Cities, Times Stands Still, A View From the Bridge, The Royal Family, The Color Purple, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, Chicago, Dinner at Eight, Morning’s at Seven, Proof, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, A Delicate Balance, The Heiress, Anna Christie, Redwood Curtain, The Sisters Rosensweig, The Most Happy Fella, Penn and Teller (twice), Burn This, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (twice), Talley’s Folly, Fifth of July,and Crimes of the Heart. His Off Broadway credits include The Whipping Man, Sylvia, The Substance of Fire, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, The Road to Mecca, Song of Singapore, A Life in the Theatre, The Miss Firecracker Contest, 38 seasons at Manhattan Theatre Club and Circle Repertory Company, and 21 seasons at City Center Encores! He has also designed at major regional theatres and in film, opera, television, and circus. Mr. Beatty is the recipient of Tony, Obie, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards and is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Andrea Lauer (Costume Design) is a costume designer residing in New York City who works in regional, New York, and international theatre. She designed the Broadway productions of American Idiot and Bring It On: The Musical. Her other recent Off Broadway work has been seen in The Boy Who Danced on Air (currently playing at Abingdon Theatre Company), School for Scandal (Red Bull Theater), Murder for Two (Second Stage Theatre), Title and Deed (Signature Theatre Company), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Classic Stage Company). Internationally she designed the world premiere of Shadowland 2: The New Adventure (Pilobolus) and One Extraordinary Day at the London Cultural Olympiad (STREB). She is also the production designer for the Liverpool Presents Sgt. Pepper at 50 Beatles extravaganza in June 2107. Ms. Lauer works as a fashion stylist and just received the great honor of being selected as an MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow for 2017 as an artist, designer, and inventor.

Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design) previously designed The Old Globe’s Double Indemnity, Othello, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. He has designed over 200 productions on and Off Broadway and at most major regional theatre and opera companies across the U.S. Internationally his work has been seen in Bergen, Copenhagen, The Hague, Hong Kong, Linz, Lisbon, Munich, Naples, Sao Paulo, Stratford-upon-Avon (Royal Shakespeare Company), Stockholm, Vienna, and Wroclaw. His recent credits include Happy Days with Dianne Wiest (Theatre for a New Audience), Smart People (Long Wharf Theatre), Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”...and the Boys (Signature Theatre Company, Drama Desk Award nomination), Sarah Ruhl’s Scenes from Court Life (Yale Repertory Theatre), Turn Me Loose with Joe Morton (Westside Theatre), and Pericles directed by Trevor Nunn (Theatre for a New Audience). His credits for dance include Pilobolus, Alison Chase/Performance, and others. Mr. Strawbridge has received American Theatre Wing, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, Connecticut Critics Circle, Dallas–Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum, Drama Desk, Helen Hayes, Henry Hewes Design, and Lucille Lortel nominations and awards. His is Co-Chair of the Design Department at Yale School of Drama and a resident lighting designer at Yale Repertory Theatre.

Sten Severson (Sound Design) is pleased to be returning to The Old Globe, where he has designed Love’s Labor’s Lost, Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Othello. His selected credits include the Broadway productions of Hair, The Motherf***er with the Hat, and The Merchant of Venice, and theOff Broadway productions of Venice, No Place to Go, The Total Bent, and The Controversy of Valladolid, as well as King Lear, the musical Love’s Labour’s Lost, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Hair, and Hamlet for Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater.His regional credits include Family Album (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Fallaci (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Akeelah and the Bee (Children’s Theatre Company, Arena Stage), and Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Children’s Theatre Company). Mr. Severson is a partner in Acme Sound Partners, collectively responsible for over 30 Broadway shows since 2000. He has taught at New York University and Yale School of Drama, and he currently serves as the Sound Director at Children’s Theatre Company.

Ursula Meyer (Voice and Text Coach) is very happy to be doing her fourth summer of Shakespeare at The Old Globe. She has studied voice with Cicely Berry, Patsy Rodenburg, Andrew Wade, and Arthur Lessac, and she is a designated Linklater teacher. She graduated with distinction from the Voice Studies Program at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London under David Carey. Her regional credits include Guthrie Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse, and the Idaho, Santa Cruz, and Utah Shakespeare Festivals, as well as 15 seasons with Oregon Shakespeare Festival and four years at Yale Repertory Theatre, where she also taught. Ms. Meyer holds an M.F.A. from University of Washington and is in her 23rd year teaching at UC San Diego. She is also on the board of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association and is a recipient of UC San Diego’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award.

Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting) has cast the Globe’s productions of Love’s Labor’s Lost, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and The Comedy of Errors. He is the Director of Artistic Development at Roundabout Theatre Company, where his credits include The Price, If I Forget, The Cherry Orchard, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, She Loves Me, Noises Off, Thérèse Raquin, Old Times, On the Twentieth Century, The Real Thing, Cabaret, Violet, Machinal, The Winslow Boy, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Cyrano de Bergerac, Harvey, Anything Goes, The Importance of Being Earnest, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Sunday in the Park with George, The Pajama Game, 12 Angry Men, Assassins, Nine, and Big River. His other Broadway credits include Groundhog Day, Amélie, Fun Home, Constellations, The River, You Can’t Take It with You, Rocky, The Glass Menagerie, Once, Matilda, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Mountaintop, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Jerusalem, Arcadia, The Scottsboro Boys, American Idiot, A Behanding in Spokane, The Seagull, Boeing-Boeing, Spring Awakening, The Pillowman, Gypsy, and True West. His film credits include A Home at the End of the World and Flicka, and his television credits include “Glee” (Emmy Award nomination).

Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager) has previously worked on the Globe productions of Picasso at the Lapin Agile; October Sky; Kiss Me, Kate; The Twenty-seventh Man; Bright Star; Dog and Pony; The Winter’s Tale; Be a Good Little Widow; Allegiance; A Room with a View; Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show; The Savannah Disputation; Cornelia; Kingdom;and the 2007 Shakespeare Festival. Ms. Nero also worked on the Broadway production of Bright Star. Her selected La Jolla Playhouse credits include Sideways directed by Des McAnuff, Ruined directed by Liesl Tommy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Christopher Ashley, and Herringbone directed by Roger Rees and starring BD Wong. Ms. Nero has worked with several prominent regional theatres including The Kennedy Center, Hartford Stage, Center Theatre Group, SITI Company, Huntington Theatre Company, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Her other selected credits include Schick Machine (Paul Dresher Ensemble), which toured both nationally and internationally, and Garden of Forbidden Loves and Garden of Deadly Sound (IMAGOmoves), which toured to the International Hungarian Theatre Festival in Cluj, Romania. Ms. Nero celebrates 10 years at The Old Globe with this production.

KING RICHARD II

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Erica Schmidt

RUNS: June 11 – July 15, 2017

Lowell Davies Festival Theatre

TICKETS: Tickets start at $30.

SYNOPSIS: Robert Sean Leonard (TV’s “House,” The Old Globe’s Pygmalion) returns to the Globe in the title role of one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s towering cycle of history plays. Convinced of his divine right to rule, King Richard acts recklessly and provides the canny Henry Bolingbroke an opening to seize the crown. Filled with magnificent verse and Shakespeare’s characteristic wisdom and insight, King Richard II is a deeply moving and insightful portrait of how the forces of history collide and combust to shape a nation’s political landscape. It’s a perfect play to begin the Globe’s 2017 Festival.

CAST: John Ahlin (Earl of Northumberland), Amara James Aja (Bushy, Sir Stephen Scroop), Samuel Max Avishay (Harry Percy), Nora Carroll (Queen Isabel), Renardo Charles Jr. (Lord Ross), Ajinkya Desai (House of Norfolk Herald), Talley Beth Gale (Lady 1, Servingwoman), Jake Horowitz (Duke of Aumerle), Charles Janasz (John of Gaunt, Gardener), Daniel Ian Joeck (Bagot, Earl of Salisbury), Patrick Kerr (Duke of York), Tory Kittles (Henry Bolingbroke), Lorenzo Landini (Green, Duke of Surrey), Ian Lassiter (Thomas Mowbray, Welsh Captain, Keeper), Robert Sean Leonard (King Richard II), Lizbeth Mackay (Duchess of York), Jose Martinez (House of Hereford Herald), Christina A. Okolo (House of Norfolk Herald, Servingwoman), James Joseph O’Neil (Bishop of Carlisle), Suzelle Palacios (Lady 2, Groom, Servingwoman), Larica Schnell (House of Hereford Herald, Gardener, Servingwoman), Connor Sullivan (Lord Willoughby), Samantha Sutliff (Duchess of Gloucester, Gardener, Servingwoman).

CREATIVE TEAM: John Lee Beatty (Scenic Design), Andrea Lauer (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), Sten Severson (Sound Design), Ursula Meyer (Voice and Text Coach), Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting), Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).

LOCATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego’s Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. Free parking is available throughout the park. Valet parking is also available, pre-paid with your evening ticket in the Zoo Employee Parking structure ($20).

PREVIEW PERFORMANCES:

June 11 SUN 8:00pm

June 13 TUE 8:00pm (Insights Seminar)

June 14 WED 8:00pm

June 15 THU 8:00pm

June 16 FRI 8:00pm

OPENING NIGHT: June 18 SUN 8:00pm

REGULAR PERFORMANCES:

June 20 TUE 8:00pm (Garden, Post-Show Forum)

June 21 WED 8:00pm (Garden, Post-Show Forum)

June 22 THU 8:00pm (Shakespeare in the Garden)

June 23 FRI 8:00pm (Shakespeare in the Garden)

June 24 SAT 8:00pm (Shakespeare in the Garden)

June 25 SUN 8:00pm

June 27 TUE 8:00pm (Post-Show Forum)

June 28 WED 8:00pm

June 29 THU 8:00pm

June 30 FRI 8:00pm

July 1 SAT 8:00pm

July 2 SUN 8:00pm

July 3 MON 8:00pm

July 5 WED 8:00pm

July 6 THU 8:00pm

July 7 FRI 8:00pm

July 8 SAT 8:00pm

July 9 SUN 8:00pm

July 11 TUE 8:00pm

July 12 WED 8:00pm

July 13 THU 8:00pm

July 14 FRI 8:00pm

July 15 SAT 8:00pm

INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 13 at 6:30 p.m.

The seminar series features a panel from the artistic company of the show. Reception at 6:00 p.m. FREE.

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesday, June 20; Wednesday, June 21; and Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Discuss the play with members of the cast, crew, and/or Globe staff following the performance. FREE.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE GARDEN: Tuesday, June 20; Wednesday, June 21; Thursday, June 22; Friday, June 23; and Saturday, June 24; all at 7:00 p.m.

Informal presentations in the Craig Noel Garden that enhance the theatregoing experience. FREE.

PHOTOS: Digital images of Globe productions are available at TheOldGlobe.org/press-room.

BOX OFFICE WINDOW HOURS: Noon to final curtain Tuesday through Sunday. American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and VISA accepted.
(619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623].

PRESS CONTACTS:

Susan Chicoine (619) 238-0043 x2352 / (619) 325-9416
   schicoine@TheOldGlobe.org

Mike Hausberg (619) 238-0043 x2355
   mhausberg@TheOldGlobe.org