The Bridge Project: The Winter's Tale
Part of the 2009 Spring Season
Feb 10—Mar 8*
Bank of America presents The Bridge Project
Produced by BAM, The Old Vic & Neal Street Productions
The Winter's Tale
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Sam Mendes
Set design Anthony Ward
Costume design Catherine Zuber
Lighting design Paul Pyant
Sound design Paul Arditti
Hair & wig design Tom Watson
Illusions Peter Samelson
Associate Director Gaye Taylor Upchurch
Dialect Coach Timothy Monich
Casting Nancy Piccione and Maggie Lunn
Music Mark Bennett
Music direction Dan Lipton
Choreography Josh Prince
Beginning in January of 2009, some of the finest talents of New York and London theater converge at BAM to kick off an extraordinary venture—The Bridge Project—an unprecedented three-year, transatlantic partnership uniting BAM, The Old Vic, and Neal Street Productions. Academy Award winner (American Beauty) Sam Mendes, last at BAM with Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night (2003 Spring Season), returns to direct a formidable group of actors in an ocean-spanning double bill of revered classics: The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale.
Simon Russell Beale, Sinéad Cusack, and Rebecca Hall from the UK; and Richard Easton, Josh Hamilton, and Ethan Hawke from the US take the stage in Shakespeare’s magical testament to the follies of hasty judgment and the force of love as a means of redemption.
BAM Harvey Theater
Running time: Approx 185min with intermission
Subscription tickets: $24, 48, 72
(Full price: $30, 60, 90)
*Feb 10—14 at 7:30pm
Feb 15 at 3pm
Feb 17 at 8pm (The Bridge Project Benefit)
Feb 18—21 at 7:30pm
Feb 22 at 3pm
Feb 28 at 7:30pm
Mar 1 at 2pm
Mar 4—6 at 7:30pm
Mar 7 at 2pm
Mar 8 at 7:30pm
Cast: Simon Russell Beale+, Michael Braun+, Selina Cadell+, Morven Christie+, Sinéad Cusack+, Richard Easton§, Rebecca Hall+, Josh Hamilton§, Ethan Hawke§, Paul Jesson+, Aaron Krohn§, Dakin Matthews§, Mark Nelson§, Charlotte Parry§, Gary Powell+, Tobias Segal§, Jessica Pollert Smith+, Hannah Stokely+
Musicians: Dan Lipton, Dana Lyn
Stage Management: Jane Pole, Kevin Bertolacci, Cat Fiabane+
+ Indicates that artists are appearing with the permission of Actors’ Equity Association.
§ Indicates that artists are appearing with the permission of UK Equity, incorporating Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity. The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance of this production.
Co-commissioned by and produced in association with Athens & Epidaurus Festival, The Edge® Auckland (NZ), Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, The Singapore Repertory Theatre, Teatro Español de Madrid
Time Out New York Video Review on NY1
"An exquisitely touching night of gorgeous images and verse." More
The New York Times Review of The Winter's Tale
"Pure emotional strength that leave[s] you open mouthed and teary eyed." More
Variety Review of The Winter's Tale
"The evening is both suspenseful and satisfying." More
Newsday Review of The Winter's Tale
"An enchanted, extraordinary lucid vision of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale." More
The Economist Review of The Winter's Tale
"A crackling wire of menace runs through Mr Mendes's production..." More
NY Post Review of The Winter's Tale
"****...immediately establishes The Bridge Project as a force to be reckoned with." More
Associated Press Review of The Winter's Tale
"Director Sam Mendes has found the heart in this odd Shakespearean romance..." More
AM NY Review of The Winter's Tale
"It's now official. Year one of the three-year transatlantic Bridge Project is a shining success." More
Theatermania Review of The Winter's Tale
"Lucid, tough-minded, and ultimately charming..." More
Preview Article in The New York Times
"Despite all the agendas waving like pennants off the Bridge Project, finally it's the art that matters. Mr. Melillo wants to put on a good show and take it to the world. Mr. Mendes wants to paint without being deprived of half his palette. Mr. Spacey wants two great roles (though he’s not saying which ones) when he joins the company as an actor in its third season." More
W Magazine Article on Sam Mendes
"The rare director to move nimbly between stage and screen, Mendes still feels more at home in the theater...his latest challenge is the Bridge Project, a unique collaboration between Mendes, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and London's Old Vic."
"'One of Sam's goals is to prove that you can bring Americans and Brits together and do Shakespeare and it won’t be crap,' jokes Old Vic artistic director Kevin Spacey, who plans to headline the third season." More
Vanity Fair Piece on Rebecca Hall
"Since 1992, the magazine's Vanities section has opened with a full-page portrait of a promising young star...." More
Interview with Sam Mendes (The Guardian, UK)
“'I never went to the theatre,' Mendes says, 'we didn't have a lot of money, and theatre wasn't really on the cards until I was about t o study Shakespeare, and then my mum and dad both took me to Stratford.'" More
The Old Vic Site
"The Old Vic...strives to nurture young actors, writers, directors, and producers and works with schools and the local community to bring theater to a wider audience." More
Neal Street Productions
"Neal Street Productions is the UK-based independent film and theatre production company set up in 2003..." More