SPRING THEATREWORKS, INC.

Jeffrey Horne, Executive Director

25 JAY STREET, STUDIO 203   BROOKLYN, NY 11201         917.213.1242         www.springtheatreworks.com

For immediate release, please.

SPRING THEATREWORKS, INC. presents

“POOR JACOB’S HAMLET”

A de/re-construction of the classic text as conceived by Jacob Titus

Beginning performances OCTOBER 19, 2006 at Spring Theatreworks in DUMBO

Spring Theatreworks (Jeffrey Horne, Executive Director) presents POOR JACOB’S HAMLET, a new adaptation of the Shakespearean masterpiece conceived and directed by Jacob Titus. Performances will begin at Spring’s loft at 25 Jay Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn (between Plymouth and John Sts.; F train to York St.) on Thursday, October 19 at 8:00 p.m.  Admission is free.  Reservations are strongly encouraged as seating is limited.  Reserve seats by emailing name, performance choice & number of seats to tickets@springtheatreworks.com.

Spring is departing from its typical oeuvre to present an old play in a new way.  Just as their neighborhood of DUMBO, Brooklyn undergoes one of the most rapid and dramatic urban transformations in recent history, Spring was inspired, under the leadership of director Jacob Titus, to approach a revered play, like William Shakespeare’s HAMLET, in much the same way: redefine it, rearrange it, reconstruct it and dig out an entirely new identity, new meaning.  Thus, POOR JACOB’S HAMLET: an ultra-minimalist de/re-construction of the classic text with a focus on the malleability of truth and how our preconceived notions of what seems familiar and true can be manipulated.  By restructuring the plot you are drawn to question Hamlet’s intentions and accusations of murder against his uncle Claudius as opposed to accepting them as fact.  The show will be performed in Spring’s signature intimate loft space in DUMBO. 

Director Jacob Titus’s previous directing credits with Spring Theatreworks include STILL-LIFE (WITH RUNNER), POST-OEDIPUS and SUN, STAND THOU STILL, all written by Steven Gridley.  Other credits include BURN THIS at Stella Adler, ANOTHER REVOLUTION with the Triborough Theatre Company, MERCHANT OF VENICE with the West End Shakespeare Company, SPANKED! at the San Francisco NCTC, at L.A. Highways, at L.A. Tamarind Theatre and at the NYC Fringe Festival 2002, Steven Gridley’s THEME AND VARIATIONS at the NYC Fringe Festival 2001 and BRILLIANT TRACES, HUMP DAY and PICTURE OF A DOG with the Found Theatre Group in NYC.  For SPANKED! he was nominated for a GLAAD media award.

Spring Theatreworks, a DUMBO, Brooklyn-based non-profit theatre company, was founded in 2000 and is dedicated to fostering new and diverse voices in the American theatre and nurturing innovative approaches to storytelling.  To date, they have produced 21 productions in NYC, 14 of which were world premieres.  They support emerging artists through productions of new plays as well as revivals of works by contemporary masters, thereby putting the new works into a specific context.  Their most recent production was Steven Gridley’s STILL-LIFE (WITH RUNNER) in October 2005 which was hailed as “sensational, jolting, involving theatre.”  They also notably co-produced the June 2004 U.S. debut of preeminent Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse’s NIGHT SINGS ITS SONGS directed & translated by company member Sarah Cameron Sunde at The Culture Project.   In July 2004 they produced two new plays by acclaimed Chicago playwright Brett Neveu in “BRETTFEST 2004: 2 by Neveu.”  Anita Gates of The NY Times described the performances in NIGHT SINGS ITS SONGS as “uniformly excellent” and nytheatre.com called TWENTYONE by Brett Neveu “one of the finest new plays in town.” Spring’s November 2003 revival of Janusz Glowacki’s CINDERS was described by Martin Denton of nytheatre.com as “thoughtful, provocative, and arresting…boldly acted and brilliantly designed, this is theatre at its very best…surely one of the finest productions of 2003.”  Plus, Andy Propst of Backstage listed CINDERS as one of the most memorable productions of the 2003 season. The artists currently represented by Spring Theatreworks are Karen Forte, Matthew Drennan, Steven Gridley, Doug Simpson, Sarah Cameron Sunde, Jacob Titus and Erin Treadway.  The Executive Director is Jeffrey Horne and the Associate Producer is Michelle Salerno.  For more information go to www.springtheatreworks.com.

The cast of POOR JACOB’S HAMLET features Sharon Floyd, Karen Forte, Trisha Henson, Karen Ogle*, Erin Treadway, Ross Williams* and David I. Wylie.  Previews are October 12 through 14 at 8 p.m. coinciding with the DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival during which Spring’s studio will be open to the public from 2 – 7 p.m. on the October 14 and 15.  Opening night is October 19 at 8 p.m. and performances run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. through November 4th.  Spring will also be featuring works by artists from the Brooklyn Artists’ Gym in the lobby throughout the run of the show.

Admission to all performances is free.  Send an email to tickets@springtheatreworks.com including name, choice of performance and number of seats.  Seating is limited to 20 per performance so reservations are strongly encouraged!  More information and production images can be found at Spring Theatreworks’ website at www.springtheatreworks.com.

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For further information and to make press reservations please call
Jeffrey Horne at 917-213-1242 or email to jeffrey@springtheatreworks.com.

Reviewers are invited to attend any performance beginning October 19. 

Call or email Jeffrey Horne for reservations.