Goodman Theatre

For Immediate Release

April 3, 2008… Acclaimed director Robert Falls will be joining the Stratford Shakespeare Festival to direct Brian Dennehy in Eugene O'Neill's Hughie, and award-winning Canadian director Jennifer Tarver will direct Mr. Dennehy in Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape in a double bill opening June 28.

"We have two exciting and accomplished directors to replace our gifted colleague Don Shipley on this season's one act plays," says artistic director Des McAnuff.

"I'm thrilled that Robert Falls can step in on Hughie so that he can continue his fruitful creative relationship with Brian Dennehy," says Mr. McAnuff. "With Mr. Dennehy and Joe Grifasi, Robert's production promises to be a true highlight of the coming season. I last worked with my colleague Robert Falls when the Goodman Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse shared his breathtaking production of Moliere's The Misanthrope, starring Canadian actress Kim Cattrall. I'm looking forward to working side by side with him again."

Mr. Falls has been the artistic director of Chicago's Goodman Theatre since 1986. Under his leadership, the Goodman was named by Time magazine the number one regional theatre in the U.S. Two of his most highly acclaimed Broadway productions, Death of a Salesman and Long Day's Journey into Night, both starring Brian Dennehy, were honoured with seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Death of a Salesman went on to a long run in London's West End.

Mr. Falls and Mr. Dennehy have collaborated for more than 20 years on powerful, passionate works, including many by Eugene O'Neill. The Iceman Cometh was named by Time and USA Today one the 10 best American theatre productions of the 1991/92 season and was subsequently hailed as the highpoint of the 33rd annual Dublin Theatre Festival. Mr. Falls and Mr. Dennehy also collaborated on A Touch of the Poet (1996) and Hughie (2004). In 2008, Mr. Falls will direct Mr. Dennehy in the Goodman's production of Desire Under the Elms, as the centerpiece of a major festival showcasing O'Neill's work as it is being interpreted around the world today.

Ms Tarver, winner of the 2006 Pauline McGibbon Award and the 2002 John Hirsch Directors Award, is a respected director and creator, known for work that resounds with clarity and sophistication. She was named Now Magazine's best director of 2007. Her most recent productions include Thom Pain (based on nothing), a one-man show featuring Tom McCamus, and Sarah Kane's Crave for Nightwood Theatre, for which she received a Dora nomination for best director.

"We are very pleased to be able to welcome Toronto-based director Jennifer Tarver to the Festival for her Stratford debut. Jennifer has already demonstrated her talent and skills with the plays of Samuel Beckett, and has a very strong track record for staging contemporary work. Her background as a musician, a dramaturge, and a director of opera give Jennifer the potential to make a unique contribution to our theatre."

Ms Tarver's production company Theatre Extasis, which focuses on devised works and new adaptations of existing texts, produced That Time - Five Beckett Shorts in 2006. It garnered eight Dora Award nominations and four wins, including best director and best production.

"I think Des has made an excellent choice with these two people," says general director Antoni Cimolino. "Robert Falls is a senior artist whom we are delighted to have join our ranks and Jennifer Tarver is an outstanding young talent with so much to offer the Festival. It bodes well for our future."

Don Shipley resigned as artistic director and director of these plays on March 12.

Performances of Hughie and Krapp's Last Tape begin June 18; the production opens officially on June 28 and runs to August 31.

Mr. Dennehy has a second opening that week, on June 27, appearing as the King of France in All's Well That Ends Well. Fuente Ovejuna, directed by celebrated British director Laurence Boswell, also opens that day.

Also playing in repertory during the 2008 season: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Music Man, Cabaret, Emilia Galotti, The Trojan Women, Love's Labour's Lost, There Reigns Love, Palmer Park, Moby Dick and Shakespeare's Universe (Her Infinite Variety).

-30-

For more information contact:

Ann Swerdfager
Media Manager
Stratford Shakespeare Festival
519 271 0055 x2297
aswerdfager@stratfordshakespearefestival.com

Katie Saunoris
Media Assistant
Stratford Shakespeare Festival
519 271 0055 x2410
ksaunoris@stratfordshakespearefestival.com