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IMPACT THEATRE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
P.O. BOX 12666 · BERKELEY, CA 94712–3666 · 510 224-5744 · IMPACTTHEATRE.COM
PRESS CONTACTS: MELISSA HILLMAN / CHESHIRE ISAACS · 510 224-5744 · [email protected]
HE GOT GAME OF THRONE
The original tale of murderous political schemes, Richard III,
opens at Impact Theatre Feb 28, 2015
BERKELEY, CA, JANUARY 28, 2015—Amid the ongoing real-life revelations that may forever change the way
we know King Richard III, Impact Theatre takes on Shakespeare’s version of this chilling chapter of history. Impact’s
production of Richard III previews February 26 and 27 and opens February 28 at its home, La Val’s Subterranean
in Berkeley. Artistic Director Melissa Hillman pilots this preeminent portrait of purloined power, and fight director
extraordinaire Dave Maier commands the chaotic clashes of this classic.
Talk about youngest child syndrome. Richard, the Yorkist Duke of Gloucester, sure isn’t keen on his brother King Edward
IV’s being on the throne. The idea of his other brother George in power doesn’t sound so great either. No, Richard wants
the crown for himself, and he’ll stop at nothing to claim it. Highly calculating and manipulative, Richard plays his brothers
against each other, seduces and tosses noblewomen, and executes anyone he thinks may be in his way. In his relentless
pursuit to gain — and retain — the monarchy, his lust for power blinds him from morality, leaving no one — man, woman,
or child — unscathed. Written centuries before Scandal or House of Cards, Richard III is the quintessential tale of a political
antihero who will do anything to get his way.
“At its heart, Richard III is a play about power—how it’s defined, how we agree as a culture who has power, how power
is seized, won, lost, betrayed, evacuated, deployed, abused,” Hillman says. “It’s about being blinded by your own power
to the reality around you—both kings we see in the play are blinded by their own power and assumption of obedience
to miss key betrayals as they’re happening; both kings ask too much of their subjects without realizing it. It’s about every
kind of corruption of power.”
In Impact’s intimate 59-seat house, the audience is more complicit than ever in Richard’s schemes. The spare but
pointedly evocative set will accommodate an impressive cast of 13 that includes Impact veterans Miyaka Cochrane,
Michael Delaney, Mary Ann Mackey, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong, Sean Mirkovich, Jon Nagel, Stacz Sadowski, and ShawnJ
West, and newcomers Ashley McKenna, Kelvyn Mitchell, Michelle Navarette, Antoine Pope, and Nancy Sale.
Impact is renowned for its approach to Shakespeare. For more than ten years, Impact has delivered Shakespeare in a
thoughtful, relevant manner that connects immediately to both newer theatregoers as well as those Shakespeare vets
who’ve even seen Richard III a few times before. Impact’s classics are celebrated every single year as a breath of muchneeded fresh air among productions of the canon.
“Impact Theatre’s adaptations of Shakespeare’s works are always interesting in the way they bring the Bard to a primarily
under-30 audience,” remarked The San Jose Mercury News on last season’s Troilus and Cressida. “Director Melissa Hillman,
as she is so often able to do in her adaptations of Shakespeare’s work, finds a contemporary spin for the story.”
And we couldn’t agree more. Check out what critics have said over the past decade:
Chad Jones of Theater Dogs said As You Like It was “a hell of a lot of fun...it never ceases to amaze me what the
Impact crew manages to accomplish on one of the most restrictive stages in the Bay Area... there’s no shortage
of things to like.”
The San Jose Mercury News hailed Titus Andronicus as a “compelling tale of pride, revenge, rage, and political
power.”
— MORE —
The SF Bay Guardian admired Twelfth Night, saying, “You have to hand it to Impact Theatre: they make reimagining
Shakespeare look so darned easy.”
The East Bay Express named A Midsummer Night’s Dream a “critic’s choice”: “The ‘80s theme works divinely...
Clever, trendy, and funny without sacrificing too much of the source material or underestimating the audience’s
intelligence.”
The Oakland Tribune praised the company’s Measure for Measure, saying, “Impact ratchets up vice, vitality...the
three central performances in Hillman’s production are rock-solid.”
The San Francisco Chronicle said of Othello, “Hillman gives the play the full Impact treatment...confrontational close
quarters with loud music, calisthenics, a dash of nudity and splatters of blood.”
The Oakland Tribune called Henry IV: The Impact Remix “action-movie Shakespeare, and it works.”
The Daily Californian included Hamlet in its “Top Ten Plays of 2006”
It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Netflix rushed season 3 of House of Cards to drop just a day before Impact’s show
opens. So go ahead and binge-watch the cable copycat (hey, we will too!), but then come to Berkeley to see the original
bad boy of politics, Richard III.
For press photos and more information about the show, visit impacttheatre.com.
ABOUT IMPACT THEATRE
Since 1996 Impact Theatre has spoken to a new generation of theatregoers and longtime enthusiasts alike who want to
see something fresh and fearless on stage. Our audience ranges from students to professionals to seniors, all of whom
share a taste for exciting, unpretentious theatre that doesn’t conform to traditional assumptions of what constitutes high
culture. Impact ensures the continued strength of American theatre by featuring new plays by emerging playwrights as
well as vital, contemporary spins on classic drama; engaging new audiences; and fostering the development of Bay Area
theatremakers. Impact shows compel, provoke, and inspire, at prices everyone can afford.
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS
PRODUCTION: Richard III by by William Shakespeare, directed by Melissa Hillman
Previews Feb 26 & 27 · Opens Feb 28 · Runs through April 5 (Easter)
Thu–Sat 8pm · Sun 7pm
WHERE:
La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709
ADMISSION:$10–25
MORE INFO:impacttheatre.com
BOX OFFICE:
impacttheatre.com · 510 224-5744
PRESS CONTACT: Cheshire Isaacs · 510 551-9018 (press inquiries only) · [email protected]
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