Aaron Posner directs the play by the author of Recent Tragic Events, Jan. 23-Feb. 29, 2004.

"Romance and joy are resurrected from grief through the redemptive power of art," according to the Folger announcement. "In mythical small towns of Minnesota, the lives of Leonard Matsen (originally, Leontes), his wife Mina (Hermione), and their childhood friend Paul (Polixenes) are forever changed by jealousy and self doubt."

The Shakespeare play concerns two kingdoms, Sicilia and Bohemia, and Sicilia's King Leontes' sudden and unjustified conviction that his wife, Hermione, is sleeping with his best friend, Polixenes. Banishment, multiple deaths, a lost infant, a storm at sea, a wild bear and colorful rustics fill the Shakespeare play, which covers 15 years.

Posner directed Folger's 2003 Twelfth Night, 2002 Othello and 2001 As You Like It.

Wright's plays include The Pavilion, which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Recent Tragic Events, seen in 2003 at Playwrights Horizons after its premiere in Washington, DC. He is a staff writer and story editor for HBO's "Six Feet Under." The cast for Melissa Arctic includes David Marks as Alec, Ian Merrill Peakes as Leonard, James Sugg and Holly Twyford as Mina.

Tickets range $25-$48. Folger Theatre, a program of Folger Shakespeare Library sine 1992, is one of two DC companies devoted to the Bard of Avon. The Shakespeare Theatre offers revivals of his work, as well as plays from world history and modern days.

Folger Theatre's 2003-04 season also inclues All's Well That Ends Well (through Nov. 30) and The Comedy of Errors April 14-May 23, 2004. For more information, call (202) 544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.