The Public Theater's Mobile Shakespeare Unit Staging of Richard III Begins Off-Broadway Run Aug. 6

By Adam Hetrick
06 Aug 2012

Ron Cephas Jones
Ron Cephas Jones
Photo by Joan Marcus

Following a free, city-wide tour, The Public Theater's Mobile Shakespeare Unit production of Richard III begins a three-week run Aug. 6 at the Off-Broadway company's downtown Lafayette Street home.

Amanda Dehnert directs Shakespeare's bloody history play — about a ravenous king who murders to get to the crown — that toured to prisons, homeless shelters, at-risk-youth centers, senior centers and other park and recreation centers across the city July 16-Aug. 3. 

Tickets for the Off-Broadway run at the Public, which continues through Aug. 25, are $15. The Public is also  making 20 free tickets available for each performance to community organizations who were unable to host the tour.

Ron Cephas Jones stars in the title role in a cast that also includes Michelle Beck (Anne), Suzanne Bertish (Margaret), Keith Eric Chappelle (Hastings), Michael Crane (Buckingham), Lynn Hawley (Elizabeth), Alex Hernandez (Catesby), Miriam Hyman (Clarence) and Kevin Kelly (Edward).

"Accessibility to Shakespeare is one of the core values of The Public Theater, and sending The Mobile Shakespeare Unit out into the community is one of the most important things we do," Public Theater Shakespeare Initiative director Barry Edelstein said in a statement. "Amanda Dehnert's spare, muscular production of Richard III, with its talented ensemble supporting Ron Cephas Jones' incendiary performance, will thrill the audiences we visit, and, we hope, whet in them an appetite for more of this great playwright's work."

The production has scenic and costume design by Linda Roethke with original music by Amanda Dehnert.

According to the Public, "Richard III tells the story of one of Shakespeare’s most charismatic villains who cuts a scorched-earth swath through the politicos, power-mongers, and even family members who stand between him and the crown. But before King Richard III can enjoy the fruits of his ill-gotten gain, something stirs that freezes him in his tracks: conscience."

For tickets phone (212) 967-7555 or visit Public Theater. The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.