Oscar Nominee Hathaway to Star in Shakespeare in the Park's Twelfth Night

By Adam Hetrick
February 12, 2009

Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway will star as Viola in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night this summer.

Daniel Sullivan will direct Twelfth Night, which will kick off the summer of free theatre at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Sullivan previously staged A Midsummer Night's Dream for Shakespeare in the Park in 2007. Twelfth Night will run June 9-July 12.

Hathaway, who earned critical acclaim for her role in the Jonathan Demme film "Rachel Getting Married," makes her Public Theater debut as Shakespeare's Viola, who along with her twin Sebastian, finds herself washed ashore in the mysterious land of Illyria following a shipwreck.

Additional casting will be announced shortly.

As previously reported, JoAnne Akalaitis will later stage Nicholas Rudall's adaptation of Euripides' The Bacchae, featuring an original choral score by Philip Glass. The Bacchae runs Aug. 11-Sept. 26 at the Delacorte.

Hathaway's screen credits also include "The Devil Wears Prada," "Brokeback Mountain," "Bride Wars," "Becoming Jane" and "The Princess Diaries." She appeared in the 2002 City Center Encores! production of Carnival! as well as Jane Eyre and Gigi at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

For further information visit PublicTheater.