Evan Yionoulis will direct the William Shakespeare classic for the New Haven, CT, company. The show begins Sept. 21 and opens Sept. 27 for a run through Oct. 13.

Carlson will take on the title role in a cast that will also feature Billy Eugene Jones as Bolingbrook and Alvin Epstein in the roles of John of Gaunt and Gardener.

"King Richard II sits uneasily upon the throne of England, as a conniving court and a state-funded war with Ireland turn the tide against him," reads a show description. "When the banished Henry Bolingbrook returns with the intention of usurping the crown, Richard is swept into a political and personal maelstrom that will change a nation forever."

Carlson's Broadway credits include Taboo, Tartuffe and The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? He played the lead in Hamlet (at Washington, D.C.'s The Shakespeare Theatre Company) and Romeo and Juliet (New Jersey's McCarter Theatre). Other credits include Bach at Leipzig, Lorenzaccio, Candida, The Miracle Worker, Thief River, Manuscript and Sodom and Gomorrah. He also caused a stir as the transgendered character Zoe on the ABC soap opera "All My Children."

Yionoulis has previously staged The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, Three Days, Sore Throats and Bhutan. Her Yale Rep productions have included Black Snow, The People Next Door and Heaven. The new season at Yale Rep continues with Alice Childress' Trouble in Mind (Oct. 26-Nov. 17), Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière's Tartuffe (Nov. 26-Dec. 22), the world premiere of David Adjmi's The Evildoers (Jan. 18-Feb. 9, 2008), Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance (March 21-April 12, 2008) and a sixth play to announced (April 25-May 16, 2008).

Tickets and subscriptions to Richard II and the season at Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel Street (at York Street) in New Haven, CT, are available by calling (203) 432-1234. For more information visit yalerep.org.