Peter Hall has cast veteran Denver Center Theatre Company actor Tony Church in the spring 2001 New York production of William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and Alan Dobie will continue in the roles he created in Hall's production of Tantalus for the upcoming British premiere tour.

In the U.K., British-born Church was to play roles that Dobie created when the Trojan War epic, Tantalus, premiered at the DCTC in Denver in fall 2000. But Hall was unable to find an actor to play Pandarus his Manhattan Troilus, so he chose Church. Dobie then agreed to postpone his retirement until the conclusion of the UK tour of Tantalus. The 10-hour Trojan War cycle begins its tour Jan. 27, 2001, in Salford Quays, leading to a London sitdown at the Barbican in May 2001.

Hall's new production of Troilus and Cressida begins April 3 at New York City's Theatre for a New Audience.

Troilus and Cressida reunites Hall and Church, who were founding members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and have worked together on a number of projects through the years.

— By Kenneth Jones