Henry V - 100 Minutes, 8 Actors, 1 Nation in Conflict November 22, 2011

Brooklyn, NY: Irondale Ensemble presents Henry V, part of the 1599 Project, a series of fast and furious chamber productions of Shakespeare classics performed by an ensemble of eight actors. (Hamlet: Up Close, As You Like It and Julius Caesar will be added, and the whole quartet will be presented in 2013.) This “Henry” focuses on the affect that war has on all participants -- those who fight the wars and those who lead them. In just under 100 minutes, the ensemble takes the audience to England and France on a rectangular carpet laid out at the transformational Irondale Center.

During the 2012/13 season the Irondale Ensemble will undertake one of the most ambitious presentations in the organization’s history. The 1599 Project will see Irondale perform full-length chamber versions of all the plays created by Shakespeare in that momentous and stunningly productive year. In 1599, Shakespeare completed the text of Henry V, wrote Julius Caesar and As you Like It and finished the first draft of Hamlet. He also moved his company to their new home at the Globe Theater on the South Bank of the River Thames. November 22 - December 10, 2011, the Irondale Ensemble will present Henry V as a glimpse of what is to come. Each of the plays will be created with the idea of being accessible, challenging and above all stimulating and entertaining to a wide variety of audiences, the plays will be designed to travel and to play in nontraditional theatrical spaces furthering Irondale’s reach into the larger community. Henry V will keep the audience hanging on every word. They will benefit from the intimate connection between the staggering environmental space of the Irondale Center and Irondale Ensembles unique influence on tone, rhythm and shape of the moment to moment development of the performance.

Also at Irondale
December 14 – 17, Vidas Perfectas, by Robert Ashley, directed by Alex Waterman
January 19- January 28, FlicFest II, Festival of Full Length Independent Choregraphy
February 29 - March 3, Strike Anywhere and Irondale present Same River
March 8-24, Karen Malpede’s “Another Life” with George Bartenieff
April 26 - May 26 – Irondale Ensemble in “In Pursuit of Freedom” the story of abolition in Brooklyn
June-July (dates TBA) Empirical Rogue Theater’s “Romeo and Juliet”

As a 28 year old theater ensemble, the Irondale Ensemble Project has received national and international accolades for their theatrical performances which are often driven by themes that emerge from the social and political climate, as well as the ability to take unique approaches to well known tales. This season will be no exception. Now with their own space, the Irondale Center in Fort Greene they have been instrumental in creating new work and supporting the work of other local companies.

Official Website: http://www.irondale.org