The Public Theater's next Mobile Unit production will be Shakespeare's Cymbeline, directed by Carl Cofield, the associate artistic director of The Classical Theatre of Harlem. The free, four-week tour will visit community venues, correctional facilities, and social service organizations in all five boroughs in the spring, culminating in a three-week engagement at The Public.
A story of destructive love, revenge, and deception, Cymbeline will be on tour April 16–May 15, followed by a free tour at the Public May 18–June 7.
"[Cofield's] Cymbeline will revive and renew the concept of the fairytale,” said Karen Ann Daniels, the director of Mobile Unit, "offering us a vibrant, contemporary story that feels both fantastic and familiar at the same time.”
The cast will feature Barzin Akhavan as Cymbeline, Danaya Esperanza as Imogen, Stephanie Roth Haberle as Queen/Belarius, Brandon Mendez Homer as Posthumus/Cloten, Paco Lozano as Caius Lucius, Keren Lugo as Arviragus, Daniel José Molina as Iachimo, Reynaldo Piniella as Guiderius, and Simone Recasner as Pisanio.
“Carl Cofield has been doing some wonderful work in recent years, perhaps most notably with the indispensable Classical Theatre of Harlem,” said The Public Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. “We are thrilled he is joining us for our Mobile Unit production of Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare’s wildest and most beautiful plays.”
The production will feature co-scenic design by Wilson Chin and Riw Rakkulchon, costume design by Mika Eubanks, music composition by Frederick Kennedy, and movement direction by Byron Easley. Katie Kennedy will serve as production stage manager.