The New Phoenix Theatre-LA Presents Staged Reading of "Mary Stuart" on Sunday, Nov 13 at 7:30 PM

LOS ANGELES - Nov. 7, 2017 - PRLog -- The New Phoenix Theatre - LA presents a staged reading of the Peter Oswald translation of the Friedrich Schiller verse drama Mary Stuart at 7:30 PM on Sunday, November 12 at the Secret Rose Theatre, North Hollywood, CA, announced Frank Tobin, producing director.  NPT ensemble members Amy Wieczorek plays the ill-fated Scottish queen and Peggy Goss her nemesis, Queen Elizabeth 1.   Peter Oswald's translation played to rave reviews in London and New York where it received seven Tony Award nominations including "Best Play Revival."  The public in invited and seating is limited. Free tickets are available at 323.661.3720/fxtobin@aol.com. The Secret Rose Theatre is located at 11246 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601.

Seduction, greed and deception lie at the heart of the bitter rivalry between the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots and her first cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.  After being implicated in her 2nd husband's murder, Mary flees to England for help but finds her cousin distrustful of her motives.  England is torn by religious factions -- the Protestants who support Elizabeth and the Catholics who support Mary.  This begins the bloody feud that will threaten not just the family bond and the crown of England, but lead to Mary's execution by beheading in 1587 – a shocking event which scandalized Europe.

Schiller's 1800 verse drama tells the story of two iconic women whose lust for power reveals one of the most thrilling displays of passion and politics the world has ever seen.  Schiller's fictionalized encounter between the two queens, immediately before Mary's execution, is one of the classical theatre's most brilliant moments.

Mary Stuart's legendary beauty, charm and scandalous romantic exploits were the talk of Europe before the age of the printing press. A fascinating combination of Princess Diana, Jackie O and Kim Kardashian, Mary Stuart's complicated political, personal and romantic history made her one of the most iconic women of the Renaissance period.  Queen Elizabeth I had been proclaimed a bastard by her father, Henry VIII, the founder of the Protestant Church of England, so Elizabeth's claim to be legitimate ruler of England was always under shadow.  Mary also had a serious claim to the English throne and her son would eventually succeed Elizabeth I as James I, the patron of Wiliam Shakespeare.

Founded in 2007, The New Phoenix Theatre-LA offers chamber theatre staged readings of the great international classical theatre repertoire.  Past NPT staged readings have included:  Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, The Misanthrope, Tartuffe; Phaedre, The Cid; Ghosts; Medea, Twelfth Night,  The Guardsman, Present Laughter, The Lion in Winter, Lettice & Lovage and The Little Foxes.  For more information on The New Phoenix Theatre, please visit, www.newphoenixtheatre-la.com

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Henri Bollinger (Count Aubespine) NPT debut.

William Bremer (Count Bellievre / Davison) For NPT:  William Marshall in The Little Foxes, Hugo Lypiatt in Present Laughter; Mr. Spengler in The Guardsman; Don Arias in The Cid; Loyal in Tartuffe; The Tutor in Medea, The Second Gravedigger and Osrick in Hamlet.

Ian Buchanan (Lord Burleigh) For NPT: Horace Giddens in The Little Foxes; Henry II in The Lion in Winter; Garry Essendine in Present Laughter; The Actor in The Guardsman; Jason in Medea; Pastor Manders in Ghosts; Theseus in Phaedre; Malvolio in Twelfth Night; Claudius in Hamlet; Father in Life with Father.

Carl Crudup (Lord Shrewsbury) For NPT:Count de Gormas in The Cid; Creon in Medea.

Brendan Ford (Lord Leicester) For NPT: Ben Hubbard, The Little Foxes; King Phillip in The Lion in Winter.

Peggy Goss (Queen Elizabeth I) For NPT: Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes; Lettice Douffet in Lettuce & Lovage; Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter; Liz Essendine in Present Laughter; The Actress in The Guardsman; title roles in Phaedre and Medea; Mrs. Alving in Ghosts.

Marianne Muellerleile (Hanna Kennedy) - For NPT: Lottie Schoen in Lettice & Lovage;  Monica Reed in Present Laughter; Onone in Phaedre; Cora in Life with Father; Maria in Twelfth Night; The Nurse in Medea and in Romeo and Juliet.

Weston I. Nathanson – (Melvil / The Chaplain) (NPT debut)

Sean O'Neill (Mortimer) For NPT: Leo Hubbard in The Little Foxes; Roland Maule in Present Laughter; Rodrigo in The Cid; Fabian in Twelfth Night; Oswald Alving in Ghosts; Hippolytus in Phaedre, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and the title role in Hamlet.

James Siering(Amias Paulet) For NPT: Oscar Hubbard in The Little Foxes; Mr. Bardolph in Lettice & Lovage; Morris Dixon in Present Laughter; Dr. Bernhard (The Critic) in The Guardsman; Jakob Engstrund in Ghosts; Aegeus in Medea; Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night; Don Diego in The Cid; Theramenes in Phaedre, the title role in Tartuffe.

Amy Wieczorek (Mary Stuart) For NPT: Birdie in The Little Foxes, Olivia in Twelfth Night; Elmire in Tartuffe; Lady Capulet in Romeo & Juliet; Gertrude in Hamlet.

For more information, visit www.newphoenixtheatre-la.com.