The Pleasure of His Company: Our Love Affair with William Shakespeare and the First Folio

press release: The UW–Madison Arts Institute and the Wisconsin Union Directorate are pleased to present the world premiere of Randall Duk Kim and Anne Occhiogrosso starring in The Pleasure of His Company: Our 40 Year Love Affair with William Shakespeare, an evening of personal recollections, dramatic scenes and stories of Shakespeare's influence on Kim and Occhiogrosso's lives and careers for more than four decades at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 2016 at Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater (800 Langdon St., Madison).

The two-character performance piece, conceived and written by Kim and Occhiogrosso for the celebration of Shakespeare’s 400-year legacy, combines performance of signature Shakespearean dramatic scenes with performance pieces that celebrate Shakespeare’s contribution to world literature. The evening is also a tribute to the First Folio, the 1623 collection of Shakespeare’s plays which scholars cite as the most authentic and reliable versions of a majority of the playwright’s texts. The performance is a prelude to the Folger Shakespeare Library’s national exhibition of an original edition of the First Folio in Madison from November 3 - December 11 at the Chazen Museum of Art (the only location in Wisconsin).

The October 21 performance will include signature scenes from Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and many other Shakespeare plays. The performance will be followed by a Q&A session with the artists.  It is free to the public with reservations required. On the morning of the performance (10:00 a.m. tentatively), Kim and Occhiogrosso will teach a Shakespeare Masterclass to UW–Madison Department of Theatre and Drama students using the First Folio. The public is welcome, though seating is limited (details available in September).

Occhiogrosso states: “We are delighted to be returning to Madison and have the opportunity to perform once again before the most wonderful audience we have ever played for over the course of our 40-year careers.” Professional partners onstage for over four decades, Occhiogrosso and Kim are married in real life.

SUPPORTERS

The Kim and Occhiogrosso visit is made possible by the UW–Madison Arts Institute and the Wisconsin Union Directorate in association with the UW–Madison Department of Theatre and Drama, the Ten Chimneys Foundation and additional funding from the Anonymous Fund, the Brittingham Fund and the Jay Ruth Halls Scholarship Fund. Additional support is provided by the Wisconsin Book Festival and Wisconsin Public Radio.

This event is part of Shakespeare in Wisconsin 2016.

Shakespeare.library.wisc.edu