Shakespeare As You've Never Seen It Before - Improvised!
SHAKESPEARE UNSCRIPTED Opens Friday, July 2 at Little Fish Theatre as Part of Shakespeare by the Sea's 2010 Season

June 28, 2010, LOS ANGELES, CA – When Shakespeare by the Sea's Producing Artistic Director, Lisa Coffi and Festival Producer, Sara Adelman began discussing a third (ticketed) show to help support the 2010 season, they were looking for a solid production with something unique to offer.  That's when Impro Theatre came up in the conversation.  Impro Theatre is the creator of SHAKESPEARE UNSCRIPTED.  The company possesses a strong reputation as improvisers, actors and teachers and has been creating improvised performances based on the work of history's best writers for over decade.  It seemed like a good fit for the season and fell right in line with Shakespeare by the Sea's mission to bring new, contemporary and classic works to underserved, culturally diverse audience in order to ignite imagination, promote literacy and encourage artistic expression.

SHAKESPEARE UNSCRIPTED began as a critically acclaimed production at the Globe Theatre in West Hollywood and has gone on to receive standing ovations at NY, Chicago, Paris, France, and Austin, Texas.  Impro's repertoire includes improvisations based on the style and works of Tennessee Williams, Jane Austen and Steve Sondheim. Using only their guts, wits and suggestions from the audience, Impro Theatre creates a completely original story for each performance.

SHAKESPEARE UNSCRIPTED is a ticketed event at Little Fish Theatre opening on July 2. Performances will run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8 PM through August 1. Tickets are $25 each and can be reserved by calling 310-512-6030 or online at www.shakespearebythesea.org. Proceeds from SHAKESPEARE UNSCRIPTED go towards supporting Shakespeare by the Sea's 2010 admission FREE outdoor performances.

SHAKESPEARE UNSCRIPTED features Tracy Burns, Lisa Fredrickson, Stephen Kearin, Brian Jones, Lauren Lewis, Brian Lohmann, Nick Massouh, Edi Patterson, Paul Rogan, Michele Spears, Floyd Van Buskirk. Set and costumes by Sandra Burns.

Impro Theatre is an unscripted repertory theater company. Since 1988, the company (formerly LA Theatresports) has brought unscripted theatre based on great literature to Los Angeles and the world. Under Artistic Director Dan O'Connor, Impro Theatre has performed at festivals from Amsterdam to New Zealand, receiving standing ovations, critical praise and first place awards. The company's goal is to take the core narrative and style elements of great playwrights and writers and create a new play, using nothing but the essence of the author's work and an audience suggestion. For more information, visit www.improtheatre.com.

Dan O'Connor, Artistic Director
Dan co-founded "Impro Theatre" and four other American improv companies including Bay Area Theatresports. Improv credits include: the long running Wrought Irony at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, Pulp Playhouse at the HBO-American Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, and "Second City" at the Murphy's Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny, Ireland. Teaching experiences include the Writers Program at the UCLA extension and improvisation master classes in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Dan was the improv director for The Wayne Brady Show and has made appearances on The Tonight Show and Seinfeld.

Brian Lohmann, Associate Artistic Director, Director of Classical Studies
Brian co-founded "Bay Area Theatersports" with Dan O'Connor and was founder and artistic director for seven years of the award-winning "Pulp Playhouse."  Brian improvised 20 full-length Shakespeare plays as part of the 2006 season at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival under the title Unexpected Shaxpere. He has taught acting through improvisation for the Guthrie Theatre/University of Minnesota BFA Acting program, Dell Arte, The Victoria College of the Arts in Melbourne, NYU's Steinhardt Conference on Shakespeare, the Public Theatre Shakespeare Lab, Stanford and in Germany, the UK, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. TV and Film appearances include American Body Shop, World Cup Comedy, Ask Rita and He Was a Quiet Man with William H. Macy

The IMPRO THEATRE Acting Company
With an average of 15 years in professional improvisation, IT's company offers experiences that range from fire eating in Las Vegas with Penn and Teller and award winning productions of Shakespeare at some of California's top regional theaters. Our actors have worked in Oscar-winning shorts, won prizes at the HBO Comedy Arts festival, starred Off-Broadway and collaborated with some of the top names in improvisation, including Robin Williams and Wayne Brady. They have created languages for video games (the Sims), taught theater games for Francis Ford Coppola, and composed award-winning musicals based on The Lord of the Rings. Television and Film credits include: A Mighty Wind, Seinfeld, Desperate Housewives, Reno 911, The Practice, Las Vegas, ER, Gilmore Girls, Bones, How I Met Your Mother and Judging Amy. Impro Theatre is a company of classically trained actors who believe that improvising plays in repertory is one of the most exhilarating and demanding ways there is to be a true ensemble.

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Shakespeare by the Sea's 2010 season includes free performances of TWELFTH NIGHT and JULIUS CAESAR – currently running in repertory Thursday through Sunday at 8:00 PM in Point Fermin Park. After performing in San Pedro for four weeks these two full length Shakespeare productions will hit the road traveling throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties through the end of the July and returning for their final performances at Point Fermin Park, with JULIUS CAESAR closing on August 13th and TWELFTH NIGHT closing August 14th.  Cities on this year's tour include: Newport Beach, South Pasadena, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, Laguna Niguel, Carson, and Glendale. We will update our website as cities are added to the tour.

For audiences seeking quality, family entertainment, Shakespeare by the Sea's free performances cannot be beat. The tales are timeless, the admission ticketless, and the experience priceless. Pack a picnic, gather loved ones, and settle in under the stars for a night of classic entertainment. The 2010 Shakespeare by the Sea festival is presented by Target. Full production schedules, locations and further information can be found online at www.shakespearebythesea.org or by calling 310-217-7596.

Shakespeare by the Sea has been presenting quality admission-free Shakespeare performances throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties for over ten years. These free performances have become a tradition for thousands of Los Angeles families. Last year's attendance reached nearly 20,000 total audience members.

Shakespeare by the Sea's mission is to bring new, contemporary and classic works to underserved, culturally diverse audience in order to ignite imagination, promote literacy and encourage artistic expression. Partnerships with local city organizations, as well as generous donations, make these free performances possible.