Ovation TV Invites Viewers to a Summer Shakespeare Festival

Ovation TV to Feature Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

LOS ANGELES – July 13, 2009   Summer is a wonderful time to see Shakespeare in the park or at a festival, but now Ovation TV is bringing a great Shakespearean experience even closer to home.  Beginning August 16, you can see outstanding productions of the Bard’s most famous plays from front-row seats in your living room, including:

•    Twelfth Night -  Sunday, August 16, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.   Directed by Trevor Nunn, this 1996 version of Shakespeare’s comedy stars Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia, Imogen Stubbs at Viola, Steven Mackintosh as Sebastian and Ben Kingsley as Feste.

•    A Midsummer’s Night Dream - Monday, August 17, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT     This is Peter Hall and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1968 classic production, starring Diana Rigg as Helena and Helen Mirren as Hermia.

•    Richard III – Tuesday, August 18, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT   A brilliant 20th Century adaptation of the Shakespeare original, this 1995 version stars Ian McKellan as Richard III and sets the murderous intrigue and civil strife of the play in an imaginary fascist period of English history.  Also starring are Annette Bening as Queen Elizabeth, Robert Downey Jr. at Lord Rivers, Kristin Scott Thomas as Lady Anne, Maggie Smith as the Duchess of York and Nigel Hawthorne as George, Duke of Clarence. 

•    Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead – Wednesday, August 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT  Tom Stoppard’s classic film turns Hamlet on its head when the focus becomes two of the play’s minor characters.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and yet are somehow unable to deviate from them.  Gary Oldman stars as Rosencrantz and Tim Roth as Guildenstern.

•    Hamlet  – Thursday, August 20 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT   This modern-day retelling of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays is set in New York in the year 2000.  A spectre in the guise of the newly dead CEO of Denmark Corporation appears to Hamlet, played by Ethan Hawke, and identifies the killer as Claudius, the new head of Denmark, Hamlet’s uncle and now step-father. Kyle MacLachlan stars as Claudius, Sam Shepard as the Ghost, Bill Murray as Polonius, Live Schreiber as Laertes and Julia Stiles as Ophelia.

About Ovation TV: Ovation TV is the only multi-platform network devoted to art and contemporary culture. The network creates and curates one-of-a-kind programming about all the art people enjoy most, from the popular to the avant-garde and everything in between. The channel reaches a national audience of 32 million households through carriage on DirecTV (channel 274), Dish Network (channel 157) and on cable and telco systems in major markets across the country. Ovation TV’s programming is also available on video on demand (in both standard and high definition) in the US. Ovation TV’s popular website (http://www.OvationTV.com) is a dynamic experience, featuring information about local and national happenings in the art world, as well as a vibrant community of artists who have downloaded over 60,000 pieces of original art.

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CONTACT:
Patricia Frith
Patricia Frith Marketing (for Ovation TV)
Tel:  +1 818 8760-0480
Email:  pfmarketing@roadrunner.com

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