Regional Theater Unveils Major Productions

Jacqueline Antaramian, leading "The Tempest," is a seasoned stage and screen actress with Broadway credits that include "Julius Caesar" alongside Denzel Washington, "Dr. Zhivago," and "Master Class." The Armenian-born actress has also appeared in numerous television series, such as "Manifest," "Jessica Jones," and "Homeland." In 2006, she won a Barrymore Award for Best Actress for her role in the one-woman show "Nine Parts of Desire." The Chanticleer Shakespeare Co. is Fresno's first and only professional Shakespearean theatre company, with a mission to make classical theatre accessible to a modern audience in a historically underserved community. The company, which will be housed in the historic Warnors Theatre, aims to transform Fresno into a cultural hub by hiring professional artists and nurturing local talent through workshops and masterclasses. Mona Awad's 2021 novel "All's Well" is a darkly comedic and surreal exploration of chronic pain and female suffering. The story follows a college theatre professor with a debilitating injury who is trying to stage Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well" when she encounters three mysterious benefactors who offer a strange solution to her problems. The novel delves into themes of power, gender, and the blurring lines between reality and performance. The stage adaptation of "All's Well" is penned by Guillermo Verdecchia, a four-time winner of the Chalmers Canadian Play Award and a recipient of the Governor-General's Award for Drama for his play "Fronteras Americanas." The Toronto production is part of a new three-year strategic partnership between Crow's Theatre and Soulpepper Theatre, a collaboration intended to deepen production capacity and engage a wider audience for theatre in the city. Pearl Cleage’s "Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous" tells the story of an actress who, decades after a controversial nude performance of August Wilson's work, is invited to a women's theatre festival. The play explores themes of artistic ownership, generational differences, and legacy as she confronts the ambitious young performer set to take over her iconic role. Patrice Jean-Baptiste, who stars as Anna Campbell, is a fixture in the Boston theatre scene, having appeared in productions at The Huntington Theatre Company, Lyric Stage, and with the Actors' Shakespeare Project. She holds a Master of Arts in Theater Arts from the Trinity Rep Conservatory and is also recognized as a Two Diamond Coach by the National Forensic League for her work with Milton Academy's speech and debate program.