The Teatro Mercadante, the leading theatre of Naples, Italy, will present Theatre for a New Audience's 2005 production of SOULS OF NAPLES, written in 1946 by Eduardo De Filippo, Italy, for one week only January 24 through 29, 2006.

In April 2005, Roman Paska staged SOULS OF NAPLES for Theatre for a New Audience in a new English translation by author and Village Voice critic Michael Feingold. SOULS OF NAPLES played in New York at The Duke on 42nd Street. Most of the original cast will travel to Naples to reprise their roles at the Mercadente. The production will use the same English translation in Italy as was used in New York.

Penned by Eduardo De Filippo, Italy's leading playwright-director of the last half century, SOULS OF NAPLES, is a perfect showcase for its star, award-winning film and stage actor John Turturro
(O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Barton Fink). Mr. Turturro will play the leading role of Pasquale, for which he was nominated for a 2005 Drama Desk Award, originally played in Italy by De Filippo himself.

Souls of Naples, by Eduardo De Filippo, translated by Michael Feingold, directed by Roman Paska, scenic and costume design by Donna Zakowska, lighting design by Stephen Strawbridge, original music and music direction by John T. La Barbera, and music sound design by Richard Martinez.

Visit the Teatro Mercadante page for further information. (Page is in Italian, translate via Google.)

Theatre for a New Audience takes THE MERCHANT OF VENICE with F. Murray Abraham as Shylock to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

The Royal Shakespeare Company is to stage the biggest festival in its history, inviting theatre companies from across the world and around the UK to join the Company in a unique celebration of Shakespeare's complete works.

Beginning April 2006 the RSC will host The Complete Works, a year-long Festival of the entire Shakespeare canon at its Stratford-upon-Avon home. The Festival embraces film, new writing, and contemporary music, as well as a comprehensive survey of theatre artists currently interpreting Shakespeare worldwide. The Complete Works will celebrate the truly global reach of the greatest writer in the English language, and will be the first time all 37 plays, the sonnets and the long poems have been presented at the same event.

Visit the RSC website for additional information.