Cymbeline: A Conversation with Anita Diamant and Fred Sullivan, Jr. at the Boston Athenaeum

Members ($15) for lecture only; or ($55) for lecture and reserved seat for Cymbeline performance

Visitors ($20) for lecture only; or ($65) for lecture and reserved seat for Cymbeline performance

The Boston Athenæum and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) have partnered together to bring you two fantastic events in one night that interrogate and celebrate Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, a mystical dramedy full of intrigue, mistaken identities, and romance. The production of Cymbeline marks CSC’s 24th season of Free Shakespeare on the Common (July 17 through August 4, 2019).

The evening begins at the Boston Athenæum at 6:00pm with a conversation between Anita Diamant, best selling author, and Fred Sullivan Jr., director of CSC’s Cymbeline. They will discuss the themes of integrity and forgiveness running throughout this tragicomic romance and fairy tale plot. In particular, they will explore the trials of the heroine, Imogen, an isolated and wronged young woman facing down threats in a violent world–and how she persists.

Sequence of Events: Following the lecture, guests are welcome to take part in a brief reception. Those who have purchased the bundled ticket including the performance are invited to make their way to the Common to take their reserved seats for the performance of Cymbeline, which begins at 8:00pm. Audience members should arrive at the Common no later than 7:45pm. Per performance seating, the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Friends Section consists of low lawn chairs pre-set in front of the stage on the Boston Common.  Friends Section chairs are pre-assigned; you will be seated at the performance by a member of the Commonwealth Shakespeare team. If you require a specific seat location based on an accessibility need (low vision, access to an aisle for a mobility aid, etc), please contact us at info@commshakes.org or 617-426-0863. We cannot guarantee our ability to make changes to the seating chart the night of the event.  We have a limited number of tall chairs (the height of a typical camping chair) for patrons who may not be comfortable in our low beach chairs. To request tall chairs, please contact us at the email or phone number provided above.

Anita Diamant is the author of twelve books. The Red Tent, her first work of fiction, was a New York Times bestseller, published in more than 25 countries, and adapted as a two-part miniseries by Lifetime TV. Her other bestselling novels include The Boston Girl, Good Harbor, The Last Days of Dogtown, and Day after Night. Diamant has published a collection of essays and six non-fiction guides to contemporary Jewish life, including The Jewish Wedding Now, The Jewish Baby Book, Living a Jewish Life, Choosing a Jewish Life, How to Raise a Jewish Child, and Saying Kaddish. An award-winning journalist, her articles have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine, Real Simple, Parenting Magazine, Hadassah, Boston Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.

Fred Sullivan, Jr., is celebrating 13 seasons with Shakespeare on the Common, first time as Director. He has played the Duke of Buckingham, Capulet, Malvolio, Bottom, Gloucester, and Parolles, the First Gangster in Kiss Me, Kate at the Hatch Shell, and received a Norton Award for Outstanding Actor for his Jaques in As You Like It. He spent 35 season as a resident actor at Trinity Repertory Company where he appeared in over 130 plays and received Norton and IRNE awards for Outstanding lead actor in Blithe Spirit and His Girl Friday. His Trinity Rep roles included Falstaff, Bottom, Oscar Madison, James Tyrone, Jr, Joe Pitt, Captain Hook, Scrooge and Harold Hill, and he directed Trinity Rep’s A Christmas Carol, Shooting Star, and Boeing Boeing. Fred is resident director for the Gamm Theatre since 1996 where he has directed 28 productions including Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing (each twice), and Awake at Sing (Norton Award for Outstanding Production). As an actor at Gamm, he played Donny in American Buffalo, Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale and Mark Rothkoin Red. Fred has also performed at NJ Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Berkeley Rep, and Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. He teaches acting at Gamm and RISD.