Resident director Evan Yionoulis stages the William Shakespeare classic that began previews Sept. 21 for a run through Oct. 13.
Carlson — of Broadway's Taboo and television's "All My Children" fame — tackles the title role in a cast that also features Billy Eugene Jones as Bolingbrook and Alvin Epstein in the role of John of Gaunt.
The company also features George Bartenieff as the Duke of York with Brian Burns, Caitlin Clouthier, Jonathan Fried, Carter Gill, Kristjiana Gong, Christopher Grant, Brent Langdon, Michael Leibenluft, Christopher McFarland, Christopher McHale, Dan Moran, Edward O'Blenis, Josh Odsess-Rubin, Joseph Parks, Allen E. Read, Judith Roberts and Joe Tapper.
"King Richard II sits uneasily upon the throne of England, as a conniving court and a state-funded war with Ireland turn the tide against him," reads a show description. "When the banished Henry Bolingbrook returns with the intention of usurping the crown, Richard is swept into a political and personal maelstrom that will change a nation forever."
The design team includes Brenda Davis (scenic), Melissa E. Trn (costume), Ji Youn Chang (lighting) and Sarah Pickett (sound). Mike Yionoulis has composed original music. Carlson's Broadway credits include Taboo, Tartuffe and The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? He played the lead in Hamlet (at Washington, D.C.'s The Shakespeare Theatre Company) and Romeo and Juliet (New Jersey's McCarter Theatre). Other credits include Bach at Leipzig, Lorenzaccio, Candida, The Miracle Worker, Thief River, Manuscript and Sodom and Gomorrah. He also caused a stir as the transgendered character Zoe on the ABC soap opera "All My Children."
Yionoulis has previously staged The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, Three Days, Sore Throats and Bhutan. Her Yale Rep productions have included Black Snow, The People Next Door and Heaven.
The new season at Yale Rep continues with Alice Childress' Trouble in Mind (Oct. 26-Nov. 17), Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière's Tartuffe (Nov. 26-Dec. 22), the world premiere of David Adjmi's The Evildoers (Jan. 18-Feb. 9, 2008), Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance (March 21-April 12, 2008) and a sixth play to announced (April 25-May 16, 2008).
Tickets to Richard II at Yale Rep, 1120 Chapel Street (at York Street) in New Haven, CT, are available by calling (203) 432-1234. For more information visit yalerep.org.
