A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Taming of the Shrew Macbeth 946 The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips Imogen The Merchant of Venice The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk
Wonder won.der
(n.) a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar
B
eing childlike is underrated. It takes commitment. A commitment to try and see everything for the first time, to approach people and situations with an open mind, and to create theatre as if every story is freshly born in that moment. I am not talking about being childish; seeing the world through a simple lens or trying to hold onto some romantic idea of innocence. No, I am describing something far more essential. The preservation of wonder. Wonder is the natural territory of the child. Not in an airbrushed, happily-ever-after way, but in a way that reflects a deep and immediate relationship to the people we meet and the things that happen to us. This ‘wonder’ reveals the world in its truest and most surprising form and glows at the heart of why we make theatre. It is one of my favourite, and most consistent notes to actors, several weeks into a long run when the show is purring like clockwork, laughs are landing and timings are stable… “Everything for the first time!” I exclaim. There is no beauty in perfection and I urge my theatrical heroes to trip themselves up and dive into the emotions and dilemmas afresh without a thought for what they think they know. This ‘wonder’, this ability to reset on a daily, nightly, even hourly basis is where the power of theatre lies. Writers, actors, directors and audiences alike choose to join this temporary community and gasp with childlike wonder as these stories unfold. We willingly give ourselves up to new worlds and slip our feet into the shoes of others. This collective act of ‘wonder’ is an act of such bravery, such empathy and such generosity that it creates an army of humanity, bonded by a shared experience and a unique event. And so, as I take the reins of this wooden ‘O’, I know that there is no better home for this army of humanity. This radical building holds us in a warm grip and doesn’t let go until the jig is jigged. Shakespeare’s Globe demands wonder at its best. It demands that you look from the stage to the sky and feel the heartbeat of the fellow adventurers around you as you see some of the greatest stories, hear some of the greatest words and experience some of the greatest emotions that this life has to offer. I thank the stars in the London sky for giving me custody of this precious space and hope that my first season will inspire joy, sorrow, fear and laughter in equal, glorious, wonderful, childlike measure as we all choose to get lost in the woods together.
Emma Rice, Artistic Director Designate
M
y! The woods outside Athens are a busy place on this magical night! Four runaway lovers find themselves smack bang in the middle of a dispute between the King and Queen of the fairies, and, as if that wasn’t enough, a troupe of amateur actors are trying to rehearse a play. Between these unlikely groups flies Puck, armed only with a wicked sense of humour and a love potion capable of making anyone fall for the first person they set eyes upon. What could possibly go wrong?
Director Emma Rice
Fusing music, dance and some serious comedy, Emma Rice’s first production as Artistic Director brings the Dream crashing into the Globe’s magical setting. Naughty, tender, transgressive and surprising, it promises to be a festival of theatre.
Composer Stu Barker
Let the joy begin!
Sound Designer Simon Baker
‘ Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show. But wonder on, till ’truth make all things plain.'
Dramaturg Tanika Gupta Set Designer Börkur Jónsson Costume Designer Moritz Junge
Choreographers Etta Murfitt & Emma Rice
Performing in the Globe Theatre 30 April – 11 September 2016
T
wo sisters are being married off. Bianca is hell-bent on it and can’t wait to fly the nest. Kate, on the other hand, balks at the thought of losing her independence and struggles to think of anything worse. That’s all well and good, but Kate has to marry first for Bianca to be allowed. And whilst Bianca has no shortage of offers, who will get hitched to Kate, the fabulous and ungovernable shrew? Perhaps Petruchio might take her on for a bet: he’s a bit of a gold-digger and as wild and rebellious as our Kate...
Director Caroline Byrne Set Designer Chiara Stephenson Composer Olly Fox
Losing none of its power to provoke and sometimes outrage, Shakespeare’s controversial double-act gets a thoroughly fresh, fast and distinctly Irish makeover.
‘’Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tam’d so.’
Performing in the Globe Theatre 13 May – 6 August 2016
O
n a barren heath, three sisters tell the great and bloodied Macbeth that he is fated to be King of Scotland. And so begins a terrifying series of events that lead to the murder of Kings, friends, mothers and their children. Macbeth and his Lady fall prey to a soul-corroding guilt as they desperately try and cling to the defiled crown.
Director Iqbal Khan Set & Lighting Designer Bagnall
The title role is Shakespeare’s most brutal and poetic creation and the play his most unsettling engagement with the supra-natural and the nature of evil. Enter the unique intensity of the Globe as this cycle of wondrous horrors captures our imagination once again...
‘ Can such things be And overcome us like a summer’s cloud, Without our special wonder?’
Performing in the Globe Theatre 18 June – 1 October 2016
Shakespeare’s Cymbeline is renamed, reclaimed and refocused in this modern and visceral new production
I
mogen, daughter of Cymbeline, enrages her father by marrying against his will. Lies are then told about Imogen to her husband, Posthumous, and he decides she should die.
In an urban world that is as strange, erotic and violent as Shakespeare’s ancient Britain, Imogen is forced to re-imagine herself as she fights for the life she deserves and not the one that is being determined for her. Imogen is an achingly beautiful story of lovers and families being re-united after violent and harrowing separation, and a tale for our times vividly told in this brutally modern production.
Director Matthew Dunster Designer Jon Bausor Choreographer Charlotte Broom Lighting Designer Lee Curran Sound Designer George Dennis
Matthew Dunster is Associate Director at Shakespeare’s Globe. His previous Globe productions include The Frontline (2008 and 2009), Troilus and Cressida (2009), Doctor Faustus (2011) and The Lightning Child (2013).
‘ Whilst I am bound to wonder, I am bound To pity too.’
Performing in the Globe Theatre 17 September – 16 October 2016
V
alentine loves Silvia and Proteus loves Julia – but Proteus is fickle and falls for Silvia too. When Valentine plots an elopement, Proteus betrays him and Valentine is banished and joins some outlaws in the forest. What are the chances that he’ll be pursued by Silvia, and Silvia by Proteus, and Proteus by Julia, and that all will be waited upon – after a fashion – by their servants Speed and Launce and even Launce’s dog, Crab?
Director Nick Bagnall
This riotous new touring production is led by a joyful ensemble of players who will delight with songs, romance and chaos, and hurl Shakespeare’s anarchic comedy into the 21st century. Nick Bagnall’s previous productions at Shakespeare’s Globe include Henry VI: Parts I, II and III (2013), The Last Days of Troy (2014), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2014) and The Odyssey: Missing, Presumed Dead (2015). Performing in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse 20 September – 1 October 2016
‘ Please you, I’ll tell you as we pass along, That you will wonder what hath fortuned.’
and on tour around the UK Please check website for tour information
Illustration by Daryl Waller
P
erhaps you’ve seen them floating over a Russian village? Or perhaps you’ve seen her toppling forward, arms full of wild flowers, as he arches above her head and steals a kiss?
Written by Daniel Jamieson
Meet Marc and Bella Chagall – The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk! Partners in life and on canvas, Marc and Bella are immortalised as the picture of romance. But whilst on canvas they flew, in life they walked through some of the most devastating times in history.
Designer Sophia Clist
Daniel Jamieson’s The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk traces this young couple as they navigate the Pogroms, the Russian Revolution, and each other. This magical production is drawn in a theatrical language as fluid as Chagall’s paintings, and woven throughout with music and dance inspired by the Russian Jewish tradition.
‘ In our life there is a single colour, as on an artist’s palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love.’ Marc Chagall
Director Emma Rice
Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth Musical Director Ian Ross Sound Designer Simon Baker Presented by Kneehigh and Bristol Old Vic
Performing in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse 16 June – 2 July 2016
Original cast photo by Steve Tanner
in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre
I
magine being told to leave your home… Imagine American soldiers occupying your house and land… Imagine being 12 and angry, with only a cat to tell your secrets to…
Adapted by Michael Morpurgo & Emma Rice
Well it all happened (most of it anyway) in Slapton Sands, Devon, in 1944. Based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, 946 explodes everything we thought we knew about the D-Day landings, using music, puppetry and foolishness to tell this tale of war, prejudice and love.
Composer Stu Barker
Tender, political and surprisingly romantic, this story speaks to us all and finally reveals the secrets the US and British governments tried to keep quiet.
Designer Lez Brotherston
Shakespeare’s Globe brings Emma Rice’s triumphant Kneehigh show for families to London for the first time. 946 is co-adapted by Michael Morpurgo, one of the UK’s most loved and successful authors whose work includes War Horse, Kensuke’s Kingdom and Private Peaceful.
‘Enthralling’ The Stage
‘A wonderfully life-affirming piece of theatre’ The Times
Director Emma Rice
Musical Director Ian Ross
Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth Sound Designer Simon Baker Choreographers Etta Murfitt & Emma Rice
Performing in the Globe Theatre 11 August – 11 September 2016
‘Wonderful’
Photo by Manuel Harlan
The Observer
I
n Venice, the epicentre of consumption, speculation and debt, Bassanio borrows money from his friend Antonio to finance his attempt to win the hand of Portia, a wealthy heiress. Antonio, in turn, takes out a loan from the moneylender Shylock. The loan will be repaid when Antonio’s ships return to the city. But if they should fail, and the money cannot be repaid, Antonio shall give to Shylock a pound of his own flesh. And they do fail. And Shylock will have his ‘bond’.
Director Jonathan Munby Designer Mike Britton Composer Jules Maxwell
In some of his most highly-charged scenes, Shakespeare dramatizes the competing claims of tolerance and intolerance, justice and mercy, while in the character of Shylock he created one of the most memorable outsiders in all theatre. A revival of the thrilling 2015 Globe production with Jonathan Pryce as Shylock.
‘A finely balanced, intelligent production’ The Times
‘Jonathan Pryce is electrifyingly good’ Time Out
‘The Globe at its best’ The Mail on Sunday
Performing in the Globe Theatre 4 – 15 October 2016 and on a national & international tour Please check website for tour information
#WonderSeason
Artworks by Dan Hillier