World Shakespeare Festival Guide by Royal Shakespeare Company

PRODUCTIONS

TITLE

COMPANY

LOCATION

DATES

PAGE

VENUE

2007: MACBETH

TR WARSZAWA

EDINBURGH

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

10 AUGUST 2 SEPTEMBER 16 MARCH - 14 MAY 16 JULY - 6 OCTOBER

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

LONDON

1 JUNE - 4 JULY

ROUNDHOUSE

CORIOLAN/US

NATIONAL THEATRE WALES

BRIDGEND

DRAGON FILM STUDIOS

CYMBELINE THE DARK SIDE OF LOVE DESDEMONA

NINAGAWA COMPANY / BARBICAN ROUNDHOUSE COMPANY / LIFT BARBICAN

LONDON LONDON LONDON

AUGUST 29 MAY - 2 JUNE 25 JUNE - 8 JULY

16 19 16

BARBICAN THEATRE ROUNDHOUSE BARBICAN HALL

FORESTS

BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE / BARCELONA INTERNACIONAL TEATRE SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY OILY CART / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

BIRMINGHAM

OLD REP THEATRE

14 & 15 10 10 17 25 9 25 7

SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE SWAN THEATRE SWAN ROOM STRATFORD CIRCUS NORTHERN STAGE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL SWAN THEATRE

ALMEIDA THEATRE

21 24 12 27

LIFT AT RIVERSIDE STUDIOS NORTHERN STAGE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

GLOBE TO GLOBE I, CINNA (THE POET) IN A PICKLE

KING JOHN

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

LONDON STRATFORD-UPON-AVON STRATFORD-UPON-AVON LONDON NEWCASTLE / GATESHEAD STRATFORD-UPON-AVON NEWCASTLE / GATESHEAD STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

KING LEAR

ALMEIDA THEATRE

LONDON

MACBETH: LEÏLA AND BEN A BLOODY HISTORY

ARTISTES, PRODUCTEURS, ASSOCIÉS LONDON NEWCASTLE / GATESHEAD CHEKHOV INTERNATIONAL STRATFORD-UPON-AVON THEATRE FESTIVAL / EDINBURGH DMITRY KRYMOV’S LABORATORY / SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ART THEATRE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY STRATFORD-UPON-AVON ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY STRATFORD-UPON-AVON ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY LONDON

JULIUS CAESAR

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (AS YOU LIKE IT)

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING OPEN STAGES PERICLES PILOT NIGHT

THE COURTYARD THEATRE STRATFORD-UPON-AVON ROUNDHOUSE

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

12 JULY

THE COURTYARD THEATRE

BRIGHTON LONDON NEWCASTLE / GATESHEAD STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

5 - 27 MAY 12 - 23 JUNE 26 - 30 JUNE 22 MARCH 15 SEPTEMBER 26 APRIL - 5 MAY 28 - 30 JUNE 29 JUNE - 28 JULY

26 20 24 6

BRIGHTON FESTIVAL LIFT AT RIVERSIDE STUDIOS NORTHERN STAGE SWAN THEATRE

8 20 7

SWAN THEATRE LIFT AT RIVERSIDE STUDIOS SWAN THEATRE

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

19 13

ROUNDHOUSE SWAN THEATRE

THE REST IS SILENCE

RICHARD III

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

ROMEO AND JULIET IN BAGHDAD

IRAQI THEATRE COMPANY

A SOLDIER IN EVERY SON – AN AZTEC TRILOGY THE TEMPEST

NATIONAL THEATRE OF MEXICO / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

A TENDER THING

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

LONDON STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

TIMON OF ATHENS

NATIONAL THEATRE

LONDON

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA

THE WOOSTER GROUP / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

TWO ROSES FOR RICHARD III

COMPANHIA BUFOMECÂNICA / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

WEST SIDE STORY

SAGE GATESHEAD / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S OPEN STAGES SQUIDSOUP BRITISH MUSEUM ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY / THE SHAKESPEARE BIRTHPLACE TRUST TATE MODERN / BRITISH MUSEUM / NATIONAL THEATRE / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

EXHIBITIONS

LIVING WALLS SHAKESPEARE: STAGING THE WORLD THE STORIES OF SHAKESPEARE

CONFERENCES

WORLDS TOGETHER

ONLINE

MY SHAKESPEARE BOOKING INFORMATION

31 AUGUST 3 NOVEMBER 4 - 7 JULY 12 - 14 JULY 10 - 18 AUGUST 10 AUGUST 2 SEPTEMBER

26 JULY - 15 SEPTEMBER 11 13 - 22 JULY 28 5 & 19

PILOT / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY dreamthinkspeak

TWELFTH NIGHT

Key

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

JULY 31 AUGUST 15 SEPTEMBER 23 APRIL - 3 JUNE 13 JUNE - 6 JULY 23 MAY - 17 JUNE 19 - 23 JUNE 27 - 30 JUNE 28 MAY - 7 JULY 19 - 28 JULY 6 APRIL - 15 SEPTEMBER

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON LONDON STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

30 MARCH - 19 MAY 13 JULY – 7 OCTOBER 9 JUNE - 5 JULY 27 SEPTEMBER 20 OCTOBER FROM JULY 3 - 18 AUGUST

OLIVIER THEATRE

SWAN THEATRE

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

18 8 18 24

ROUNDHOUSE THE COURTYARD THEATRE ROUNDHOUSE THE SAGE GATESHEAD

LONDON STRATFORD-UPON-AVON LONDON NEWCASTLE / GATESHEAD

8 MARCH - 15 MAY 12 JULY - 6 OCTOBER 5 JUNE - 5 JULY 7 - 12 MAY 18 - 23 MAY 4 - 7 JULY

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON LONDON STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

21 APRIL - 9 SEPTEMBER 13 19 JULY - 25 NOVEMBER 22 21 APRIL - 31 DECEMBER 13

LONDON

6 - 8 SEPTEMBER

ONLINE

2012

29 31

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE BRITISH MUSEUM ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE / SHAKESPEARE BIRTHPLACE TRUST PROPERTIES CLORE LEARNING CENTRE, TATE MODERN

WORLDSHAKESPEAREFESTIVAL.ORG.UK

= Exact dates to be announced. Please see www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk or individual venue websites for more information.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON LONDON The World Shakespeare Festival is a celebration of Shakespeare as the world’s playwright, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in an unprecedented collaboration with leading UK and international arts organisations and with Globe to Globe, a major international programme produced by Shakespeare’s Globe.

Shakespeare is no longer English property. He is the favourite playwright and artist of the whole world, and studied at school by half the world’s children.

These artists, home-grown and from abroad, will push the boundaries of performance, and reﬂect the cultural shifting of our contemporary world, through Shakespeare’s plays that speak across geographies and generations.

NEWCASTLE/GATESHEAD

The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad will be the London 2012 Festival. We are delighted to have the World Shakespeare Festival as part of it; we thank the Olympic Lottery Distributor and Arts Council England as principal funders and welcome BP, already a Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, as the Founding Presenting Partner.

From Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23rd 2012, we’ve invited some of the world’s leading artists and theatre-makers to create new productions and responses to Shakespeare, which will play until Autumn in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s three theatres in Stratford-upon-Avon, across London in partnership with ten major theatres, LIFT and the British Museum and in Newcastle, Gateshead, Wales, Birmingham, at the Edinburgh International Festival, Brighton Festival and on the BBC.

Over the last 400 years, Shakespeare’s plays have travelled far and wide. On their travels they have midwifed new theatre cultures, spread light and laughter, and helped nations, new and old, to deﬁne themselves. Wherever they have gone, they have dug deep into the local soil, and have reshaped the air around them. In this unique event of unprecedented ambition, Globe to Globe will perform all of Shakespeare’s plays, each in a different language, each from a different international company.

With Open Stages we celebrate the UK’s great amateur performance tradition like never before. With My Shakespeare we invite everyone in the world to contribute their visions of Shakespeare online. With our International Education Conference we explore how Shakespeare is being taught to half the children in the world.

BRIGHTON

The World Shakespeare Festival celebrates this most international of artists at a time when the eyes of the world are on London, that most international of cities, and on the whole of the UK for the Olympic Games.

The RSC is contributing a dozen new productions of its own. Some reﬂect the rich mix of cultures within British society; some are co-productions with international companies and some explore non-theatre spaces and new journeys for our audiences.

Wherever you come from, and whatever language you speak, we welcome you to this great Shakespeare celebration. Deborah Shaw, World Shakespeare Festival Director Michael Boyd, Artistic Director, Royal Shakespeare Company

Every day for six weeks, national theatres, renowned artists and new young companies will celebrate performing Shakespeare in their own language, within the architecture Shakespeare wrote for. The Globe is delighted to be bringing Shakespeare, dressed in the clothes of many nations, back home to Bankside. Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director Shakespeare’s Globe

EDINBURGH

People of all races, creeds and continents have chosen to gather around his work to share stories of what it is like to be human. To fall in love or fall from grace. To be subject to the abuse of power or to live with the dreams of angels in the shadow of our own mortality.

BRIDGEND

BIRMINGHAM

Ruth Mackenzie Director of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival

Three plays. One company. One environment. One world of shipwreck, grief, laughter, love and reunion. The Royal Shakespeare Company presents a unique trilogy to celebrate the World Shakespeare Festival. Led by RSC Associate Director David Farr, one ensemble company of RSC actors will stage a major cycle of plays, What Country Friends Is This?, exploring migration, exile, shipwreck and the discovery of brave new worlds. The three plays date from the early, middle and late periods of Shakespeare’s work as he returned throughout his life to further explore these themes. While each production can be enjoyed on its own, seen together they are an epic trilogy by the

world’s greatest dramatist exploring issues that are as relevant today as they were 400 years ago. The company includes Jonathan Slinger as Malvolio and Prospero, having recently played Macbeth in the ﬁrst production in the transformed Royal Shakespeare Theatre. As this body of work moves to London, it will be joined by a site-speciﬁc production of Pericles. Directed by RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd and designed by Tom Piper, this innovative promenade production of Shakespeare’s tale of journeying and discovery is presented in a bold staging at the Roundhouse, London.

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

by William Shakespeare

A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

16 MARCH - 14 MAY 2012 & 16 JULY - 6 OCTOBER 2012

8 MARCH - 15 MAY 2012 & 12 JULY - 6 OCTOBER 2012

Shakespeare’s joyful comedy of mistaken identity follows the fortunes of two sets of identical twins, accidentally separated at birth, then miraculously thrown together again. In a town the size of Ephesus, events like these can only lead to confusion.

Shipwrecked on the shores of a strange land, Viola believes her twin brother Sebastian drowned. Disguising herself as a boy to work in the court of Count Orsino, she ﬁnds herself a go-between for the man she serves and the woman who refuses to love him.

The Comedy of Errors is directed by Amir Nizar Zuabi. Founder of the Palestinian theatre company ShiberHur, his productions for them include In The Penal Colony (Young Vic) and I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother (Young Vic), which he wrote and directed. Director: Amir Nizar Zuabi Designer: Jon Bausor Lighting: Jon Clark Sound: Christopher Shutt

David Farr directs both Twelfth Night and The Tempest. David is a playwright, screenwriter and stage director, whose plays have been performed all over the world. In recent years he has moved into ﬁlm and television and recently co-wrote the ﬁlm Hanna. Formerly Artistic Director of London’s Lyric Theatre and Bristol Old Vic, he is now an Associate Director of the RSC. Director: David Farr Designer: Jon Bausor Lighting: Jon Clark Sound: Christopher Shutt Music: Adem Ilhan

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F E ST IVA L E VENT S

WHAT COUNTRY FRIENDS IS THIS?

Visit the festival website

A Sixth Form Conference for A level and BTEC English and Theatre Studies Students The Comedy of Errors,Twelfth Night and The Tempest are all inspired by themes of migration, displacement and exile. This conference will explore these themes in relation to the plays, their characters and the situations they ﬁnd themselves in. Dates in April and September in Stratford-upon-Avon

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

to get involved in an event, ﬁnd out how the productions were made at a creative team talk or join a workshop for students and teachers.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

ROUNDHOUSE

by William Shakespeare

A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

A site-speciﬁc production directed by RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd, which sees Shakespeare’s tale of journeying and fulﬁlment recreated in promenade at the Roundhouse, London.

30 MARCH - 19 MAY 2012 & 13 JULY - 7 OCTOBER 2012 Prospero is usurped from his position as Duke of Milan and cast away with his daughter to a remote island. Twelve years later, and intent on revenge, he raises a magical tempest that shipwrecks his enemies on his shores. What begins as a search for retribution develops into a journey of acceptance and compassion in Shakespeare’s ﬁnal play.

Tickets for Pericles on public sale from January 2012. Director: Michael Boyd Designer: Tom Piper

Director: David Farr Designer: Jon Bausor Lighting: Jon Clark Sound: Christopher Shutt Music: Adem Ilhan

Tickets from £12 - £50 on public sale from 10 October 2011

D O N’ T MISS

E V E NT S

LONDON PERFORMANCES

POST-SHOW TALKBACKS

The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night and The Tempest also play in London. Roundhouse 1 June – 5 July 2012 See pages 18 & 19.

Stay on after the show and put your questions about the production to members of the acting company. The Tempest, Tue 24 July Twelfth Night, Wed 1 Aug The Comedy of Errors, Tue 4 Sept Stratford-upon-Avon, FREE

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

The Royal Shakespeare Company presents a season of work in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, exploring the struggle for absolute power and the right to lead a nation. Led by RSC Associate Director Roxana Silbert, one company of RSC actors will perform two of Shakespeare’s thrilling explorations of civil war before presenting a new play by one of Mexico’s leading playwrights in collaboration with the National Theatre of Mexico. Underlining Shakespeare’s ability to speak to the world at large, A Soldier In Every Son – An Aztec Trilogy is directly inspired by these two Shakespeare plays and charts the story of the foundation of one of the most famous civilisations in the world.

SWAN THEATRE

by William Shakespeare A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

22 MARCH - 15 SEPTEMBER 2012 Power-hungry Richard, Duke of Gloucester, plots, manipulates and murders his way to the throne in Shakespeare’s brilliant exposé of this infamous monarch. Roxana Silbert directs a company of actors, who will also perform A Soldier In Every Son – An Aztec Trilogy. Formerly Artistic Director of Paines Plough Theatre Company, she is Artistic Director (Designate) of Birmingham Repertory Theatre and an Associate Director of the RSC. Director: Roxana Silbert Designer: Ti Green

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ED U CAT IO N E V E NT S

WIKI SHAKESPEARE: A WORLDWIDE CLASSROOM

HATH BRITAIN ALL THE SUN THAT SHINES?

Find out where, how and why Shakespeare is taught in classrooms around the world and add your own knowledge and experiences as a teacher or as a student.

A conference for GCSE English or Drama students exploring Britishness in the words of Shakespeare and contemporary UK artists. A packed day of practical workshops, seminars and performance featuring Cicely Berry and British-Iraqi Hip-Hop artist Lowkey. Mon 9 July, 10.30am - 5pm, Stratford-upon-Avon Tickets: £325 (£305) per class (up to 30 students)

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/wiki

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON SWAN THEATRE

SWAN THEATRE

by William Shakespeare A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

6 APRIL - 15 SEPTEMBER 2012 King John’s claim to the throne is challenged by France, which threatens war unless he steps aside in favour of his nephew, Arthur. A bitter, political struggle ensues as a weakened king clings to power, no matter what the cost.

by Luis Mario Moncada A NATIONAL THEATRE OF MEXICO / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY CO-PRODUCTION

29 JUNE - 28 JULY 2012

Maria Aberg has worked regularly in the UK, Sweden and Germany. In the UK she has directed for the Royal Court, RSC, Soho Theatre and Southwark Playhouse. Her recent RSC productions include Days of Signiﬁcance (Swan Theatre/Tricycle Theatre/UK Tour 2009) and The Gods Weep by Dennis Kelly (Hampstead Theatre 2010).

Late 14th century in the Valley of Mexico and a small, unknown tribe called the Aztecs propel themselves from nomadic mercenaries to rulers of a great empire. Passion, power and intrigue play out in this epic political thriller which charts the history of an ancient civilisation.

Director: Maria Aberg Designer: Naomi Dawson

Spanning a century and based on true events chronicled in the Aztec codices, A Soldier In Every Son - An Aztec Trilogy, unfolds in three parts, closely inspired by Shakespeare’s history plays. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. Director: Roxana Silbert Set Designer: Jorge Ballina

Tickets from £8 - £42 on public sale from 10 October 2011

E VE NTS

ED U CATI ON EV EN TS

THE DIRECTOR TALKS

YOUNG COMPANY PRESENT HENRY V

Join Roxana Silbert to ask how she approached directing A Soldier In Every Son – An Aztec Trilogy. Fri 6 July Stratford-upon-Avon, £5

A 60 minute production from the RSC’s young collective exploring the nature of patriotism and the fate of young soldiers. With a creative team including British-Iraqi rapper Lowkey and Cicely Berry. Tue 24 July, 4.30pm, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Tickets: £3

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

THE COURTYARD THEATRE SWAN THEATRE

A COMPANHIA BUFOMECÂNICA PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

by William Shakespeare Adapted by Monadhil Daood AN IRAQI THEATRE COMPANY PRODUCTION

26 APRIL - 5 MAY 2012 Baghdad’s Iraqi Theatre Company create a version of Romeo and Juliet for a new generation, infused with Iraq’s rich traditions of poetry, music and ritual. Shakespeare’s great love story is set against a backdrop of conﬂict between families, communities and generations. This iconic play ﬁnds fresh purchase in the soil of contemporary Iraq, a country where sectarian strife between Sunni and Shia, ignited and fuelled from outside, has left the population exhausted by a cycle of violence and revenge. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival.

7 - 12 MAY 2012 From Brazil, Companhia BufoMecânica brings a breathtaking production, combining Shakespeare’s text with circus, multimedia, visual metaphor and aerial choreography. Inspired by Shakespeare’s history plays, the bloody events of the War of the Roses are vividly re-imagined in a glorious black carnival of villainy, corruption and seduction.

Two Roses for Richard III begins in promenade and moves into The Courtyard Theatre from outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. This production reunites two of Brazil’s leading directors, Claúdio Baltar (circus companies: Intrepida, Archaos) and Fábio Ferreira, known for his text-based theatre and multimedia work. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. In Portuguese with English surtitles.

In Arabic with English surtitles. Directors: Claúdio Baltar and Fábio Ferreira Set Designer: Brigida Baltar Lighting: Renato Machado Costume Designer: Rosa Magalhães

Director: Monadhil Daood Designer: Jabbarjodi Alabodi Translation: Raad Mushatat

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DO N’ T MISS

DO N’ T M IS S

LONDON PERFORMANCES

THE HOUSE OF FAIRY TALES GUIDE TO THE RSC

Two Roses for Richard III also plays in London at the Roundhouse from 18 - 23 May See page 18. Romeo and Juliet plays at LIFT at Riverside Studios from 28 - 30 June. See page 20.

Throughout Summer 2012, acclaimed community arts charity The House of Fairy Tales will be creating an imaginative and exciting trail in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The guide will take the audience on a journey through the life of Shakespeare and his plays to help solve the mystery of the missing manuscript. The Guide will be launched with a live art weekend of action and intrigue. worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

by William Shakespeare A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

28 MAY - 7 JULY 2012

‘How many times Shall this our lofty scene be acted o’er In states unborn and accents yet unknown’ The dictator must be assassinated. But who will replace him? Shakespeare’s great political thriller ﬁnds dark contemporary echoes in modern Africa, directed by RSC Chief Associate Director Gregory Doran. Gregory’s most recent productions include Shakespeare’s ‘lost play’ Cardenio, re-imagined as part of the RSC’s 50th birthday celebrations, as well as his 2008 production of Hamlet. Director: Gregory Doran Designer: Michael Vale

Tickets from £5 - £50 on public sale from 10 October 2011

E D UCATION EVEN TS

JULIUS CAESAR – A PASSAGE TO AFRICA A conference for undergraduates exploring Shakespeare’s inspiration for writing Julius Caesar. The day includes speakers on the life and times of Shakespeare and Julius Caesar, workshops with the creative team and practical drama sessions exploring how the production has been inspired by modern day Africa. Thu 7 June, 10.30am - 5pm, Stratford-upon-Avon, £35 (£25)

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

E V E NT S Two Roses for Richard III will have an Unwrapped Event on Sat 12 May at 10.30am. Join members of the creative team and acting company as they demonstrate the play’s journey from page to stage. Stratford-upon-Avon, £5

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

SWAN THEATRE

by Tim Crouch A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

13 JUNE - 6 JULY 2012

‘What should the wars do with these jiggling fools?’

lay A p or + f 11 es ag

The story of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar told through the eyes of a jiggling fool, a lowly poet having bad dreams, a man who ﬁnds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time…with the wrong name...while history thunders past.

Photograph of Oily Cart’s If All The World Were Paper

Written for ages 11+, I, Cinna (The Poet) engages a young audience to think and write, to consider the relationship between words and actions, art and politics, self and society. This is the latest in a series of solo shows written by Tim Crouch inspired by Shakespeare’s lesser characters, including I, Peaseblossom and I, Malvolio (RSC, 2011). Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. Project partner

I, Cinna (The Poet) will also tour to schools in the Midlands and Newcastle upon Tyne. Director: Tim Crouch

SWAN ROOM

by Tim Webb AN OILY CART / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY CO-PRODUCTION

23 MAY - 17 JUNE 2012 Oily Cart go on a voyage of discovery with their young audiences through the landscapes of Shakespeare’s imagination and the music of his language.

lay A p or 4 f 2es ag

Renowned for their ‘wonderlands’, the company creates a total theatre experience for children aged 2 to 4, their families and friends. Multi-talented performers, live music, enchanting visuals, intriguing textures and delightful odours come together to create a magical introduction to the theatre. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival.

‘This is theatre which cradles its young audience and helps them to dream’ Caroline McGinn, Times, on Oily Cart’s How Long is a Piece of String

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DO N’ T M ISS

SHAKESPEARE UNLOCKED

MY SHAKESPEARE

On 23 April 2012, BBC Learning and RSC Education are launching digital resources for teachers and students providing unique insights into Shakespeare in rehearsal and performance.

What does Shakespeare mean to you? Based on an interactive map of the world we will be asking people all over the globe to build a living tapestry of the connections we make to the work of William Shakespeare. See page 29 for full details.

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON THE COURTYARD THEATRE

by William Shakespeare A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

26 JULY - 15 SEPTEMBER 2012 This vibrant and colourful production transposes Shakespeare’s vivacious, and at times unsettling, comedy of love and deceit to an Indian setting.

Much Ado About Nothing is directed by Iqbal Khan whose recent credits include Broken Glass (Tricycle Theatre, 2011) and The Killing of Sister George (Arts Theatre, 2011). He has worked at the Birmingham Rep, Lyric Hammersmith and National Theatre where he directed the Pinter double bill Landscape and A Slight Ache in 2008. Meera Syal will play Beatrice. An actress, comedienne, writer and singer, she is perhaps best known as one of the creators of the radio and television series Goodness Gracious Me, in which she also appeared, as well as The Kumars at No. 42. Director: Iqbal Khan

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OFF BY HEART SHAKESPEARE Young ﬁnalists from the BBC’s Shakespeare recital contest compete against each other to deliver Shakespeare’s famous speeches to a panel of judges. One will be crowned the 2012 Off By Heart Shakespeare champion. 29 January 2012, 3pm, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Tickets £5 / £10 This event will be ﬁlmed for a BBC2 documentary and broadcast as part of the BBC Shakespeare Season in 2012. RSC Education Hotline: 0844 800 1113

SWAN THEATRE

by William Shakespeare THE WOOSTER GROUP / ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY CO-PRODUCTION

3 - 18 AUGUST 2012 Shakespeare’s epic Trojan play about love, war and politics. Rupert Goold and Elizabeth LeCompte co-direct an Anglo-American company in a groundbreaking, multi-media collaboration between the RSC and The Wooster Group commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. Elizabeth LeCompte is director and co-founder of the New York-based Wooster Group. Formed in 1980, the company is well known for its experimental and innovative style. Its most recent works include the Baroque opera La Didone and a version of Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carré. RSC Associate Director and Artistic Director of Headlong, Rupert Goold’s most recent productions include Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice (RSC), Macbeth and ENRON! (Headlong/Chichester/ West End). ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

Directors: Elizabeth LeCompte and Rupert Goold

A CHEKHOV INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL / DMITRY KRYMOV’S LABORATORY / SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ART THEATRE PRODUCTION

10 - 18 AUGUST 2012 Shakespeare’s magical, shape-shifting play. A joyous combination of incompatible things: dumbstruck actors, suppressed emotions running riot, masterly solecism, divine blundering and, ﬁnally, craftsmen transformed into poets… From Russia comes the world premiere of Dmitry Krymov’s interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dmitry Krymov is a director, artist and designer whose visually stunning productions have established him as one of the most original directorial voices of his generation. Expect his take on Shakespeare’s most magical of comedies to be unlike any Dream you have seen before. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. In Russian with English surtitles. Director: Dmitry Krymov Designer: Vera Martynova

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DO N’ T M IS S

SHAKESPEARE: STAGING THE WORLD

A TENDER THING EVENT

Maps, prints, drawings, paintings, tapestries, swords and armour, manuscripts, coins, medals and other intriguing objects that will bring Shakespeare’s London to life. 19 July - 25 November, British Museum See page 22 for full details.

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

Re-imagining Shakespeare Ben Power and guests look at the different representations of Shakespeare in the World Shakespeare Festival – from translations, to the reimagining of Romeo and Juliet in A Tender Thing. Thu 10 May, Swan Room, Stratford-upon-Avon

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

SWAN THEATRE

After Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by Ben Power A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

27 SEPTEMBER - 20 OCTOBER 2012 Ben Power weaves together the words of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in a touching story of two lovers. Older than their more famous counterparts, but no less impetuous in their affection, they revel in the joy of true love while coming to terms with the realisation that they are unable to spend eternity together. Familiar lines echo through a story that celebrates the timelessness of Shakespeare’s language, in a beautiful and heartbreaking world where hope triumphs over all. Kathryn Hunter revisits the role with director Helena Kaut-Howson that she created for the RSC at Northern Stage in 2009. Director: Helena Kaut-Howson ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE AND SHAKESPEARE BIRTHPLACE TRUST

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

LIVING WALLS Presented by Squidsoup 21 APRIL - 9 SEPTEMBER 2012 Imagine the walls of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre coming alive with living wallpapers made of animated texts and quotes from Shakespearean characters. Reach up and touch the patterns and see them turn into insect-like creatures that will scuttle off, scared, leaving words and curses in their wake. Stand and watch and the creatures may venture forward, wanting to befriend with messages and questions. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE AND SHAKESPEARE BIRTHPLACE TRUST

THE STORIES OF SHAKESPEARE 21 APRIL - 31 DECEMBER 2012

Tickets from £5 - £50 on public sale from 10 October 2011

Take a fresh view of the stories in Shakespeare’s plays in an exhibition through the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust properties in Stratford-upon-Avon. The exhibition will grow through the World Shakespeare Festival; using objects from our collections, loans and digital screenings of newly commissioned performances, the exhibition will encourage you to see his work in a global context.

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PILOT NIGHT 12 JULY 2012

THE DIRECTOR TALKS

The RSC and Pilot commission responses to Shakespeare especially for the World Shakespeare Festival. A glorious mix of comic, touching and extraordinary performances. The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Visit www.pilotnights.co.uk for details of the line up.

Join Helena Kaut-Howson to ask how she approached directing A Tender Thing. Mon 1 Oct, 5.15-6pm, £5 Stratford-upon-Avon

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

LONDON

Globe to Globe 23 April - 3 june 2012

37 Plays. 37 Languages. Shakespeareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coming home to Bankside. shakespearesglobe.com/globetoglobe

BARBICAN THEATRE

by William Shakespeare A NINAGAWA COMPANY PRODUCTION

29 MAY - 2 JUNE 2012 Cymbeline’s daughter, Imogen, is forced into hiding as her husband’s jealousy throws their marriage into jeopardy. Shakespeare’s poetic and complex late play unveils the physical and spiritual journeys his hero and heroine must undertake to recover their love. Legendary director Yukio Ninagawa, renowned the world over for his visually powerful interpretations of Shakespeare’s work, brings this rarely performed romance tragedy to the Barbican stage. With a career that has spanned over forty years, Ninagawa has most recently directed Henry VI, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Coriolanus and a Kabuki Twelfth Night, as well as Titus Andronicus, performed as part of the RSC’s Complete Works Festival in 2006. BARBICAN HALL

In Japanese with English surtitles. Director: Yukio Ninagawa

by Toni Morrison, Rokia Traoré and Peter Sellars

The Barbican in association with Thelma Holt and HoriPro Inc

A BARBICAN PRODUCTION

JULY 2012 (EXACT DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED) Malian singer/songwriter Rokia Traoré and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison, two women of African and African American origin, come together to create Desdemona, an intimate and profound conversation between Shakespeare’s Desdemona and her African nurse Barbary, from beyond the grave. Moving beyond centuries of colonialism and racism, two women share stories, songs and hope for a different future.

Photo Ninagawa Company’s Titus Andronicus

Toni Morrison transports one of the most iconic, central, and disturbing treatments of race in Western culture into the new realities and potential outcomes facing a rising generation of the 21st century. Rokia Traoré creates a musical texture that includes traditional African instruments, the kora and ngoni, creating an intimate performance that allows the audience to connect deeply with the two women who have the microphone at last. Desdemona is commissioned by: Wiener Festwochen, Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, Cal Performances, Berkeley, California, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York, spielzeit’europa I Berliner Festspiele, Barbican, London, Arts Council England and London 2012 Festival.

BOOK TICKETS for Desdemona at the Barbican

BOOK TICKETS for Cymbeline at the Barbican

www.barbican.org.uk | 0845 120 7548

Tickets on sale in early November 2011

Tickets are £16 - £50 and are on sale now

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BARBICAN EVENTS

Visit the festival website

A series of post-show talks and debates will take place at the Barbican as part of the World Shakespeare Festival. See www.barbican.org.uk for full details.

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk to get involved in an event, ﬁnd out how the productions were made at a creative team talk or join a workshop for students and teachers.

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WHAT COUNTRY FRIENDS IS THIS? Four of Shakespeare’s plays exploring migration, exile, shipwreck and the discovery of brave new worlds. Playing in London (See page 18) and Stratford-upon-Avon (See pages 4 & 5).

LONDON OLIVIER THEATRE

by William Shakespeare A NATIONAL THEATRE PRODUCTION

FROM JULY 2012 Timon, a wealthy philanthropist and patron of the arts, lives to please his friends. His lavish generosity bankrupts him and, suddenly deserted by his former admirers, he is forced to leave Athens where he plots his revenge with furious bitterness. Simon Russell Beale is Timon. Director: Nicholas Hytner

BOOK TICKETS for the National Theatre www.nationaltheatre.org.uk | 020 7452 3000 Tickets available from Spring 2012, with half the tickets at £12

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NATIONAL THEATRE EVENTS

IN A PICKLE IN LONDON

Visit the festival website for details of Platforms, events and learning activities at the National Theatre as part of the World Shakespeare Festival.

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

Oily Cart’s In a Pickle plays at Stratford Circus, London, from 19 – 23 June.

www.stratford-circus.com

ROUNDHOUSE

A COMPANHIA BUFOMECÂNICA PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

18 - 23 MAY 2012 A grand spectacle of theatre fused with circus unfolds in a unique performance from Brazil’s Companhia BufoMecânica. Inspired by Shakespeare’s history plays, the bloody events of The War of the Roses are vividly re-imagined in a glorious black carnival of villainy, corruption and seduction. In Portuguese with English surtitles. See page 8 for more details on the production.

ROUNDHOUSE

by William Shakespeare

A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

1 JUNE - 4 JULY 2012

5 JUNE - 5 JULY 2012

See page 4 for full production details. See page 4 for full production details.

B O O K T I C K E T S w w w. ro u n d h o u s e . o rg . u k | 0 8 4 4 4 8 2 8 0 0 8 AL SO I N LON DON

F E ST IVA L E V E NT S

NATIONAL THEATRE AND THE BARBICAN

Visit the festival website

Don’t miss Desdemona and Cymbeline at the Barbican, and Timon of Athens at the National Theatre. See pages 16 & 17 for full details.

to get involved in an event, ﬁnd out how the productions were made at a creative team talk or join a workshop for students and teachers.

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

DO N’ T M ISS The Wooster Group and Royal Shakespeare Company’s co-production of Troilus and Cressida in Stratford-upon-Avon. See page 12 for full details.

ROUNDHOUSE

inspired by William Shakespeare A ROUNDHOUSE / LIFT PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

LONDON

25 JUNE - 8 JULY Directed by Companhia BufoMecânica performer Renato Rocha and inspired by Shakespeare’s tragedies, The Dark Side of Love is a delirious and dreamlike journey into the depths of what we do for love. Performed by a cast of teenagers in an atmospheric underground performance space beneath the Roundhouse Main Space. Director: Renato Rocha

ROUNDHOUSE

by William Shakespeare

A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

9 JUNE - 5 JULY 2012 Prospero is usurped from his position as Duke of Milan and cast away with his daughter to a remote island. Twelve years later, and intent on revenge, he raises a magical tempest that shipwrecks his enemies on his shores. What begins as a search for retribution develops into a journey of acceptance and compassion in Shakespeare’s ﬁnal play.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, is forced to ﬂee his kingdom to escape war with King Antiochus. Travelling to distant lands, he suffers shipwreck, betrayal and the seeming loss of those he loves. In a dreamlike tale of wonder, one man’s endurance is ﬁnally rewarded with reunion and spiritual discovery. Tickets for Pericles on public sale from January 2012.

See page 5 for full production details.

Tickets from £10 - £42 on public sale from 10 October 2011

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EXHIBITIONS IN STRATFORD-UPON-AVON Don’t miss the free exhibitions on offer that include seeing the walls of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre coming alive with the animated words of Shakespeare. See page 13 for full details.

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WHAT COUNTRY FRIENDS IS THIS? The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night and The Tempest will also be playing in Stratford-upon-Avon at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre throughout the festival. See pages 4 & 5 for full details.

A collaboration between LIFT and the RSC to bring three new productions to London

LIFT AT RIVERSIDE STUDIOS

A meditation on Hamlet by William Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare Adapted by Monadhil Daood

A dreamthinkspeak PRODUCTION

AN IRAQI THEATRE COMPANY PRODUCTION

12 - 23 JUNE 2012

28 - 30 JUNE 2012

An ambitious textual and visual deconstruction of Hamlet, interweaving performance, ﬁlm and installation to create a vigorous new interpretation that cuts to the heart of the play. Boldly juxtaposing scenes and speeches, the company aims to examine themes and characters from a variety of angles, bringing new meaning to one of Shakespeare’s most performed works.

Baghdad’s Iraqi Theatre Company create a version of Romeo and Juliet for a new generation, infused with Iraq’s rich traditions of poetry, music and ritual.

Meditative and dreamlike in quality, the hallmark of dreamthinkspeak’s productions, The Rest is Silence will be performed within a specially designed and multilayered structure, allowing the action to unfold on different levels and on all sides. Commissioned by Brighton Festival with LIFT and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Director: Tristan Sharps

Shakespeare’s great love story is set against a backdrop of conﬂict between families, communities and generations. This iconic play ﬁnds fresh purchase in the soil of contemporary Iraq, a country where sectarian strife between Sunni and Shia, ignited and fuelled from outside, has left the population exhausted by a cycle of violence and revenge. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. In Arabic with English surtitles. Director: Monadhil Daood Designer: Jabbarjodi Alabodi Translation: Raad Mushatat

BOOK TICKETS for performances at Riverside Studios www.riversidestudios.co.uk | 020 8237 1111

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LIFT AND RSC EVENTS

Don’t miss the chance to see a variety of different theatre companies as part of the World Shakespeare Festival, including National Theatre of Mexico (See page 7), Companhia BufoMecânica (See pages 8 & 18), The Wooster Group (See page 12), The Ninagawa Company (See page 16) and more.

LIFT and the RSC present a series of talks and events focussing on theatre from the Arab world.

www.liftfestival.com

ALMEIDA THEATRE

by William Shakespeare AN ALMEIDA THEATRE PRODUCTION

‘O Lear, Lear, Lear! Beat at this gate that let thy folly in, And thy dear judgement out.’ Michael Attenborough, Artistic Director of London’s Almeida Theatre, brings Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy to the intimacy of the Almeida stage. As Lear asks each of his daughters to profess their love for him, he is ﬂattered by the false hyperbole of Regan and Goneril. When his youngest daughter, Cordelia, confesses to love him simply as a daughter should, his pride is dented and he casts her out of his kingdom. LIFT AT RIVERSIDE STUDIOS

by William Shakespeare Adapted by Lotﬁ Achour and Anissa Daoud

Too late to realise his mistake, and forced from power by his offspring, an increasingly impotent and frail Lear descends into madness. Award-winning actor Jonathan Pryce plays the eponymous role. Director: Michael Attenborough Designer: Tom Scutt Lighting: Jon Clark Sound and Music: Dan Jones

AN ARTISTES, PRODUCTEURS, ASSOCIÉS PRODUCTION

4 - 7 JULY 2012 A Tunisian Macbeth where Shakespeare’s malevolent tyrant and his wife are reincarnated as the equally diabolical, yet pathetically fallible modern-day duo, Leïla and Zine Ben Ali . Combining Shakespeare’s text with film and reportage, this production interrogates the way Arab leaders use, possess and perpetuate power. It explores their obstinate blindness in the face of the shifting sands of time and the ambition and aspiration of the people. What is the root of this power? Where does this entitlement stem from? Shakespeare’s vision of evil and driving ambition finds new resonance amidst a mafia-like culture based on galloping globalisation and the relics of colonial domination. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. In Arabic with English surtitles. Director: Lotfi Achour Music: Jawhar Basti

BOOK TICKETS for the Almeida Theatre Tickets from £10 - £25 on public sale from 10 October 2011

www.almeida.co.uk | 020 7359 4404 Tickets £8 - £32 on public sale from 24 October 2011 (limited performances)

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THESE PRODUCTIONS ELSEWHERE

THE REST IS SILENCE

Macbeth will be playing at Northern Stage in Newcastle upon Tyne from 12-14 July (See Page 24). Romeo and Juliet will be playing at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 26 April – 5 May (See page 8).

dreamthinkspeak’s The Rest Is Silence will play at Northern Stage from 26-30 June (See page 24) and at Brighton Festival from 5-27 May (See page 26).

LONDON

31 AUGUST - 3 NOVEMBER 2012

19 JULY - 25 NOVEMBER 2012

SHAKESPEARE: STAGING THE WORLD THE BP EXHIBITION In 2012, the British Museum is staging a major exhibition on the world of Shakespeare in collaboration with the RSC. Professional theatre was a new phenomenon in Shakespeare’s lifetime, and the London playhouse presented the world to a wide public. This exhibition explores this important era through the eyes of Shakespeare, his players and audiences. It will investigate his importance in shaping a new sense of national identity, ﬁrst English and then British, and how he recast characters from antiquity to reframe history. The exhibition will connect such aspects to Shakespeare’s plays through elements of contemporary performance. Shakespeare’s London of around 1612 will be brought to life by objects from the Museum’s collection and from across Europe. Maps, prints, drawings, paintings, tapestries, arms and armour, manuscripts, coins, medals and other intriguing objects will all be examined through the lens of Shakespeare’s plays.

BOOK TICKETS www.britishmuseum.org/shakespeare | 020 7323 8181 Tickets on public sale from September 2011

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F E ST IVA L E VENT S

ALSO AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM

TEACHER INSET

Visit the festival website

An exciting events programme including performance, ﬁlm, talks, lectures and workshops will accompany this exhibition. More details will be available online at britishmuseum.org/shakespeare from March 2012.

In Autumn 2012, the RSC and the British Museum will offer teachers a unique INSET course linked to the British Museum exhibition. The course will explore active approaches to Shakespeare’s plays and practical ways of using objects to help students understand actions and characters. britishmuseum.org/schools and

to get involved in an event, ﬁnd out how the productions were made at a creative team talk or join a workshop for students and teachers.

worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

LONDON An international conference exploring the value of the arts in young people’s lives from Shakespeare to the digital realm

6 - 8 SEPTEMBER 2012

Worlds Together invites you to contribute to a major international forum challenging and exploring the place of Shakespeare and the arts in young people’s lives across the world. Created in two parallel strands, it is part of the World Shakespeare Festival and turbinegeneration, an international, online educational partnership, produced by Tate. Designed for education professionals, this unique three-day event will investigate learning across the arts and in museums, asking what’s at stake for children’s cultural lives today. Through keynote addresses, practical workshops and international dialogue, participants can choose to focus on Shakespeare, or look more broadly across the arts.

50% of the world’s school children study Shakespeare The Shakespeare programme will ask what Shakespeare means to teachers and young people in different countries and how this can help us develop approaches that keep his work a coherent and vivid part of a child’s educational and cultural life. During the conference you will: • Engage in practical workshops and seminars on teaching Shakespeare from leading international artists, academics and practitioners. These sessions will provide you with transferable strategies to use in your classroom • Explore research and practice from Shakespeare classrooms around the world, deepening your understanding about Shakespeare as an artist who speaks to many different cultural practices and perspectives • Respond to provocations and questions about the place of Shakespeare and the arts in a contemporary curriculum Speakers include: children’s writer Michael Morpurgo; leading Shakespeare academic and author of 1599 James Shapiro; former education Secretary of State Estelle Morris and leading educationalist Shirley Brice-Heath.

Worlds Together is the ﬁrst collaboration between Tate Modern, the British Museum, the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The conference is hosted throughout Tate Modern and its Clore Learning Centre, Bankside, London. Events will also take place at the British Museum and the National Theatre. Spaces are limited. Delegate fee: £395 to include the full three-day programme, lunch, refreshments and free entry to the British Museum exhibition, Shakespeare: Staging the World. To book or ﬁnd out more, call the RSC Education Hotline on 0844 800 1113 or visit worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/education For further information about the broader arts programme, visit tate.org.uk

NORTHERN STAGE

A meditation on Hamlet by William Shakespeare A dreamthinkspeak PRODUCTION

26 - 30 JUNE 2012 An ambitious textual and visual deconstruction of Hamlet, interweaving performance, ﬁlm and installation to create a vigorous new interpretation that cuts to the heart of the play. Boldly juxtaposing scenes and speeches, the company aims to examine themes and characters from a variety of angles, bringing new meaning to one of Shakespeare’s most performed works. Commissioned by Brighton Festival with LIFT and the Royal Shakespeare Company. THE SAGE GATESHEAD

See page 20 for full details.

Book by Arthur Laurents, Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

NORTHERN STAGE

A SAGE GATESHEAD PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S OPEN STAGES NORTHERN STAGE

4 - 7 JULY 2012 A stunning, full-scale production of Bernstein’s West Side Story with bold, new choreography by Will Tuckett. Also directed by Will Tuckett, West Side Story features Northern Sinfonia, orchestra of The Sage Gateshead, conducted by renowned conductor and musical director John Wilson.

by William Shakespeare Adapted by Lotﬁ Achour and Anissa Daoud AN ARTISTES, PRODUCTEURS, ASSOCIÉS PRODUCTION

12 - 14 JULY 2012 The cast will feature the very best in exciting new and emerging talent, from professionals at the outset of their musical career to semi-professionals and amateurs engaged through a wide-reaching audition process. Part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stages project. See page 28 for full details. Director and Choreographer: Will Tuckett Conductor and Musical Director: John Wilson Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins. Entire original production directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Originally produced on Broadway by Robert E Grifﬁths and Harold S Prince by arrangement with Roger L Stevens. Presented by arrangement with Joseph Weinberger Limited on behalf of Music Theatre International of New York.

Shakespeare’s vision of evil and driving ambition ﬁnds new resonance amidst a maﬁa-like culture based on galloping globalisation and the relics of colonial domination. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. In Arabic with English surtitles. See page 21 for full details.

BOOK TICKETS for The Sage Gateshead

BOOK TICKETS for Northern Stage

www.thesagegateshead.org | 0191 443 4661

www.northernstage.co.uk | 0191 230 5151

Tickets on public sale from 10 October 2011

Tickets £12.50 - £24 on public sale from 10 November 2011

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EVENTS AT THE SAGE GATESHEAD

RE-MAKING SHAKESPEARE

Look out for our exciting and vibrant fringe events around West Side Story with music and theatre performances, talks, ﬁlms and workshops for everyone.

A Tunisian Macbeth where Shakespeare’s malevolent tyrant and his wife are reincarnated as the equally diabolical, yet pathetically fallible modern-day duo, Leïla and Zine Ben Ali .

thesagegateshead.org

Northern Stage, the School of English at Newcastle University, and the RSC explore the impact of Shakespeare’s work on artists and educators across the world. Talks, workshops and presentations with speakers including artists from the World Shakespeare Festival and leading academics. Sat 14 July, Northern Stage, £20 Northern Stage Box Ofﬁce 0191 230 5151 or go to northernstage.co.uk

THEATRE ROYAL, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE

OLD REP THEATRE

by William Shakespeare

inspired by the work of William Shakespeare

A ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRODUCTION

A BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE COMPANY AND BARCELONA INTERNACIONAL TEATRE PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

The dictator must be assassinated. But who will replace him? Shakespeare’s great political thriller ﬁnds dark contemporary echoes in modern Africa, directed by RSC Chief Associate Director Gregory Doran. Gregory’s most recent productions include Shakespeare’s ‘lost play’ Cardenio re-imagined, as part of the RSC’s 50th birthday celebrations, as well as his 2008 production of Hamlet. Director: Gregory Doran Designer: Michael Vale See page 9 for full details.

31 AUGUST - 15 SEPTEMBER 2012 Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company joins forces with internationally renowned director Calixto Bieito and Barcelona Internacional Teatre to present an original play inspired by Shakespeare’s references to forests throughout his work, in a Dante-esque journey through life, paradise, hell, truth and lies. With a cast of English and Catalan actors, led by the great Catalan actor Josep Maria Pou, Calixto Bieito will show, through plays such as Timon Of Athens, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Macbeth and As You Like It, a “forest” which represents a place for the getaway, a punishment or sentence, and, sometimes, a place for shelter and redemption. Calixto Bieito is no stranger to UK audiences, having previously directed at ENO, WNO, the Barbican, Edinburgh International Festival and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. One of the most prominent and sought after directors in Europe, Calixto’s re-workings of the classics test boundaries and provoke reaction with their spellbinding and passionate vitality. Performed in Catalan and English with surtitles. Director: Calixto Bieito Designer: Rebecca Ringst Dramaturgy: Daniel Loayza and Calixto Bieito

BOOK TICKETS for Newcastle Theatre Royal

BOOK TICKETS for Birmingham Rep

www.theatreroyal.co.uk | 08448 11 21 21

www.birmingham-rep.co.uk | 0121 236 4455

Tickets £9 - £30 on sale from 10 November 2011

Tickets now on public sale

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IN A PICKLE at Northern Stage This beautiful voyage through Shakespeare’s imagination is a magical introduction to theatre for children aged 2+ and their families. 27 - 30 June. See page 10 for full details Northern Stage Box Ofﬁce 0191 230 5151 or northernstage.co.uk

2007: MACBETH Edinburgh International Festival Exact dates to be announced. See page 27 for full details.

NEWCASTLE/GATESHEAD

‘How many times Shall this our lofty scene be acted o’er In states unborn and accents yet unknown’

BIRMINGHAM

19 - 28 JULY 2012

BRIGHTON FESTIVAL

A meditation on Hamlet by William Shakespeare A dreamthinkspeak PRODUCTION

5 - 27 MAY 2012 An ambitious textual and visual deconstruction of Hamlet, interweaving performance, ﬁlm and installation to create a vigorous new interpretation that cuts to the heart of the play. Boldly juxtaposing scenes and speeches, the company aims to examine themes and characters from a variety of angles, bringing new meaning to one of Shakespeare’s most performed works. Commissioned by Brighton Festival with LIFT and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Director: Tristan Sharps See page 20 for full details. DRAGON FILM STUDIOS

by William Shakespeare A NATIONAL THEATRE WALES PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

AUGUST 2012 (EXACT DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED) The story of Caius Martius, Coriolanus, is re-imagined in an era of 24-hour news, celebrity culture and a new global polity. A site-specific work staged within the massive spaces of Dragon Film Studios, with outside broadcasts from the battlefield, popular grievances delivered straight to camera and audience participants as the body politic, this production is a mash-up of previous attempts to get to grips with a contrary and perplexing figure. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. National Theatre Wales’ previous work includes Aeschylus’s The Persians, staged on the military training range of mid-Wales, and The Passion, which The Observer described as ‘one of the outstanding theatrical events not only of this year, but of the decade’. Directors: Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes Designers: Mike Brookes and Simon Banham Composer: John Hardy Sound: Mike Beer

BOOK TICKETS for National Theatre Wales

BOOK TICKETS for the Brighton Festival

www.nationaltheatrewales.org

www.brightonfestival.org | 01273 709709

Text NTW 21 to 61211 to get show updates. On sale from 24 May 2012

Tickets on sale from 23 February 2012

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MY SHAKESPEARE

WSF: SHAKESPEARE CHALLENGE BRONZE ARTS AWARD

What does Shakespeare mean to you? Based on an interactive map of the world we will be asking people all over the globe to build a living tapestry of the connections we all still make to the work of William Shakespeare. See page 29 for full details.

The RSC has worked with Arts Award to create a special World Shakespeare Festival edition of the Shakespeare Challenge Bronze level arts award celebrating how Shakespeare’s plays are re-imagined and interpreted by cultures and countries around the world. worldshakespearefestival.org.uk and

www.artsaward.org.uk

10 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 2012 Edinburgh International Festival presents responses to Shakespeare by two of the world’s most visionary and visually striking theatre companies as part of the World Shakespeare Festival

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

based on Shakespeare Adapted by Grzegorz Jarzyna A TR WARSZAWA PRODUCTION

10 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 2012 (EXACT DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED)

‘Brash, aggressively violent and very free adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy’ New York Times Military commander Macbeth unleashes a nightmare of carnage and destruction. A war on terror that is a war of terror.

Shakespeare’s magical, shape-shifting play. A joyous combination of incompatible things: dumbstruck actors, suppressed emotions running riot, masterly solecism, divine blundering and, ﬁnally, craftsmen transformed into poets…

In Polish with English surtitles. Director: Grzegorz Jarzyna Translation: Stanisław Baranczak Cast includes: Cezary Kosinski and Danuta Stenka Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute

From Russia comes Dmitry Krymov’s new interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dmitry Krymov is a director, artist and designer whose visually stunning productions have established him as one of the most original directorial voices of his generation. Expect his take on Shakespeare’s most magical of comedies to be unlike any Dream you have seen before. Commissioned for the World Shakespeare Festival. In Russian with English surtitles. Director: Dmitry Krymov Designer: Vera Martynova

BOOK TICKETS for the Edinburgh International Festival Join our email list to be ﬁrst to hear about performance dates and when tickets go on sale: eif.co.uk

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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (AS YOU LIKE IT) As well as the Edinburgh International Festival, this show also plays in Stratford-upon-Avon from 10 - 18 August. See page 12 for more details.

BRIDGEND

10 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 2012 (EXACT DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED)

With spectacular pyrotechnics, immersive video effects and an extraordinary, layered soundscape playing tricks on the ear, Shakespeare’s web of politics, ambition and the supernatural is transformed into a contemporary living theatrical ﬁlm.

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FORESTS Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company and Barcelona Internacional Teatre present a new play inspired by Shakespeare’s forests throughout his work. 31 August – 15 September See page 25 for details.

BRIGHTON

A CHEKHOV INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL / DMITRY KRYMOV’S LABORATORY / SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ART THEATRE PRODUCTION

Acclaimed director Grzegorz Jarzyna’s production, set in a contemporary and brutal middle-eastern conflict, is unflinching in its depiction of the machine of violence, which, once set in motion, works faster and ever more efficiently. If killing in a war is justified, so is killing in the privacy of one’s home. If you can kill men, why not also women and children?

EDINBURGH

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

A UNIQUE COLLABORATION BETWEEN AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL THEATRE

6400 AMATEUR THEATRE-MAKERS FROM 6 TO 90 YEARS OLD 263 AMATEUR PRODUCTIONS ACROSS THE UK 174 SHAKESPEARE PRODUCTIONS 19 MACBETHS 18 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAMS 13 THE TEMPESTS 12 TWELFTH NIGHTS 12 ROMEO AND JULIETS 30 NEW PLAYS 6 NEW MUSICALS 26 DEVISED PLAYS The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stages is a new project that aims to embrace, develop and celebrate amateur theatre, re-forging the bond with the world of professional theatre. Throughout 2011 and 2012, the RSC, in partnership with a number of producing theatres and amateur theatre associations, is running a national programme of skill-sharing events and showcases, with amateur societies from across the UK producing their own Shakespeare-themed productions. Over 260 amateur companies have signed up to produce RSC Open Stages productions across the UK, from Penzance to the Isle of Skye, with over 6400 people taking part. Some of these companies have been regularly producing Shakespeare since well before the establishment of the RSC and some are trying it for the ﬁrst time. Productions have been performed everywhere from castles to village halls, beaches to ballrooms, supermarkets to forests, with many being performed in the hundreds of successful amateur-run theatres around the country.

As part of the World Shakespeare Festival we are inviting some of RSC Open Stages’ most exciting amateur companies to perform at the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. These performances will take place on 13, 14, 15, 21 and 22 July 2012. Visit www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk to ﬁnd out who will be performing. ‘The RSC wants to lead a step change in the relationship with the amateur sector; to celebrate its rich traditions, open our doors to its work and collaborate with partners nationally to leave a signiﬁcant legacy.’ MICHAEL BOYD

As part of Open Stages, West Side Story will be performed at The Sage Gateshead. See page 24 for full details. Open Stages Partner Theatres: Contact, Manchester; Hall for Cornwall; Lyric Theatre, Belfast; National Theatre Scotland; New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Nufﬁeld Theatre, Southampton; Questors, London; Sherman, Cardiff; The Sage Gateshead.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following supporters are not ofﬁcial Partners of London 2012

Travelex and the National Theatre are proudly celebrating the 10th season of Travelex £12 tickets

The RSC Ensemble is generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the Kovner Foundation The RSC Literary Department is supported by the Drue Heinz Trust

Worlds Together is supported by Unilever. The Unilever Series: turbinegeneration is an online educational partnership linking schools and galleries internationally. The project is produced by Tate and sponsored by Unilever.

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide. We work in over 100 countries in the arts, education and English. Our global arts team works with the best of British creative talent to develop innovative events and collaborations that link thousands of up-and-coming artists and cultural institutions around the world, drawing them into a closer relationship with the UK.

Image credits Page 6 8, 20 9, 25 9 10, 25 11 16 16 17 20, 24, 26 21 22 22 23 24 28

Production Hath Britain All The Sun That Shines? Romeo & Juliet Julius Caesar Passage to Africa In a Pickle Off By Heart Shakespeare Cymbeline Desdemona Timon of Athens The Rest is Silence King Lear Shakespeare: Staging the World Teacher Inset Education Conference Remaking Shakespeare Open Stages

Designed and printed by Dewynters.

Credit Image by Ellie Kurttz Photo by Raad Mushatat Image by Mario Benjamin Photo by Stewart Hemley Production: If All the World Were Paper. Photo by Patrick Baldwin Image by Stewart Hemley Production of Titus Andronicus © Vienna Festival production of Desdemona Photo of Simon Russell Beale by Matt Humphrey Photo by Emma Critchley. Model: Tegen Hitchens. Dress: Joanne Fleming Designs Photo by Helen Warner Glass enamelled with pantaloon ﬁgure. Venice or Antwerp, c.1600. © The Trustees of the British Museum Photo by Gina Print Large photo by Stewart Hemley; small photo by Rob Freeman Photo by Ed Moore Large photo by Stewart Hemley; smaller images by Farrows Creative

To book tickets for performances in the World Shakespeare Festival, please visit the website or contact the Box Ofﬁce of the venue where the production is being performed, which is listed underneath each production. There is no central Box Ofﬁce for the World Shakespeare Festival, so please go to worldshakespearefestival.org.uk for more information on how to book. For more information about the World Shakespeare Festival please visit worldshakespearefestival.org.uk The Festival website includes: • Full listings of all events, talks, workshops and debates supporting the productions • Information on dedicated work for students and teachers • Blogs, videos and photos of productions in development • News updates • Booking links Stay in touch and get involved: Sign up for the regular email updates at worldshakespearefestival.org.uk

Find us on Facebook facebook.com/worldshakespearefestival Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/wsf2012 Printed in September 2011. Every effort is made to ensure that the information remains correct, however please check with individual venues and companies for full and ﬁnal details. RSC registered charity number 212481