Shakespeare in Shoreditch 2015
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
FOLLOWING last year’s sell-out success, Shakespeare in Shoreditch returns with an essential programme of plays, performances and creative activities – from September 30 to October 10, 2015.
This year, four of the UK’s most engaging playwrights have been commissioned to radically reinterpret Shakespeare’s plays, with four of London’s most exciting directors bringing their stories to life. The plays, written and developed in Shoreditch, are inspired by the Festival’s theme of Storms.
Newly formed company ‘The Rude Mechanicals’ will also be touring Hackney on a medieval pageant wagon in the run up to the festival performing a world record 1000 plays in 10 days. Slogging down Kingsland Road and up the River Lea, this crew of vagabonds will stop off at Hackney’s beloved cultural institutions to herald the start of the festival.
At the heart of the festival will be the eye of the storm, the festival’s hub, designed by RIFT with Benjamin Koslowski. This space will be the shelter for audience members – fashioned from wrought iron and filled with Hurricane lamps and warm beverages, it will come alive, through adverse conditions, with stories lit by candle light.
The four central plays of the festival will be accompanied by a programme of workshops, film screenings, dinners and talks. Audiences are invited to the Festival Hub to take shelter from the storm and share their own stories over the course of the 10 day Festival.
THE PLAYS
Grey Man – written by Lulu Raczka and directed by Audrey Sheffield.
Maya knows a lot of good scary stories. Loads. Too many really. She hates them. But why then, is she telling them all to us? Two sisters grow up on either side of a bedroom wall, one tells the stories, and the other hears them.
The H-Word – written by David Watson and directed by Roy Alexander Weise.
The latest venture, on the trendiest side of the most happening street, in London’s coolest corner – The H-Word. A place for everyone. A place where people can be themselves.
Pelican Daughters – written by Amy Rosenthal and directed by Gemma Kerr.
A reversal of King Lear set in the shifting landscape of East London, Pelican Daughters is about sibling rivalry, filial bonds and the inescapability of our roots.
This is Art – written by Charlene James and directed by Hannah Banister.
Set at the Desdemona Gallery in an ever changing Hoxton, This is Art explores jealousy, betrayal and how we make a mark to express who we really are.
FILMS AND TALKS
Screenings of films inspired by Shakespeare’s famous plays, will take place in a pop-up cinema. On Saturday, October 3, the family favourite Gnomeo and Juliet will be followed by Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet.
Audiences are invited to join leading academic Sarah Dustagheer (University of Kent) in two insightful discussions. The first will explore Shakespeare’s London, and the second will explore Shakespeare’s Storms. These will take place on October 6 and 7 respectively.
All events will take place in the storm-shelter Festival Hub at the Rose Lipman Building.
Tickets: £15 – available online at www.newdiorama.com/whats-on/shakespeare-in-shoreditch-festival.
Time: 7.30pm.
Running Time: 120 minutes.
Suitable for ages 12+.
The Rose Lipman Building, Downham Road, London, N1