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News
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Dateline: 2nd March, 2007
Last Complete Works Visitors The final visiting company to take part in the RSC's Complete Works Festival will be New York-based Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) with their production of The Merchant of Venice, which runs at the Swan from 22nd to 31st March for twelve performances only. Founded in 1979 by its Artistic Director, Jeffrey Horowitz, TFANA was the first US theatre company to be invited to bring a production of Shakespeare to the RSC, when it staged the critically acclaimed Cymbeline at The Other Place in 2001. This first visit was at the suggestion of Cicely Berry, the RSC’s Director of Voice, who has worked closely with TFANA for a number of years as one of its Voice and Text Consultants.
Playing Shylock in this new production will be F. Murray Abraham who won an Oscar as Salieri in the film of Amadeus in 1984. He has appeared in over 170 plays and films.
Directed by Darko Tresnjak – the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Shakespeare Festival in San Diego - the production visits Stratford after an acclaimed opening in New York at the off-Broadway Duke Theatre, where it has been playing in repertoire with Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, directed by David Herskovits. Exploring images of Jews as outsiders in the predominantly Christian society of pre-20th Century Europe, TFANA’s productions are the first time in America the plays have been performed in alternating repertory by a single company.
Cicely Berry, the RSC’s Director of Voice said, “I am so delighted to welcome TFANA, the last of our visiting companies in our Complete Works Festival, for I know they will bring it to a close in truly great style.
“I have had a close connection with the Company since 1996 when Artistic Director, Jeffrey Horowitz invited me to work on Barry Kyle’s production of Henry VI. I enjoyed working with the Company so much that I have been back each year since then.
“The Company works in classical theatre, mainly Shakespeare and the Jacobeans, is always innovative and inspiring, making the plays relevant for today’s world and their own particular culture, without losing any of the richness of style or depth of understanding in the writing. I hope they will have a very happy experience here in Stratford – I know we will all enjoy it.”
Jeffrey Horowitz, TFANA’s Artistic Director, said, “The positive artistic exchange between the RSC and TFANA has been hugely important to TFANA’s development. We aim to vigorously engage with Shakespeare and the canon of world dramatic literature. What a privilege to work with Cicely Berry. She helps us enter the imaginative world of Shakespeare, Marlowe and other great authors through their language, uncovering connections between these stories and our times. Some believe that Americans can’t play Shakespeare. It’s groundbreaking for Michael Boyd, the RSC’s Artistic Director, and the RSC to invite American artists to perform Shakespeare at Stratford and deflate this myth.” Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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