 |
|
|
|||
|
News
|
|||
|
News
|
Dateline: 6th September, 2011
World Shakespeare Festival Launched Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum; Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company; Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe; Ruth Mackenzie, Director of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival; Deborah Shaw, World Shakespeare Festival Director and arts leaders from across the UK and the world joined together at the British Museum today to announce the programme for the World Shakespeare Festival and BP’s sponsorship as Founding Presenting Partner. The World Shakespeare Festival (WSF) is a celebration of Shakespeare as the world’s playwright, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, in collaboration with leading UK and international arts organisations, and with Globe to Globe, a major international programme produced by Shakespeare’s Globe. It runs from 23rd April to November 2012 and forms part of London 2012 Festival, which is the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad, bringing leading artists from all over the world together in a UK-wide festival in the summer of 2012. The World Shakespeare Festival is supported by BP, as Founding Presenting Partner, and by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor and Arts Council England. Thousands of artists and over fifty arts organisations have come together to take part in the Festival, with over a million tickets going on public sale from 10th October for close to 70 productions, plus events and exhibitions across the UK, including London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Newcastle/Gateshead, Birmingham, Brighton, Wales and Scotland as well as online. The Festival includes a major exhibition Shakespeare: staging the world - The BP Exhibition at the British Museum (in collaboration with the RSC and supported by BP) which will explore the world through the eyes of Shakespeare, his players and audiences in the changing world of the 17th century. World Shakespeare Festival partners include the Almeida Theatre; Anglo Mexican Foundation; Artistes, Producteurs, Associés (Tunisia); the Barbican; Barcelona Internacional Teatre (Spain); the BBC (who will be launching their Shakespeare season in November); Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company; Brighton Festival; the British Council; the British Museum; Chekhov International Theatre Festival (Russia); Companhia BufoMecânica (Brazil); Compañia Nacional de Teatro (Mexico); Contact, Manchester; Dmitry Krymov’s Laboratory (Russia); dreamthinkspeak; Edinburgh International Festival; Hall for Cornwall; House of Fairy Tales; Iraqi Theatre Company (Iraq); London International Festival of Theatre; Lyric Theatre, Belfast; National Student Drama Festival; National Theatre; National Theatre of Scotland; National Theatre Wales; National Youth Theatre; New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Newcastle University; the Ninagawa Company (Japan); Northern Sinfonia; Northern Stage; The Nuffield, Southampton; Oily Cart; Pilot, Questors Theatre; Riverside Studios; Roundhouse; Royal Shakespeare Company; Sage Gateshead; School of Dramatic Art Theatre (Moscow); the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; Shakespeare’s Globe; Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center (China); Sherman Cymru, Cardiff; Squidsoup; Stratford Circus; Tate Modern; Teatr Warszawa (Poland); Theatre Royal Newcastle; Voluntary Arts Network; and the Wooster Group (USA). Over 260 amateur groups involving 7200 people aged from 6 to 90 are taking part in Open Stages, sharing skills and working with the RSC and nine partner theatres to perform their own interpretations of Shakespeare everywhere from castles, parks and village halls to pubs, churches and a coffin works. Some of the most exciting amateur companies will perform at the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon home as part of the World Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 2012. Amongst planned productions for the Festival are:
Deborah Shaw, World Shakespeare Festival Director, said, "Four years ago, we began conversations with artists, producers, educationalists and curators from across the UK and the world, to seed and shape a festival that celebrates Shakespeare and redefines what a festival can be in this era of globalisation. "Out of that rewarding dialogue has come the World Shakespeare Festival – a celebration with real heart, created in a true spirit of collaboration, with a programme which includes 23 brand new productions - 21 of which were commissioned specially for the Festival. "It’s a concentration of creative energy around a shared vision which we hope will catch something of the zeitgeist, will delight audiences and inspire a whole new generation of artists." Michael Boyd, RSC Artistic Director, added, "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.
"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.
"The World Shakespeare Festival celebrates this most international of artists at a time when the eyes of the world will be on London, that most international of cities, for the Olympic Games."
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
|
||
|
|
