Latest News - March, 2005

Romeo and Juliet

Workshop/auditions will be held at St Luke's Church, Burton Stone Lane, York on Saturday 9th April.

Romeo and Juliet will run at Rowntree Park bandstand from Wednesday July 13 to Sunday July 24 2005. All performances at 7.30pm to finish by 10pm except for Sundays July 17 and 24 when the performance will start at 6pm and finish at about 8.30.

There will also be two Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. One of the matinees will be signed. There will be no performance on Monday, July 18.

Tickets £7 and £5 all concessions and Yorkcard. Buy ten, get one free. One price £4 for the opening night of July 13.

Bring your own blankets and picnics - but please no barbeques!. A limited number of seats will be available on the night.

Tickets will be sold from about the middle of May/early June at the York Tourism Information Centre, De Grey Rooms, Exhibition Square, York, tel 01904-621756 or email tic@york-tourism.co.uk or Ticket World, 6 Patrick Pool, York tel 01904-644194. If anyone wants to book in advance, contact Alan Lyons for reservations (tickets sent later) at alan@yorkshakespeare.org.uk

Romeo and Juliet will be directed by Sarah Punshon.

Director Sarah Punshon at the first audition

Sarah trained at Cambridge University and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She is currently Assistant Director at the West Yorkshire Playhouse where she has been working since August 2003.

She has assisted on shows such as The Wind In The Willows and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as well as directing various projects of her own. These range from experimental musical theatre (Promenades, Feb 2004) through new writing (eg Coming Around Again, May-June 2004) to community and youth projects (eg Still We Rise, an Ambassadors performance in November 2004).

Before coming to the Playhouse, she was Youth Theatre Director at Perth Rep, and Drama Development Worker at the Scottish Refugee Council. She has extensive experience of working with young people, and whilst at the Playhouse has led many education workshops. She is presently on a three week project funded by Leeds Education Authority's 'Aim Higher' project, working on Romeo & Juliet with GCSE students from eighteen different Leeds secondary schools.

She says, "I'm really excited about working on this project. It's a great opportunity to work with a large company in a beautiful setting. York's Rowntree Park is the ideal setting for outdoor Shakespeare, and I want to make sure the audience have a brilliant night out.

"I'm aiming for a fresh, witty, and entertaining take on the story. I'm cutting the text down slightly, making it about two hours long - just as Shakespeare claims it should be in the Prologue."

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