Headache Creative Productions is to make its Buxton Fringe debut with LIV: Sapphic Shakespeare, a retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in which the two heroines Olivia and Viola fall in love with each other.
Written in the style of Shakespeare, the play “tackles loss and dealing with grief while having to live a public life, falling in love and coming to understand your queerness”.
Writer, actor and producer Tanieth Kerr who plays Vi was inspired to write LIV after watching Twelfth Night at the RSC: “I’ve always thought that Olivia and Viola had so much in common so I started asking myself what if: what if Orsino’s pursuit wasn’t honourable, what if Olivia was set to inherit a high position in the public eye and what would happen then if Viola fell for Olivia and Olivia loved her back?”
Director Katy Livsey from North Derbyshire enjoys tackling classical texts and finding new ways to make storytelling more accessible to contemporary audiences. She said, “it’s a real privilege to be able to collaborate with Tanieth on this project. I’m really looking forward to seeing LIV up on its feet in Buxton.”
Making her professional debut as Liv, Beth Birss from Essex said, “Shakespeare is what bonded Tanieth and I together at university and I’m so grateful to Katy and Tanieth for inviting me to join this project.”
LIV: Sapphic Shakespeare will be performed Underground at Spring Gardens from Tuesday 15 until Friday 18 July.