RSC on tour with Romeo and Juliet Winter 2008
08 July 2008
The Royal Shakespeare Company will tour Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's epic tale of thwarted love, to Brighton, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Salford and Norwich in October and November 2008.
At the end of November, the production transfers to The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it runs in repertoire until January 2009. A schedule can be found at the end of the release.
Featuring a company of 23 actors and a seven-piece live band on stage, this boldly theatrical new staging of Shakespeare's fast-moving story of two teenagers torn apart by their families' vendetta, reunites award-winning director, Neil Bartlett, and designer, Kandis Cook, the creative team behind the 2007 sell-out Stratford-upon-Avon production of Twelfth Night.
Neil Bartlett said: “I'm very excited to be going back to the RSC - and to be working with a company of thirty performers!! I'm going to tell Shakespeare's story on a bare stage, but with costumes from the Italy of the 1940's and 50's – think of early Fellini and Visconti movies. For the story to catch fire, the company has to be able to move as fast as the emotions of the lovers do, and the world of the play has to be harsh, Catholic, sexy, violent - so the beautiful, hot-blooded poetry is going to be punctuated by the flash of knives, and the sound of an Italian street band, playing live on stage with the actors.
“Our tour takes us to some really fine theatres (I'm thrilled to be opening in my home town!), and I'm especially excited by the fact that this particular play always draws a crowd – both of young people who've never seen a Shakespeare play before, and of people who know and love it as one of the best stories ever written about how the world can conspire to destroy all that is brightest and most beautiful.”
The title roles will be played by David Dawson and Anneika Rose.
David Dawson, who trained at RADA, makes his RSC debut as Romeo. He recently played Smike in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Gielgud Theatre, London; Chichester and international tour), for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Newcomer in a Play. Other theatre credits include The Entertainer and Richard II (Old Vic). TV appearances include The Thick Of It and Essex Girls (BBC), Doc Martin and Up Close and Personal (ITV).
Anneika Rose trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and is making her RSC debut with this production.
Neil Bartlett, the director of Romeo and Juliet, lives in Brighton, where the tour opens. Neil was Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre between 1994 –2004, where he directed thirty-seven productions, including Kleist's The Prince of Homberg and Marivaux's The Dispute - both co-productions with the RSC. In 2007 he returned to the RSC to direct Twelfth Night with John Lithgow. His production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband opens at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in August 2008. Skin Lane, his acclaimed third novel, was nominated for the Costa Novel Award 2008.
To support young people and teachers seeing Romeo and Juliet, the RSC's Education Department is offering a programme of participatory education work on tour, and in Stratford. This will include Interpreting Romeo and Juliet pre-show events led by members of the company and creative team, interactive workshops, performance projects and INSET courses for teachers. The work is particularly suitable for those studying the play for Key Stage 3 national tests.
Exploring Shakespeare, the RSC's free multimedia resource, will feature rehearsal and production footage, interviews with the director, designer and actors, as well as resources for classroom activities. Visit www.rsc.org.uk/explore.
The cast also includes: Owain Arthur (Peter), Ben Ashton (Paris), James G. Bellorini (Friar John), Michael Benz (Balthasar), James Clyde (Friar Laurence), Dan Crow (Sampson), Mark Holgate (Tybalt), Christopher Hunter (Lord Capulet), Katie Krane (Lady Montague), Julie Legrand (Nurse), Éva Magyar (Lady Capulet), Niamh McCann (Ball Guest), Vinta Morgan (Escalus), Geoffrey Newland (Capulet's Cousin), Ryan O'Donnell (Gregory), Daniel Percival (Benvolio), Craig Ritchie (Apothecary), Sian Robins-Grace (Ball Guest), Mark Ross (Lord Montague), Gyuri Sarossy (Mercutio) and Rebecca Wingate (Ball Guest). The production will also feature a seven-piece live band on stage.
Joining Neil Bartlett and Kandis Cook on the creative team are: Bruno Poet (Lighting), Simon Slater (Music), Christopher Shutt (Sound), Leah Hausman (Movement) and Alison de Burgh (Fights).
Further information
Romeo and Juliet
Directed by Neil Bartlett
Designed by Kandis Cook
Tour Press Night:
Thursday 23 October, 7.30pm, Theatre Royal, Brighton
Stratford-upon-Avon Press Night:
Thursday 4 December, 7pm, The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
For more press information please contact:
Nada Zakula
(for national media enquiries)
Press Officer, RSC
01789 412622
07831 766086
nada.zakula@rsc.org.uk
Dean Asker
(for regional/Midlands media enquiries)
Press and Communications Officer, RSC
01789 412660
0778 9937759
dean.asker@rsc.org.uk
Notes to editors
Laura Rees, who was scheduled to play the part of Juliet in the production, had to withdraw from the show through illness.
More information about Neil Bartlett can be found at www.neil-bartlett.com. A written Q and A with Neil is available on request from Dean Asker, RSC Press Office (details above).
Rehearsal images will be available from mid September 2008. Production images will be available from 20 October 2008. For more information on images please contact Dean Asker, RSC Press Office.
Romeo and Juliet tour dates
Theatre Royal Brighton
17 - 25 October 2008
Box Office: 08700 606 650 (bkg fee)
www.theambassadors.com/theatreroyal
Groups Hotline: 08700 606 617
The King's Theatre, Glasgow
28 October - 1 November 2008
Box office: 0870 060 6648
www.kings-glasgow.co.uk
Groups and Schools: 0141 240 1122
Milton Keynes Theatre
4 - 8 November 2008
Box Office: 0870 060 6652 (bkg fee)
www.miltonkeynestheatre.com (bkg fee)
Groups: 01908 547609
The Lowry, Salford
11 - 15 November 2008
Box Office: 0870 787 5793
www.thelowry.com
Theatre Royal, Norwich
18 - 22 November 2008
Box Office: 01603 630000
www.theatreroyalnorwich.com
Booking opens August 2008 (Friends of the Theatre) and September 2008 (Public booking)
The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
In repertoire between 27 November 2008 – 24 January 2009
Box Office: 0844 800 1110 or http://www.rsc.org.uk/
In Stratford, Romeo and Juliet runs in repertoire with Don John. Don John is presented by Kneehigh Theatre in association with the RSC.
