RSC's Romeo & Juliet
THE RSC RETURNS TO THE LOWRY, SALFORD
WITH ROMEO AND JULIET
Production features Widnes born actor David Dawson as Romeo
ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare
Directed by Neil Bartlett and designed by Kandis Cook
Tuesday 11 – Saturday 15 November 2008
Press Night: Tues 11 November October at 7.30pm
Following its successful visit with The Comedy of Errors last year, the Royal Shakespeare Company returns to Salford this November with Shakespeare’s epic tale of thwarted love, Romeo and Juliet. The production runs at The Lowry between Tuesday 11 – Saturday 15 November.
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, 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 Laura Rees.
David, who comes from Widnes and 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).
Juliet will be played by Laura Rees, who last appeared with the RSC alongside Ralph Fiennes in Ibsen’s Brand in 2003. Other stage credits include: Twelfth Night and Macbeth (Chichester), Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors and Pericles (Shakespeare’s Globe), Romeo and Juliet (English Touring Theatre), The Sleeping Beauty (Northampton), The Importance of Being Earnest and The Vortex (Manchester Royal Exchange). Screen work includes: Lewis and Where The Heart Is (ITV), Holby City (BBC) and the Richard Curtis film, Love Actually.
Neil Bartlett, the director of Romeo and Juliet, 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.
The RSC’s visit to Salford will also include an extensive education programme, including in-school workshops and pre and post show talks.
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), Anneika Rose (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).
Posted on Thursday, 25 September 2008 under Press Theatre Press