Photograph of the project model courtersy of the General Office of Renato Rizzi, Pro.Tec.O Pool Engineering
Take a journey through time and witness the transformation of the Gdansk "Fencing School", where English travelling troupes staged early modern English drama, into its 21st century modern reconstruction. The Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, which will open its doors in 2014 presents the extraordinary history of its founding at the 2012 Arts&Humanities Festival in London
The aim of this exhibition is to chart the extraordinary history of an Elizabethan-style Polish theatre from its beginnings in 17th century Gdańsk to today. The project engages with the past and looks into the future with its remarkable design by Italian architect Renato Rizzi. The new theatre will not be a monument or a piece of reconstructed heritage. It will become a living theatre open not only to ideas from all forms of theatre but also all forms of culture from around the world.
Jerzy Limon, the Artistic Director of the Gdański Shakespeare Festival and the coordinator of A Theatre of Times presents the ongoing project:
Jerzy Limon is Professor at the English Institute of the Polish University of Gdansk. He has published widely on various topics, including three academic books published in English (Gentlemen of a Company, Dangerous Matter, and The Masque of Stuart Culture), and five books that have appeared in Polish; the list of publications includes also over a hundred articles. His most recent works include a book on the theory of 'television theatre', Obroty przestrzeni (Moving Spaces), and articles in such journals as Theatre Research International, Shakespeare Jahrbuch, Journal of Drama Theory and Criticism, New Theatre Quarterly and Cahiers Élisabéthains. Limon's literary output includes four published novels and translations of plays by William Shakespeare, Thomas Middleton, Philip Massinger and Tom Stoppard.
Renato Rizzi designed a multifunctional building, alluding to the Elizabethan theatre tradition but also a contemporary centre for culture in Gdansk, a bridge closely connecting history and modern times and thus the theatre’s form will not become prematurely and dramatically anachronistic but will age gradually and naturally together with the city. Following the opening of the exhition, the London Shakespeare Centre is hosting a discussion panel with the participation of Shakespeare’s Globe and Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre to consider the challenges presented by projects that attempt to be contemporary adaptations of historic theatre structures.
The Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre exhibition, A Theatre of Two Times, has great resonance for King's College London in the context of the current Inigo Jones Project. It chimes with early modern reconstructions in London like Shakespeare’s Globe or the Indoor Jacobean Theatre. The speakers of the panel include: Professor Jerzy Limon, the Artistic Director of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival, Renato Rizzi, Dr Farah Karim-Cooper, Ollie Jones Professor, Ann Thompson, Professor Gordon McMullan and Dr Sonia Massai.
The Arts & Humanities Festival is an annual event which celebrates and disseminates the work going on across the different Departments and Research Centres within the School of Arts & Humanities here at King’s College London. It is a bringing together of academic practices, an opportunity for collaboration between departments, across the College, and with external partners. It’s a showcase of the research, with an emphasis on practical applications and public engagement. A range of events take place across the Festival, including exhibitions, performances, lectures, readings, roundtables, debates, film screenings, Q&A sessions and guided walks/ tours. Nearly all the events are free and open to the public. The 2012 edition of the Arts&Humanities Festival runs under the title 2012 Metamorphoses: Transformations and Conversions, and it explores these themes across an immense time-span, from antiquity to the present.
The exhibition takes place in the Inigo Rooms, Somerset House East Wing
The panel discussion takes place at the Council Room of the Somerset House East Wing on the 13th of October, 2012, at 2 pm.
Open daily from the 15th -27th of October, 2012, 1 pm to 7 pm (Monday to Saturday)
No admission charge
For booking and more information about the festival, see: www.kcl.ac.uk
Editor: SRS
Source: www.polishculture.org.uk, us.macmillan.com, www.kcl.ac.uk