"Hamlet", dir. Radosław Rychcik, photo by Jerzy Borkiewicz / Stefan Żeromski Theatre
Shakespeare Festival is one of Tricity's most important summer cultural events combining presentations of theatre performances, workshops and meetings with artists. The 15th edition takes place from the 30th of July to the 7th of August and features ten performances from Finland, Great Britain, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia and Sweden.
The festival kicks off on the 30th of July with "Shaking Shakespeare" by the German State Theatre from the Romanian city of Timisoara. The performance directed by Radu - Alexandru Nica is a show analysing the mechanics of power, one of the central issues explored in Shakespeare's plays. "Macbeth sliced to the core" - a 70-minutes long one man show, adapted and directed by playwright, poet and journalist Simon Rae follows the same and the next day. In the ascetic production using minimum light and props David Keller, the distinguished actor of the Royal Shakespeare Company masterfully embodies all the characters of the Scottish Tragedy.
On the 1st of August the Finnish Anatomia Ensemble presents "Anatomia Lear", based on Shakespeare's "King Lear". The study of a relationship between the elderly king and his daughters is presented through dream-like images and features a puppet protagonist. It is intended for adult spectators.
Nikolai Kolyada, playwright, actor and director, founder of the Kolyada Theatre in Yekaterinburg, winner of the prestigious K. S. Stanislavski State Award presents two performances this year - "Hamlet" and "King Lear". He is to play the title role in the latter one.
Lithuanian director's Oskaras Koršunovas' "Miranda", being his interpretation of Shakespearean "The Tempest" is one of the most eagerly awaited events of this year's festival. Like the famous Polish theatre theoretician, Jan Kott, Koršunovas sees the play as a social drama and never-ending power quest.
Romeo & Julia Kören from Sweden turned "Macbeth" into a musical drama, accompanied by the music of Clément Janequins and Josquin des Prés. The ensemble, founded in 1991 at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm performed at prestigious events including Nobel Prize presentation ceremony and toured Japan, Russia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Venezuela, Mexico and Italy.
Radosław Rychcik's "Hamlet" from Żeromski Theatre of Kielce has been selected as the best Polish Shakespearean play premiere performance of the passing season. The audience should not expect to hear the famed "To be or not to be" monologue nor to see Hamlet commit suicide in Rychcik's performance.
The last-but-not-least performance of this year's Shakespeare Festival is "Macbeth" – the fruit of collaboration between the Song of The Goat Theatre from Wrocław and the British Royal Shakespeare Company. The theatrical experiment performed in the English language is an attempt at unveiling the music of Shakespeare's poetry and finding the roots of tragedy. The performance features actors from England, Finland, Scotland Wales and Poland.
This year, for the first time the organisers are introducing a series of alternative theatre events under the name of Shakespeare OFF, presenting a chance to see Shakespeare danced, sung and improvised, frequently in non-conventional places.
Artists from Portugal, Poland and Great Britain teamed up to conduct a multicultural and multilingual experiment on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" carried out as a part of the European Union CULTURE programme STORM (STORM - Shakespeare's Tempest: Ontology, Reconstruction & Manipulation) project. It is presented at the Kolibki Park in Gdynia. The students from 4th year at the Ludwik Solski State Drama School's Dance Theatre Faculty from Bytom play and dance Shakespeare. The Hot Water Company from Gdańsk invites the public to participate in an improvised show inspired by the works of William Shakespeare. A late-night happening "Love, Love, Love - Midsummer Night's Dream 2011", a proposition of the BOTO Theatre Foundation and RED, a play by John Logan telling the real-life story of the artist Mark Rothko and his female assistant directed by Penny Shefton and performed by the Maybe Theatre Company from Gdańsk will complete the Shakespeare OFF offer.
The festival is accompanied by educational activities, such as theatre workshops with the artists participating in this year's edition of the festival. They are conducted as a part of the Summer Shakespeare Academy. Moreover, everyday a festival newspaper is edited by the participants of the journalism workshops.
Shakespeare Festival is one of the most important theatre festivals in Europe. So far over 150 ensembles from close to forty countries presented their performance during the event organised by the Theatrum Gedanense Foundation and the Gdańsk Shakespearean Theatre.
For more information, see: www.festiwalszekspirowski.pl
Read Andrew Dickson's feature on the festival in the Guardian: www.guardian.co.uk
2011 Programme
30th July 2011
- 19:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
Festival Opening (invitations required)
"Shaking Shakespeare"- German State Theatre Timisoara, Romania (1h30min)
- 19:30, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Malarnia, Gdańsk
"Macbeth" - a monodrama starring David Keller, Top Edge Productions, Great Britain (1h10min)
31st July 2011
- 18:00, Miejski Theatre, Gdynia
"Macbeth" - a monodrama starring David Keller, Top Edge Productions, Great Britain (1h10min)
- 20:30, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Shaking Shakespeare" - German State Theatre Timisoara, Romania (1h30min)
1st August 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Malarnia, Gdańsk
"Anatomia Lear" - Anatomia Ensemble, Finland (55min)|
- 19:30, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Hamlet" - Kolyada Theatre, Russia (3h)
2nd August 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Malarnia, Gdańsk
"Anatomia Lear" - Anatomia Ensemble, Finland (55min)
- 20:30, Miejski Theatre, Gdynia
"King Lear" - Kolyada Theatre, Russia (3h)
3rd August 2011
- 19:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Miranda" (based on The Tempest by W. Shakespeare) – OKT/Vilnius City Theatre, Lithuania (1h40min)
- 21:30, St. John's Center, Gdańsk
"Macbeth" - Romeo & Julia Kören. Royal Dramatic Theatre, Sweden (1h10min)
4th August 2011
- 21:30, St. John's Center, Gdańsk
"Macbeth" - Romeo&Julia Kören. Royal Dramatic Theatre, Sweden (1h10min)
5th August 2011
- 20:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Hamlet" - Stefan Żeromski Theatre in Kielce (2h)
6th August 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Hamlet" - Stefan Żeromski Theatre in Kielce (2h)
- 21:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Kameralna, Sopot
"Macbeth" - Song of the Goat Theatre, Poland (75min)
7th August 2011
- 8:00 p.m., Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Kameralna, Sopot
"Macbeth" - Song of the Goat Theatre, Poland (75min)
ShakespeareOFF - accompanying events:
31st July 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Czarna Sala, Gdańsk
"RED" - Maybe Theatre Company (1h30min)
1st August 2011
- 15:00, TwO Windows Theatre, Gdańsk
"Szekspiracje" - W Gorącej Wodzie Kompani
- 16:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Czarna Sala, Gdańsk
"RED" - Maybe Theatre Company (1h30min)
2nd August 2011
- 17:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Czarna Sala, Gdańsk
"RED" - Maybe Theatre Company (1h30min)
4th August 2011
- 19:00, Kolibki Park, Gdynia
"The Tempest" adapted by Carlos Carvalheiro - A. Sewruk Theatre in Elbląg (Poland) - Associacao Cultural Fatias de Ca Tomar (Portugal) - Lincoln School of Performing Arts (Great Britain) (1h10min)
5th August 2011
- 17:00, Miejski Theatre, Gdynia
Hamlet - Dance Theatre, The Ludwik Solski State Drama School in Bytom, Poland (1h30min)
- 22:30, TwO Windows Theatre, Gdańsk
"LOVE LOVE LOVE - A Midsummer Night's Dream" - BOTO Theatre Foundation
6th August 2011
- 22:30, TwO Windows Theatre, Gdańsk
"LOVE LOVE LOVE - A Midsummer Night's Dream" - BOTO Theatre Foundation
30th July 2011
- 7:00 p.m., Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
Festival Opening (invitations required)
"Shaking Shakespeare"- German State Theatre Timisoara, Romania (1h30min)
- 19:30, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Malarnia, Gdańsk
"Macbeth" - a monodrama starring David Keller, Top Edge Productions, Great Britain (1h10min)
31st July 2011
- 18:00, Miejski Theatre, Gdynia
"Macbeth" - a monodrama starring David Keller, Top Edge Productions, Great Britain (1h10min)
- 20:30, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Shaking Shakespeare" - German State Theatre Timisoara, Romania (1h30min)
1st August 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Malarnia, Gdańsk
"Anatomia Lear" - Anatomia Ensemble, Finland (55min)
- 19:30, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Hamlet" - Kolyada Theatre, Russia (3h)
2nd August 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Malarnia, Gdańsk
"Anatomia Lear" - Anatomia Ensemble, Finland (55min)
- 20:30, Miejski Theatre, Gdynia
"King Lear" - Kolyada Theatre, Russia (3h)
3rd August 2011
- 19:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Miranda" (based on The Tempest by W. Shakespeare) – OKT/Vilnius City Theatre, Lithuania (1h40min)
- 21:30, St. John's Center, Gdańsk
"Macbeth" - Romeo&Julia Kören. Royal Dramatic Theatre, Sweden (1h10min)
4th August 2011
- 21:30, St. John's Center, Gdańsk
"Macbeth" - Romeo&Julia Kören. Royal Dramatic Theatre, Sweden (1h10min)
5th August 2011
- 20:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk
"Hamlet" - Stefan Żeromski Theatre in Kielce (2h)
6th August 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Duża Scena, Gdańsk,
"Hamlet" - Stefan Żeromski Theatre in Kielce (2h)
- 21:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Kameralna, Sopot
"Macbeth" - Song of the Goat Theatre, Poland (75min)
7th August 2011
- 20:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Scena Kameralna, Sopot
"Macbeth" - Song of the Goat Theatre, Poland (75min)
ShakespeareOFF - accompanying events:
31st July 2011
- 18:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Czarna Sala, Gdańsk
"RED" - Maybe Theatre Company (1h30min)
1st August 2011
- 15:00, TwO Windows Theatre, Gdańsk
"Szekspiracje" - W Gorącej Wodzie Kompani
- 16:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Czarna Sala, Gdańsk
"RED" - Maybe Theatre Company (1h30min)
2nd August 2011
- 17:00, Wybrzeże Theatre - Czarna Sala, Gdańsk
"RED" - Maybe Theatre Company (1h30min)
4th August 2011
- 19:00, Kolibki Park, Gdynia
"The Tempest" adapted by Carlos Carvalheiro - A. Sewruk Theatre in Elbląg (Poland) - Associacao Cultural Fatias de Ca Tomar (Portugal) - Lincoln School of Performing Arts (Great Britain) (1h10min)
5th August 2011
- 17:00, Miejski Theatre, Gdynia
"Hamlet" - Dance Theatre, The Ludwik Solski State Drama School in Bytom, Poland (1h30min)
- 22:30, TwO Windows Theatre, Gdańsk
"LOVE LOVE LOVE - A Midsummer Night's Dream" - BOTO Theatre Foundation
6th August 2011
- 22:30, TwO Windows Theatre, Gdańsk
"LOVE LOVE LOVE - A Midsummer Night's Dream" - BOTO Theatre Foundation
Source: www.shakespearefestival.pl