Bell Shakespeare has announced its 2014 season and with contemporary takes on some of William Shakespeare’s neglected works, the Australian theatre company will celebrate Shakespeare’s 450th birthday in style.
The first production of the mainstage season, Winter’s Tale, will run through March next year. The rarely performed play – written during his experimental phase - will be portrayed through the eyes of child prince Mamilius. The full cast will be announced in October.
Henry V, the follow-up to last year’s Henry IV, will run from mid-June to mid-November. Celebrated actor/director Damien Ryan has completely reimagined the play to follow a group of teenagers in the 1941 Blitz who reenact the play for others in the bomb shelter. The play is inspired by true events, where a group rehearsed a different Shakespeare play each week for 71 consecutive nights. The play is also Ryan’s first for Bell Shakespeare.
A comic version of Tartuffe will be shown exclusively in Sydney through July and August. The translation of Molière‘s 17th century comedy - about religion and wiley manipulation - is directed by Sydney playwright and author, Justin Fleming.
The final play of the season, The Dream, is a new, family-friendly take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream – marking the first time in 10 years that Bell Shakespeare has presented a version. The Dream will run from late August to early October and is directed by Peter Evans.
Bell Shakespeare will reunite once again with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2014 for Intimate Letters. Inspired by more than 700 passionate letters written between Leoš Janácek and his much younger married muse, Intimate Letters explores their overwhelming and obsessive love. The production runs through August and September with tickets on sale from December 5 this year.
The annual Learning Program will see students take on Macbeth with a twist. The focus will be on audience interaction through social networks.
“We want to keep young audiences and school kids very much involved in the creative process,” said co-artistic director John Bell (pictured above). “We’ll be doing day-to-day conversations with the kids, who can follow the rehearsal process, talk to the actors, talk to the director, see how rehearsals are shaping up, so by the time they get to see the play, they’ll feel they’ve been a part of the whole creative process.”
2014 will mark Bell Shakespeare’s 24th year; for all dates and ticket information, head to the tour page.
- Poppy Reid
