Performances at Kitley

The Original Theatre Company and South Hill Park Arts Centre present…

by Joe Calarco R&J SHAKESPEARE’S

Adapted from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

Wednesday June 18th –Thursday June 19th 2008, 7.00pm

Kitley House Hotel

Kitley, Yealmpton, Nr Plymouth, PL8 2NW

Box Office: 01752 881555

Tickets:

Adults £15.00 Children £7.50

BBQ £14.50 per person

Highly energetic,physical and packed with the energy of youth and beauty of Shakespeare’s language; this is Shakespeare at his most accessible and daring.

Following on from the huge critical successes of Twelfth Night, Taming of The Shrew and last years Midsummer Night’s Dream, the award winning Original Theatre Company return to the stunning gardens of Kitley House to present the world outdoor premiere of Shakespeare’s R+J by Joe Calarco.

We open at Kitley House Hotel before embarking on a national tour spanning from June until November which includes a 2 week run in the middle of London.

Originally staged off Broadway New York in 2001, Joe Calarco’s hit play took London’s West End by storm in 2003 picking up laurels and acclaim from audience and critics alike. Now for the first time since its West End run, this hit show will now be touring England.

Formed in 2002, the Original Theatre Company has established a reputation for producing theatre that is ‘innovative, fresh and bang up-to-date’ (BBC radio). Two-time winner of the Max Cary Award for Innovation, the company will build on the successes of three consecutive summers on the road by staging their most ambitious project to date.

Creative Director Alastair Whatley says: “Audiences are truly in for something special, Joe’s play combines all of Shakespeare’s wit and language with an irreverent and biting twist that will keep people hanging to the edge of their seats”.

Concept:

The play is set in a 1950’s strict boys’ boarding school and features four male actors. The pupils run into their chapel late one night in a bid to escape from their repressive school routines and begin reading Romeo & Juliet aloud. School and social rules are shattered as the students come to understand the real price of challenging fate and the true dangers of forbidden love.

As both the stories of Romeo and Juliet and the four lads unfold during the course of one thrilling evening, audience and actors alike discover the power of theatre and the new worlds it can open up.

95% of the text is Shakespeare’s own dialogue.

Over the past few years the company has built a reputation of consistently countering expectations and surprising its audiences. From staging The Taming of The Shrew with an authentic ENSA 1940’s flavour to taking shows to unusual, varied and exciting venues. From the Roman Ruins of The Ancient Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds, an award winning pub garden to a bandstand in the middle of Colliers Wood near Wimbledon. 

Last performances at Kitley:

The Original Theatre Company

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by William Shakespeare

Following on from the huge criticalsuccesses of Twelfth Night and Taming of The Shrew, the award winning original theatre company presented A Midsummer Night's Dream in the wonderful gardens of Kitley House Hotel from 4th to the 5th July 2007.

Formed in 2002, the original theatre company has established a reputation for producing 'innovative, fresh and bang up-to-date' (BBC radio) theatre. Two-time winnerof the Max Cary Award for innovation presented by the University of London, the company will build on the successes of their 2005 and 2006 UK tours by staying their most ambitious project to date.

Fairies, Workmen, Sprites and michievous Puck combine with Shakespeare's exhilarating and timless poetry conjuring a truly unforgettable and hilarious evening spent under the stars in some of england's most beautiful gardens.

The company's creative directro Alastair Whatley says: "A Midsummer Night's Dream Combine an exciting and potent mix of love, magic, tentsion and dnger and is without doubt one of Shakespeare's most loved masterpiece featuring some of his greatest characters."

Over the past few years the company has biult a reputation for itself by consistently countering expectations and suprising their audiences. Faying The Taming of The Shrew with an authentic ENSA 1940's flavour to taking shows to unusual, varied and exciting venues. This year the company is be adding The Royal Shakespeare Company's outdoor space 'The Dell' as a new venue alongside a new London Venue in Wimbledon in the middle of a shopping village at Merton Abbey Mills.

The production toured eight different towns all over the UK, from the stately grandeour of the Victorian gardens at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell, to a mansion in the Suffolk countryside; an award winning village green in The Essex countryside, the ancient grounds of a Benedictine abbey and of course The Dell by the RSC's new Courtyyard theatre sitting on the banks of The Abbey Mills.

For more information about A Midsummer Night's Dream, click here.