Around the Globe, April 2020
Like most artists in spring 2020, the pandemic took a lot of the Ensemble’s work & play away.
We were intending to hold an R&D in the mountains of Wales in March, and raise two shows in the USA in April. So’t goes.
We hope only for safety and health for all.
In the spirit of Shakespeare – and for his 456th Birthday! – we offer a Sonnet Birthday Cake, made up of short videos of our favourite flavours in the Sonnets! There’s also a recipe to make your own!
Happy Bard-day!
The Shakespeare Ensemble
A collective of international artists who play to explore Shakespeare’s rehearsal & performance practices – especially those of stage-craft – exploring new tools for modern production & education.
A travelling Ensemble, they engage with communities around the world. As they tour, they create and re-create each show, listening to their environment, their audience, and each other. They adapt rehearsal methods from Shakespeare’s time to raise their shows in 3-5 days. Communication of heart is craft.
In the summer of 2018 a group of artists met in Holyhead, North Wales to raise an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in five days. The Dreame Project was free for all, used 16th century lute music, 5 metre tall Bunraku puppets, a deck of clowns, & the audience and Ensemble shared a locally foraged organic meal at the end.
In the autumn of 2019 the Shakespeare Ensemble toured Japan, raising 3 plays in 7 days. Using modern reworking of Elizabethan rehearsal practices they reimagined the plays with every pass., and welcomed resonances from modern Kabuki practices.
photography by Matt Reznek, Kája Curtis, & the Ensemble
” The use of the space was marvelous. Striking adaptation of Shakespeare — so experimental, yet very traditional. What an unforgettable experience.”
audience member, tokyo
