Calendar

Julius Caesar

by William Shakespeare

Directed by Dominic Dromgoole

FRIENDS CLOSE, ENEMIES CLOSER

When Caesar returns to Rome from the wars a virtual dictator, Brutus and his republican friends resolve that his ambition must be curbed – which in Rome can mean only one thing: the great general must be assassinated. But once the deed is done, the idealistic conspirators must reckon with the forces of a new power bloc, led by Mark Antony and Caesar’s nephew Octavius. When their armies close at Philippi, will Caesar’s ghost be avenged?

Opposing dictatorship and republicanism, private virtue and mob violence, Shakespeare’s tense drama of high politics reveals the emotional currents that flow between men in power.

This production will employ Renaissance costumes and staging.

Bard on the Beach

July 4 – September 17, 2014

Directed by Anita Rochon

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Love, jealousy, betrayal, escape and redemption merge to drive a story about what it means to lose yourself completely – only to find yourself again. Featuring a host of memorable characters and one of Shakespeare’s most finely-etched female leads, the play combines a fairytale quality with a modern sensibility. This physical and fast-paced adaptation is directed by Anita Rochon. 

Shakespeare’s Globe Theater

From 6 August (touring UK and USA)

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Old King Lear, weary of royal duties, proposes to break up his kingdom and divide it among his three daughters. But this rash generosity is cruelly repaid and Lear discovers too late the false values by which he has lived – and, in turn, the suffering common to all humanity.

Its tempestuous poetry shot through with touches of humour and moments of heart-rending simplicity, King Lear is one of the deepest artistic explorations of the human condition.

The Comedy of Errors

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Blanche McIntyre

Take one pair of estranged twin brothers (both called Antipholus), and one pair of estranged twin servants (both called Dromio), keep them in ignorance of each other and throw them into a city with a reputation for sorcery, and you have all the ingredients for theatrical chaos. One Antipholus is astonished by his foreign hospitality; the other enraged by the hostility of his home town. The Dromios, caught between the two, are soundly beaten for obeying all the wrong orders.

Basing his plot on a farce by Plautus, Shakespeare caps the mayhem of his Roman original to build up a hectic tale of violent cross-purposes, furious slapstick and social nightmare.

This production will employ Renaissance costumes and staging.

The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ

Begins October 15

Directed by Paul Mullins

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Longtime company director Paul Mullins returns to direct Shakespeare’s final play, the rarely produced historical epic about the young King Henry and the first two of his six wives.

The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ

Begins December 4

Directed by Scott Wentworth

The 2014 season concludes with the of Shakespeare’s delightful comedy Much Ado About Nothing, which has not been seen at the Theatre in over a decade. Renowned actor and director Scott Wentworth sets the play post-World War II, à la “White Christmas,” and will appear on stage alongside his wife, Marion Adler (last seen in Our Town).