Teatro
Performers: Esh Alladi (Sebastian), Nicholas Bishop (Orsino), Tom Byrne (Valentine), Sally Cheng (Cook), Michael Cochrane (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Adrian Edmondson (Malvolio), James Gant (Police Inspector/Manservant), Dinita Gohil (Viola/Cesario), John Hodgkinson (Sir Toby Belch), Beruce Khan (Feste), Verity Kirk (Doncella), Luke Latchman (Curio), Vivien Parry (Maria), Joseph Prowen (Footman/Police Officer/Stationmaster), Giles Taylor (Antonio), Kara Tointon (Olivia), Sara Twomey (Fabia), James Tyler (Ship Captain/Police Officer/Stationmaster) | Directed by: Christopher Luscombe | Designer: Simon Higlett | Lighting designer: Tim Mitchell | Sound designer: Jeremy Dunn | Music: Nigel Hess | Choreography: Jenny Arnold | Fight scenes: Kev McCurdy.
Christopher Luscombe
Director
Maestro of British comedy
This renowned British theater and opera producer (1963) started out as a comedy actor. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for seven years and also had roles at the National Theater, the Old Vic and at other West End theaters. He is currently a RSC associated artist, directing Much Ado About Nothing and Love’s Labor’s Lost. One of his most renowned productions is The Rocky Horror Show musical comedy, which has been touring the world for the last 15 years.
William Shakespeare
Playwright
Eternally classic
This English playwright and poet (1564-1616) is undisputedly the world’s greatest creator of literature and theater and an expert at conveying his characters’ feelings, such as pain, betrayal, love and jealousy. This is why his plays - such as Hamlet, Rey Lear, Othello, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream - are still as popular as ever and are read and performed worldwide.
“Relocated to 1890s Britain, it is stuffed with smart ideas that bring new dimensions to the play’s social and erotic tensions”.
“It delivers rapturous speeches, splendid sets and some clever ideas”.
“Luscombe knows how to execute a big comic set-piece”.
–It is one of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s largest productions in the last few years. Critics have highlighted its spectacular staging and the work of designer Simon Higlett, who recreates 1890s London and the opulence of the Victorian era. It is more than this though: setting the play in this period is also director Christopher Luscombe’s nod to Queen Victoria and her close relationship with her Indian attendant, Abdul Karim, after India became part of the British Empire. In fact, in this version, twins Viola and Sebastian are played by British actors with Indian heritage.
–The play is set in 1890s London. According to critics, this can also be interpreted as a nod to Oscar Wilde’s England, playing on the sexual ambiguity of some of its characters. Orsino, who is in love with Olivia, is attracted to Viola disguised as a man, while Antonio is in love with Sebastian. According to English newspaper The Times, “it is a Wildean aesthete’s vision of Victorian England”.
– Director Christopher Luscombe is considered one of the greats of Shakespearean comedy. In fact, during his time as an actor at the RSC, he wrote and starred in The Shakespeare Revue, a successful comedy that parodied the playwright. “I don’t subscribe to the view that doing tragedy is in any way superior. One quite distinguished director when I did Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado said to me, ‘That’s great, Chris, because now maybe you can go back and give them a tragedy. And in the end, you never know, you might even get to do Hamlet’. And I thought, are you suggesting that doing Shakespearean comedy is easier? That does rankle a bit. I suppose I’m a bit obsessed about comedy, and I make no bones about that”, he said in an interview in 2016.
The Royal Shakespeare Company: Founded in 1961 as the successor to what was known as the Shakespeare Memorial Company, this English theater company’s repertoire is based on the works of the English playwright and also on other pieces from the Jacobean and Elizabethan times. It was the first theater group to receive government funding and part of its work involves running important educational activities based around Shakespeare. The company is based in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, holds live events and events via streaming and also tours worldwide.
The Victorian Era: This refers to the time of the reign of Queen Victoria between 1837 and 1901. During these years, the British Empire reached its apogee, becoming the first world power, both prosperous and industrialized. As a result of its economic success at this time, different social classes were formed - the upper class, the bourgeoisie and a middle class that did not hesitate to demonstrate their prosperity by acquiring material belongings.
–Check out the RSC’s YouTube channel, which includes several videos of Christopher Luscombe’s Twelfth Night.
On Instagram, @thersc
On Twitter, @theRSC
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Website: https://www.rsc.org.uk/
By William Shakespeare |Directed by Christopher Luscombe | A Royal Shakespeare Company production
The opulence of Victorian times shines through in this hilarious comedy of errors.
This Shakespeare comedy, probably written in 1599 and 1601, is a hilarious yet heartbreaking story of unrequited love. Viola and Sebastian are twins who are separated when they are shipwrecked. Thinking the other is dead, the siblings have to fend for themselves in a strange land. Viola falls in love with Orsino, who dotes on Olivia, who falls for Viola, who has disguised herself as a man, Cesario, in order to be hired to work in Orsino’s house. And so the story goes until Sebastian appears, who is the spitting image of his twin sister, confusing things even more.
Directed by outstanding British theater producer Christopher Luscombe for the Royal Shakespeare Company, this version of Twelfth Night, recorded live at the RSC Theater in 2018, is striking because of its performances and the splendid set designs that recreate the opulence of 1890s London.
Performers: Esh Alladi (Sebastian), Nicholas Bishop (Orsino), Tom Byrne (Valentine), Sally Cheng (Cook), Michael Cochrane (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Adrian Edmondson (Malvolio), James Gant (Police Inspector/Manservant), Dinita Gohil (Viola/Cesario), John Hodgkinson (Sir Toby Belch), Beruce Khan (Feste), Verity Kirk (Doncella), Luke Latchman (Curio), Vivien Parry (Maria), Joseph Prowen (Footman/Police Officer/Stationmaster), Giles Taylor (Antonio), Kara Tointon (Olivia), Sara Twomey (Fabia), James Tyler (Ship Captain/Police Officer/Stationmaster) | Directed by: Christopher Luscombe | Designer: Simon Higlett | Lighting designer: Tim Mitchell | Sound designer: Jeremy Dunn | Music: Nigel Hess | Choreography: Jenny Arnold | Fight scenes: Kev McCurdy.
Christopher Luscombe
Director
Maestro of British comedy
This renowned British theater and opera producer (1963) started out as a comedy actor. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for seven years and also had roles at the National Theater, the Old Vic and at other West End theaters. He is currently a RSC associated artist, directing Much Ado About Nothing and Love’s Labor’s Lost. One of his most renowned productions is The Rocky Horror Show musical comedy, which has been touring the world for the last 15 years.
William Shakespeare
Playwright
Eternally classic
This English playwright and poet (1564-1616) is undisputedly the world’s greatest creator of literature and theater and an expert at conveying his characters’ feelings, such as pain, betrayal, love and jealousy. This is why his plays - such as Hamlet, Rey Lear, Othello, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream - are still as popular as ever and are read and performed worldwide.
»Reubicada en la Gran Bretaña de la década de 1890, está repleta de ideas inteligentes que aportan nuevas dimensiones a las tensiones sociales y eróticas de la obra«.
»Ofrece discursos entusiastas, decorados espléndidos y algunas ideas inteligentes«.
»Luscombe sabe cómo ejecutar una pieza cómica«.
–Porque es una de las grandes superproducciones de la Royal Shakespeare Company de los últimos años. La crítica destaca su espectacular puesta en escena, trabajo del diseñador Simon Higlett, quien recrea el Londres de 1890 y la ostentosa decoración de estilo victoriano. Pero no solo eso: trasladar a la obra a esta época también implica por parte del director Christopher Luscombe hacer un guiño a la reina Victoria y su estrecha relación con su secretario indio Abdul Karim luego de que la India pasara a depender de la Corona Británica; de hecho, en esta versión los gemelos Viola y Sebastian son interpretados por actores británicos de raíces indias.
–Situar la obra en el Londres de 1890, según la crítica, da también para una segunda lectura: hace alusión a la Inglaterra de Oscar Wilde; un guiño que juega con la ambigüedad sexual algunos de sus personajes: Orsino, quien está enamorado de Olivia, comienza a sentir atracción por Viola disfrazada de hombre, mientras que Antonio está enamorado de Sebastián. “Es la visión de un esteta wildeano de la Inglaterra victoriana”, dice el diario inglés The Times
–Porque Christopher Luscombe, el director, es considerado uno de los grandes exponentes de la comedia shakespereana. De hecho, durante sus años como actor de la RSC escribió y protagonizó The Shakespeare Revue, una exitosa comedia que parodiaba al dramaturgo. “No me suscribo a la opinión de que montar un texto de tragedia sea algo superior. Cuando hice Mucho ruido y pocas nueces y Trabajos de amor perdidos, un distinguido director me dijo: ‘Genial, Chris, ahora quizá puedas hacer una de las tragedias. Y, al final, nunca se sabe, incluso podrías hacer Hamlet’. Pensé: ¿estará sugiriendo que hacer comedias de Shakespeare es más fácil? Eso irrita un poco. Pero supongo que estoy un poco obsesionado por la comedia, así es que no me preocupo por eso”, dijo en una entrevista en 2016.
Royal Shakespeare Company: Fundada en 1961 a partir de lo que era la Shakespeare Memorial Company, es una compañía teatral inglesa cuyo repertorio se centra en las obras del dramaturgo inglés y también en otros textos de la época jacobina e isabelina. Es la primera agrupación teatral que recibe subvención estatal, y parte de su trabajo es realizar importantes actividades de formación en torno a la figura de Shakespeare. Tiene su sede en Stratford-upon-Avon, Inglaterra, donde realizan funciones presenciales y en streaming, y también realizan giras por todo el mundo.
Época Victoriana: Se llama así al período de reinado de Victoria I, entre 1837 y 1901. Durante estos años, el Imperio Británico vivió su máximo esplendor, convirtiéndose en primera potencia mundial, próspera e industrializada. Producto del éxito económico, durante este lapso de tiempo comienzan a forjarse las distintas clases sociales, con una alta sociedad, una burguesía y una clase media que no escatimaban esfuerzos en demostrar con bienes materiales su prosperidad.
–Revisa el canal de YouTube de la RSC, donde hay varios videos dedicados a la producción Twelfth Night de Christopher Luscombe
En Instagram, @thersc
En Twitter, @theRSC
En Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/thersc
Sitio web: https://www.rsc.org.uk/
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