All entries for December 2009

The Apocrypha in Performance

It's turning into a good year for the apocryphal plays on stage. In January, Tough Theatre present A Yorkshire Tragedy at the White Bear in London. Here's the website info:

A Yorkshire Tragedy: not so new as lamentable and true
Part of the Shakespeare Apocrypha
5th – 24th January 2010
Tues - Sat @ 7:30pm, Sunday 5:30pm
Presented by Tough Theatre

Tough Theatre continues in the White Bear tradition of bringing lost classics to the London stage with this production. Part of the Shakespeare Apocrypha, most scholars now attribute the authorship of 'A Yorkshire Tragedy' to Thomas Middleton...

A man on the brink of financial and, subsequently, social ruin resorts to tragic means to defend the honour of his family.

The play is based on a real life scandal of the day. On 5 August 1605 Walter Calverley was executed for murdering two of his children and stabbing his wife. Similar tragedies have occured throughout historyright up to present day. Are these people just plain evil or products of society?

The play will be brought to life with an ensemble of nine performers creating a disturbing, visceral experience which is not for the light hearted. The production is not suitable for U-16s

"Surely 'tis want of money makes men weak"

All sounds very promising!

Then, in February, Terry Hands is putting on a full-scale Arden of Faversham at Theatr Clwyd. Hands is one of the most significant directors in the play's stage history, having done a version with the RSC some years ago, so this is something to particularly look forward to.

Arden of Faversham, an Elizabethan drama by an anonymous author, is based on a true story in which desire, envy and greed inexorably lead to death. The play is an early example of Elizabethan tragic-comedy. Blackly funny, it is not so much ‘whodunnit’ but ‘how’ and ‘when’…

Peter Kirwan : 13 Dec 2009 13:55 |  Tags: Performance |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem