THE Romeo and Juliet 2004 TOUR
Wellington’s most fearless theatre company hit the road
from January 27 with a brand new touring production of Shakespeare’s
most clichéd play, Romeo and Juliet. It’s a classic
tale of boy meets girl, boy stalks girl and turns up under her
balcony in middle of the night, boy kills girl’s cousin,
girl drinks sleeping potion, messenger gets waylaid, boy drinks
poison, girl disembowels herself, friar and nurse escape unpunished
and feuding families erect statues of their dead kids.
One of The Bacchanals’ prime agendas is to make theatre
accessible to all, hence rather than rely on people to come to
their show, they’re taking the show to the people, visiting
as many small towns as they can possibly fit into a tight agenda
and a funding-free budget. Last year’s tour of Twelfth Night
was enthusiastically received in the six towns it visited. It was
also the first Shakespeare play to be performed in NZ’s parliament
when Speaker Jonathan Hunt hosted a performance in the old Legislative
Chambers.
The Bacchanals formed in 2000 to present a sell-out season of
Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy The Frogs in that year’s
Fringe Festival. Their subsequent productions have included Shakespeare’s
Othello performed in an inner-city warehouse apartment, the New
Zealand premiere of Sarah Kane’s Crave, an award-winning
promenade production of Hamlet, and an ambitious season that
had the same cast rotate The Jew of Malta, Titus Andronicus and
Volpone on weeknights and then perform all three in one go each
Saturday for a month in 2001. Their multi-media rendering of
Euripides’ The Bacchae for STAB2003 played to packed houses
at BATS in November.
Romeo and Juliet stars Bacchanals stalwarts Alex Greig and Julia
Harrison as the star-crossed lovers, with a cast that includes
regulars Eve Middleton, James Stewart, Tina Helm, Irene Flanagan,
Walter Plinge and newbies Erin Banks and Hadleigh Walker. The show
is directed by David Lawrence.
The 2004 Romeo and Juliet tour will play for FIVE PERFORMANCES
ONLY at BATS Theatre in Wellington from January 27 – 31,
and then appear at the Genesis Theatre in the new Expressions centre
in Upper Hutt on February 5. The Bacchanals will then high-tail
it to Solstone Estate Winery, Masterton (February 9), Fountain
Theatre, Dannevirke (February 10), the Globe, Napier (February
11), Lawson Field Theatre, Gisborne (February 12), Shambles Theatre,
Rotorua (February 13), Centrestage, Taupo (February 14), Theatre
Royal, Raetihi (February 16), Taumarunui Little Theatre (February
17), Waitomo Cultural & Arts Centre, Te Kuiti (February 18),
Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (February 19), Memorial
Theatre, Hawera (February 20) and Wanganui Repertory Theatre (February
21).
All performances commence at 7pm and the tickets are $15 waged,
$10 unwaged. For bookings you can call 0800-JULIET (0800 585-438)
or visit www.thebacchanals.net. For any further information you
can contact David Lawrence on 021 180-7526.
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