Next month sees a visit by the professional TNT American
Drama Group Europe in Shakespeare’s timeless love story ‘Romeo and
Juliet’. They will give two performances in The Globe Theatre at
Regent’s School on March 9 and 10 at 7.30 p.m.
TNT
Theatre’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, on a world tour, plays two dates in
Thailand at the Regent’s School.
This unique event also focuses on the link between
Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre in London, where the play was
originally performed 400 years ago, and our very own Globe here in Pattaya.
This will be the first performance by a professional
theatre company in the newly-built theatre, positioned proudly at the front
entrance of The Regent’s School. The Globe here in Thailand joins the
exclusive ‘family’ of other Globe Theatres around the world, including
the Mitsibushi Globe in Tokyo and its namesake in San Diego, California.
The school is a newly enrolled member of the prestigious
Globelink scheme administered by the Shakespeare International Globe Centre
in Southwark, London, which aims to promote knowledge and understanding of
the playwright’s works in schools around the world.
TNT American Drama Group Europe has developed an
international reputation for presenting dynamic, exciting and direct
productions of Shakespeare’s major works. Live music, powerful
choreography and a simple performance style allow a modern audience to
experience Shakespeare’s great love story as an Elizabethan audience might
have done.
The play is rediscovered as a story not of urban street
kids but ‘two houses both alike in dignity’. This is a tragedy of clan
war where, the death of two young lovers brings the warring factions to
their senses. Verona is brought to the stage in all its classic glory, Latin
passion and Baroque decadence. Where peace seems as allusive as true love,
this great tragedy is as relevant as ever.
Of special note is the live musical score played by the
performers themselves on violin, trumpet, percussion and guitar, in addition
to five-part harmony singing. Composer Thomas Johnson is well known for his
theatre work, including the current London West End success, ‘When the
Whales Came’.
In order to bring the story closer to our modern world,
the play is set in the flamboyant ‘La Dolce Vita’ period of Italy in the
1950’s.
Too often Shakespeare suffers from directors and even
designers imposing an interpretation on the original that stifles its
essence. TNT work carefully to bring out the true richness and density of
Shakespeare, and this approach has been much appreciated by a wide audience
who are often surprised how accessible and relevant the plays become when
they are allowed to exist as Shakespeare might have intended.
The plays were written to be performed with limited
scenery that calls for the imagination of the audience, live audience, small
casts, energetic physical performances and sensitivity to poetry. All these
elements are to be found in a TNT American Drama Group Europe Shakespearean
production and find their ideal home on the stage of the Globe Theatre here
in Pattaya.
Director Paul Stebbings recent productions of
‘Hamlet’, ‘Macbeth’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ have all
been performed to great acclaim from Tokyo to London, Berlin to Malta and
Tehran to Atlanta. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ began its world tour in May 2004
and has just completed dates in the Middle East and Singapore. The
production will eventually tour to some twenty countries worldwide. These
performances are the only two dates in Thailand so it is definitely a
production that deserves to be seen. Whilst at the school, the students will
participate in a workshop on acting technique with members of the company.
The world-wide rave reviews speak for themselves:
‘Highly effective and charismatic theatre’ says New York’s Village
Voice, whilst the Japan Times calls them ‘Extraordinary’ and The
Scotsman newspaper praises them for being ‘ wonderfully unpredictable and
astonishingly inventive.’ The Frankfurter Neue Presse, Germany described
this ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as a ‘beautiful, impressive production that
reaches the heart of the play’. This is clearly an event not to be missed.
The Pattaya Mail and the Thai Garden Resort, Naklua sponsor the
Thailand leg of the tour. Tickets can be purchased in the Thai Garden during
office hours (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 4 - 8 p.m. Tel: 038 370614-8 ext 6666)
or from the Secondary School library at the Regent’s School (Tel: 099
328464). Tickets cost 500 baht for adults and 400 baht for students. Book
now for the opportunity of seeing a highly polished professional performance
of Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy presented in Pattaya for two shows only.
Aunty
Sai chats with the children.
Children
going through their follow up session.
