TO BREXIT or not to Brexit – Britain’s relationship with Europe will be under the spotlight on stage in Stratford next summer.
The season will include Projekt Europa in the Swan Theatre – exploring, celebrating and interrogating the nation’s relationship with our continental cousins.
RSC associate artist Maria Åberg oversees Projekt Europa which includes three new productions – Europeana from the book by Patrik Ouredník, Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen and Blindness and Seeing based on the novels by José Saramago.
It will also include a series of newly commissioned monologues from prominent European writers to be presented in The Other Place, together with a collaboration between the RSC’s Next Generation Act young company and Swedish director Mattias Andersson, to create a new piece of work inspired by Boccaccio’s Decamerone, interwoven with the personal stories of young people today.
And there will be talks, debates, exhibitions and events as part of the season, including a two-day symposium focused on the relationship with Europe.
Maria said: “Projekt Europa is a playful and profound investigation of how we live together in the context of our shared history and our possible future. We’ve invited the most exciting directors, designers and theatre artists from across Europe to come and make work especially for our audiences in Stratford in a joyous celebration of the very best of European theatre making.
“We have specifically encouraged new collaborations and experimentation, aiming to generate work that is truly unique to our season and which can only be experienced at the RSC.
“I’m hoping that we can illuminate some surprising aspects of the European question, that we can excite and inspire, spark curiosity and debate, and that we can really give Stratford audiences a taste of the very best of European theatre making right now.”
The RST will splay host to a season of Shakespeare plays exploring separation, loss and deep bonds of family.
They will include The Winter’s Tale directed by Erica Whyman, The Comedy of Errors directed by Phillip Breen featuring the RSC debut of Miles Jupp as Antipholus of Syracuse, and Pericles directed by Blanche McIntyre.
RSC artistic director Gregory Doran said: “The sea divides families in all three of our plays this summer. Themes of separation and loss and the restorative power of time connect all of them.
“From the deftly farcical and ever popular The Comedy of Errors, to the emotional intensity of The Winter’s Tale, to the astonishing imaginative scope and political power of Pericles, each of these three plays are wonderfully different yet, at the same time, share a fascination with identity, the challenges of leaving your native land and the deep bonds of family.”
Visit rsc.org.uk for further details.