BRISTOL SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2019 is proud to work with Accessibility Throughout this brochure we have, where possible, made notes on the accessibility at the We continue to work towards making venue for wheelchair users. Please note our The Bristol Shakespeare Festival accessible accessibility grading system below. for all. If you have any access requirements or suggestions, we would love to hear from you; For further information and detailed venue we will try our best to accommodate your descriptions please visit our website, or needs. email [email protected] Signed performance Wheelchair access Please bring picnic blankets and picnics Please email the festival for details Performance involves walking around the venue No wheelchair access Not suitable for those under the < 12 age of 12 WELCOME HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE BRISTOL SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2019! Still going strong after sixteen years, our Following the success of proudly volunteer-run festival welcomes you 2018, the BSF creative team with open arms to lounge in sun-drenched behind the sell-out smash-hit parks, sit in cosy studios, and clamber aboard ‘Hamlet the Musical’ will bring big ships to watch some of the Bard’s greatest the fabulously dark, dangerously works, dazzlingly retold in some of Bristol’s devilish ‘Macbeth the Musical’ to the favourite spaces. Room Above. Secure tickets early to avoid disappointment, you won’t want to miss it! If In keeping with tradition, we have worked you missed Hamlet the Musical last year, you tirelessly to programme a spectrum of can catch it on tour at the Bath Fringe Festival Shakespearean delights from our host of at the end of May and the beginning of June. talented and much-loved touring theatre companies. Our cover artist this year is the wonderful Georgi Taylor Wills. Thank you to everyone Star-crossed-lovers, mortal enemies, fairies, who submitted fantastic design entries. Our kings and power-hungry citizens collide festival committee has grown this year too; if throughout July, with misunderstandings, you fancy getting involved next year, speak sword fights and disguises galore. to one of our friendly stewards. We continue our collaboration with Tickets We are proud to continue our membership Ignite following successful partnerships in 2017 of Bristol Festivals, an organisation dedicated and 2018. This ticketing platform to supporting the exciting myriad of festivals places a portion of their Bristol has to offer. administration fee into a funding pot for artists, Check out our website to book tickets and to and their ethos matches enquire about any of our performances. For our own in supporting instant updates about the festival, including opportunities for our competitions, be sure to follow us on emerging talent. Twitter @BristolBardFest Our Shakespeare Fringe also continues this year, with free performances BristolShakespeareFestival and events to suit all budgets; just look out for @BristolBardFest the Shakespeare Fringe logo throughout the programme. @BristolBardFest PRESENTING TWO SHOWS THREE INCH FOOLS Returning from the battlefield as brave MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING soldiers, Claudio and Benedick find themselves battling feelings of the heart as they are Windmill Hill City Farm Tuesday 4 & reunited with Hero and Beatrice. A series Philip St Thursday 6 June 7pm of misunderstandings, mistaken identity, and Bristol £17 Full Price; £9 Conc. a scheming brother threaten to sabotage BS3 4EA £41 Family; Free for under 10s Claudio’s attempts to woo Hero. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice find themselves stubbornly fighting their feelings for one another. Shakespeare’s notorious Scottish tale is MACBETH imaginatively retold by a troupe of five multi- roling, music-playing actors. This physically Windmill Hill City Farm Wednesday 5 & driven and vibrant performance will tell the Philip St Friday 7 June 7pm story of witchcraft, prophecy, a dominant wife, Bristol £17 Full Price; £9 Conc. and Macbeth’s unstoppable desire to become BS3 4EA £41 Family; Free for under 10s King of Scotland. All of this is accompanied by an original, folk-inspired soundtrack. The Three Inch Fools are a five-strong troupe of actors, performing a highly imaginative and vibrantly musical take on Shakespeare’s plays across the UK. The Fools do Shakespeare differently - a fast-paced, musically-driven style, using all sorts of different instruments, plenty of multi-roling and many a quick costume Price Includes change along the way. £1 Festival Admin Fee to book www.bristolshakespearefestival.org.uk THE RAYMONDOS ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE PLEBS The Alma Tavern Theatre Wednesday 3 & 18-20 Alma Vale Rd Thursday 4 July 8pm Clifton £10 Full Price Bristol, BS8 2HY £8 Conc. The story of two plebs trying to navigate the Performing together in many Shakespeare infamous story of Hamlet, with nothing but productions with ‘The Scullions’ the two broke their wits, songs and wacky behaviour. But who out on their own when creating the absurdist are these two, where are they and why are comedy ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern there so many hats? are Plebs’. These two plebs are about to discover how Being their flagship show, The Raymondos absurd this story gets! breathe new life into old favourites, putting a spin on the classics with new, witty comedy. The Raymondos is a two man company based in the South West of England made by Tom Hogan and Gherto Tanzarella, who met while studying Acting at Bath Spa University and have been working together ever since. < Price Includes 12 £1 Festival Admin Fee FLUELLEN THEATRE COMPANY HENRY V The Music Room Thursday 4 July 7.30pm Ashton Court Mansion Friday 5 July 2.30pm & 7.30pm Ashton Court £16 Full Price; £46 Family Bristol, BS41 9JN £13 Conc; £11 Child Under10 King Henry IV is dead and now his wild and “Fluellen Theatre Company is renowned for irresponsible son Hal must step up and take its ability to present classic theatrical works in the crown. Across the Channel the French a manner that blows away the cobwebs while laugh with disdain at the prospect. The preserving the integrity of the original” metamorphosis from Prince Hal to King Western Mail Henry V is essential if he is to demonstrate his power and authority. Shakespeare’s play, full of This production has been sponsored by exciting action and superb language, illustrates Peter Lynn and Partners the savagery of war and the delicate balance of statesmanship. Price Includes £1 Festival Admin Fee to book www.bristolshakespearefestival.org.uk THE WILLMORE SINGERS TWELFTH NIGHT A Family Show Bristol Central Library Saturday 6 July Deanery Road 6.30pm City Centre £9 Full Price; £6 Child Bristol, BS1 5TL £21 family ticket Join us for a rollercoaster ride through The Willmore Singers is a company producing Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night suitable for the high quality chamber music and theatre with whole family. Romance, late night parties and a commitment to community outreach and mischievous schemes unfold accompanied by widening participation. We are passionate beautiful renaissance music; love songs, drinking about finding new ways of interpreting and songs and slightly scary ghostly songs! Our approaching works to challenge and transform one-hour version is for everyone; from five to people. Our one-hour Shakespeare adaptations 95, those who know and love Shakespeare’s use music as a vital part of performance whole canon and those who have never been and as a meaningful way to engage people to the theatre before. Full of life and vitality, with his plays. This has included Twelfth Night this chamber production remains faithful to the using renaissance songs, Timon of Athens using Bard’s text and explores its timeless themes Purcell’s mini opera of the same name, and for a 21st Century audience. The Winter’s Tale with new music composed for the company. Price Includes £1 Festival Admin Fee QUANTUM THEATRE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Brandon Hill Bowling Green Saturday 6 July Great George Street 7pm Bristol £17 Full Price; £12 Conc BS1 5QD £50 Family Shakespeare’s most enduringly popular Quantum Theatre tours nationally with new comedy of love and intrigue, magic and adaptations of classic texts and Shakespeare mayhem, is brought to life by family favourites plays into theatres, open air venues and Quantum Theatre in their wonderfully funny schools across the country. and exuberant production of the Shakespeare classic. “I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was…” Price Includes £1 Festival Admin Fee to book www.bristolshakespearefestival.org.uk NATURAL THEATRE COMPANY SHAKESPEARE UNDONE! SS Great Britain Sunday 7 - Wednesday 10 July Great Western Dockyard 6:30pm, 7:30pm & 8:30pm Bristol £16 Full Price; £13 Conc. BS1 6TY £13 Child Brunel was a big fan of Shakespeare. Stored The award-winning Natural Theatre Company away amongst his memorabilia, the hilarious have been making people laugh for fifty years. Natural Theatre Company has ‘unearthed’ They produce delightfully comic, charmingly an early work, written when Will was a absurd performances guaranteed to bring a young whippersnapper. This unpublished play smile to everyone’s face. features early sketches of his most iconic characters, first drafts of famous scenes… and just a little bit of nonsense. Shakespeare Undone! takes you on a theatrical journey through the nooks and crannies of the SS Great Britain, where the best bits of Shakespeare come to life around you! Price Includes £1 Festival Admin Fee Temple Back East Tuesday 9 - Sunday 14 July Bristol £12 Full Price; £9 Conc BS1 6DG £19.50 for 2 shows on one night In the twelve years since Prospero’s departure, CALIBAN’S CODEX Caliban has painstakingly sifted through the ashes of the books of magic, slowly piecing Written and Directed by John Knowles Produced by Fetch Theatre together a new language and a way to save this island from mankind’s abuse.