Two contrasting productions for the Spring Season - Shakespeare in Love and Sonali Bhattacharyya's Chasing Hares.
Shakespeare in Love: Wednesday 19 - Saturday 29 March
Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall with music by Paddy Cunneen. Directed by David Taylor.
“I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all”.
Penniless and indebted to two demanding producers, struggling young playwright William Shakespeare is tormented by writer’s block until he meets the beautiful Viola de Lesseps, daughter of a wealthy merchant, whose fiery passion for poetry and drama leaves her secretly longing to be an actor. Both are despondent when they learn that Viola’s father has promised her to the stuffy Lord Wessex in order to gain a title for their family. Under the veil of secrecy, Will and Viola’s passionate love affair becomes the basis of the very play he is writing – Romeo and Juliet. With opening night – and the wedding day – fast approaching, the plots race toward a parallel conclusion. Will it all work out in the end or are the two star-crossed lovers destined for tragedy?
Tickets: Shakespeare in Love – The Tower Theatre
Chasing Hares: Wednesday 2 - Saturday 12 April
by Sonali Bhattacharyya. Directed by Krishmeela Rittoo.
I turned up at the factory gates one day and they said ‘no orders’ – come back tomorrow. Tomorrow turned into next week. Then next month. Then next year… By day, machine operator Prab struggles to make ends meet to support his family, by night he writes stories for his baby daughter Amba. When a famous actress commissions him to write a play, Prab seizes the opportunity to expose the injustice and exploitation in the factory. Set between the UK and West Bengal, Chasing Hares explores the power of storytelling in the struggle for a fairer world. Award-winning writer Sonali Bhattacharyya celebrates the organisers, activists and the dreamers, who patiently work to build a more equal society.
Tickets: Chasing Hares – The Tower Theatre
Tower Theatre, 16 Northwold Road, Stoke Newington, London, N16 7HR