Secrets of the Bristol Old Vic uncovered in free Shakespeare Festival installation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) July 14, 2008 -- Audiences will get a rare chance to peek into the secret spaces and passages of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre in a free live installation which forms part of the Bristol Shakespeare Festival later this month.

The Bristol Shakespeare Project, led by incoming festival director Louise Hill, will see the 242-year-old building taken over by local artists and performers giving their own ‘take’ on Shakespeare, from professional theatre companies Invisible Circus, Roughhouse and Tucked In, to graffiti artists from the People’s Republic of Stokes’ Croft, to the Bristol Old Vic Young Company, local primary school children and recent graduates of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

The performances will take place in the normally unseen backstage areas of the theatre, and audience members can wander at will through the spaces, watching a wide variety of unusual and fascinating performances inspired by the works of Shakespeare. All the performances are family-friendly and there will be mask-making for children and live music and refreshments available in the theatre foyer.

Louise describes the project as ‘an open invitation to local theatre-makers and their audiences to come and tell us what interests them about Shakespeare today and how they would like to see the festival grow in future years. As an audience member, you can watch each performance for as long as it interests you and then move onto the next space and the next company’s performance. We are thrilled to be given the opportunity to use the Bristol Old Vic for this project, a theatre which has seen so many acclaimed performances of Shakespeare's plays on its main stage.’

Bristol-based director and playwright Toby Hulse, who has been re-writing three of Shakespeare's most famous plays with three local primary schools, says "In the same way that Shakespeare reworked the oldest of stories into something new, we aim in turn to rework his stories into something vital, playful and true for today's audiences".

The Bristol Shakespeare Festival continues through July and August, including a visit by the world-famous Globe Theatre, transforming the disused Old Bowling Green on Brandon Hill into an open air theatre for productions of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘The Winter’s Tale’.

The Bristol Shakespeare Project takes place at the Bristol Old Vic on King Street on Sunday 27th July. Entry is free for all from 3pm. Last admission 6pm. The theatre bar will remain open for an hour after last admission. Regrettably, due to the nature of this event, no wheelchair access is available.

The Globe Theatre performs ‘Romeo and Juliet’ from 31 July – 3 August, and ‘The Winter’s Tale’ from 13 – 16 August, both at the Old Bowling Green on Brandon Hill.

For more information visit the festival website at www.bristolshakespeare.org.uk or email Louise on louise@bristolshakespeare.org.uk.

bristol     bristol shakespeare festival     festival     free     old vic     shakespeare     theatre     UK