The Shakespeare Festival celebrates its 11th edition
From the 23rd to the 29th of October six productions and numerous parallel activities will offer audiences a chance to acquaint themselves with the work of the English playwright
Barcelona’s Shakespeare Festival celebrates its 11th edition. Originally held in Santa Susanna and, as was the case last year, supported by the association La Perla 29, the festival directed by Montse Vellvehí can once again count on both the Biblioteca de Catalunya as its nerve centre and the collaboration of the CCCB, the MACBA, the Escola Massana and the Teatre Romea.
The festival opens with Timon of Athens on the 23rd and 24th of October in the Biblioteca. Directed by David Selvas and starring Julio Manrique, the play offers a reflection on the concepts of power, wealth and friendship.
Over the course of seven days the festival will present variations on some of Shakespeare’s dramatic works. In Desdemona, for example, Paula Vogel provides the voices of the female protagonists of Othello, while in Up All Night, the young theatre company, Els McGregor, offer a somewhat loose interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Els Pirates theatre company, for their part, will present their production of Twelfth Night and, closing the festival on Wednesday the 29th, Les Antoinettes will offer a multi-disciplinary performance entitled Shake-Spirit.
In addition, this year, the Teatre Romea will host a project specifically designed to target adolescents and students entitled Prince H Univers, which tells the story of Hamlet from a contemporary perspective.
Activities parallel to the Shakespeare Festival include dramatized readings, a series of conferences in the CCCB which Andreu Jaume and David Selvas will kick off on the 29th of October, and an exhibition in the Escola Massana.
All information relating to the various activities is available on the Festival Shakespeare website.