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Shakespeare's Women

Shakespeare's Women is a "moving and enthralling" journey through William Shakespeare's tragic, comic and historical plays, seen through the eyes of some of his legendary female characters.

Shakespeare's Women targets today's international audiences by interweaving the bard's original verse with contemporary English.  The production, with its international cast, sumptuous costumes and live acoustic music, is free from set constructions in order to fit in with natural environments such as the interiors of castles, stately homes, museums, galleries, and courtyards.

SUMMER TOUR ITALY 2022 : images, clips and reviews

Un viaggio “emozionante e commovente" attraverso le opere tragiche, comiche e storiche di William Shakespeare, viste attraverso gli occhi di alcuni dei suoi leggendari personaggi femminili.

Con un linguaggio estremamente variegato che mescola i versi Shakespeariani alla lingua della quotidianità, le eroine si spogliano dei loro personaggi polverosi per indossare l’abito della donna comune, che proclama a gran voce i suoi diritti nel teatro-mondo in cui si muove, e per riscrivere se non il passato, almeno il futuro di una società che non può fare a meno di riconoscere la centralità del ruolo della donna nella vita così come nell’arte.
Valeria Brucoli – Cinespresso

L’individualità di ogni personaggio shakespeariano raggiunge, in questa elaborazione, una coralità omogenea, la voce del genere femminile di ogni spazio e di ogni tempo.
Stefania D'Orazio – Ghigliottina.it

Lo spettacolo con musica dal vivo è in lingua inglese. Verrà fornito un libretto del testo in italiano.

On stage

Theatre production in English
22 Sept 20:00 H.Hartinstituut Naamsesteenweg 355 Leuven

Shakespeare's women is een “ontroerende en boeiende” reis door de tragische, komische en historische toneelstukken van William Shakespeare, gezien door de ogen van enkele van zijn legendarische vrouwelijke personages.

video content

SYNOPSIS

Having been conjured up on the banks of the Thames, Shakespeare's spirit is forced to rethink the way he has portrayed female characters in his plays. The five protagonists address him directly, whilst questioning his motives and the reasoning behind the situations he has placed them in.
We are taken on a difficult yet enlightening journey: the stories of these incisive women are still so relevant to the women of today.

Featured characters

Joan of Arc
Ophelia
Lady Macbeth
Catherine of Aragon
Titania
William Shakespeare

Note for schools

The play addresses important themes which can be discussed during a Q&A encounter with the cast and writer after the show.  The plot and characters summary can be supplied in advance and subtitles in English can be projected during the performance on request.
If you have a space or a stage that is already equipped, all the better. If not we can perform almost anywhere for up to 300 students at a time.

Specifications

Type of show

Actors’ theatre in English, suitable for all ages


Running time

60 minutes

Actors on stage

6 actors and 2 musicians (guitar, cello)

Minimum technical requirements

8 x 6 m stage space, two wings, mains electricity.

Lighting

The show needs a simple general cover (pre-rigged).

Get in

Access is required from 10am on the day of performance.


Set Strike time

One hour.

Cost

On request.

Note

A video demonstration of the show is available.
The show is also suitable for non-theatrical spaces (ie halls, exhibition spaces, courtyards).

people

Author

Monia Giovannangeli
(after the works of William Shakespeare)

Director

Eric Loren

Original Cast

Joan of Arc - Deborah Eckman
Ophelia - Monia Giovannangeli
Lady Macbeth - Alexandra Maitland Hume
Catherine of Aragon - Nicolette van 't Hek
Titania - Adda van Zanden
William Shakespeare - Victor Vertunni

Original music / Sound design

Leo Vertunni
Emma Turley

Musicians

Emma Turley - cello
Leo Vertunni - guitar

Stage and lighting design

Maxim Vertunni

Costumes

Caterina Monaco
Ornella Bollani

Review quotes

These “daughters of Shakespeare” are convincing figures whose lives are interwoven and  whose personal stories blend together like a concept album… Together, they embody the universal feminine spirit, and in the final scenes, seem to merge into a unanimous chorus…
Chiara Cataldo, (Teatro San Matteo, Piacenza 16 February 2016)

Shakespeare’s poetry woven into the threads of complex feminine logic. A journey of rediscovery of the women who gave such importance to Shakespeare's work - Joan of Arc, Catherine of Aragon, Ophelia, Lady Macbeth and Titania – who bring their personal dramas to the fore… Moving and enthralling.
Ilaria Cordì, Periodico Italiano Magazine (for Roma Fringe Festival)

Using a richly varied language that mixes Shakespearian verse with everyday dialogue, these heroines shed their dusty characters to put on the clothing of the woman in the street… And to rewrite, if not the past, then at least the future of a society that is obliged to recognise the central role that women play in life as in art.
Cinespresso (for Roma Fringe Festival)

The Theatre of Eternal Values theatre company puts Shakespeare’s heroines on the stage, mixing classic verse with modern-day language to rewrite the fatal destiny to which women of every era are condemned. The distinctive feature of this play… is the intermittent insertion of comments into the author’s dramaturgy. Ironic, reflective and insistent, they call attention to the motives that drove him to paint such weak, lonely, mad, cruel and easily subjugated women… In the process, the individuality of each Shakespearian character achieves a homogeneous harmony, the voice of the female gender across every age and space.
Stefania D’Orazio, ghigliottina.it

performance history
(country, theatres)

2022

ITALY, SUMMER TOUR

24/8/2022
Shakespeare Fringe Festival
Teatro Camploy
VERONA

25/8/2022
Giudecca Art district
VENEZIA

27/8/2022
Teatro Farnese
PIACENZA

28/8/2022
Ponte sulla Natura
SASSO MARCONI

29/8/2022
La Piazza
BUSSANA VECCHIA

2020

ITALIAN TOUR CANCELLED DUE TO PANDEMIC

2018

NORTHERN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

28/6/2018
Bitola Shakespeare Festival
National Theatre Culture Center

2016

ITALY, SWITZERLAND

16/2/2016
Teatro San Matteo
Piacenza

17/2/2016
Santa Maria Gualtieri
Pavia

18/2/2016
Teatro Sociale
Como

20/2/2016
Teatrino di Corte
Reggia di Monza

22/2/2016
The American School in Switzerland (TASIS)
Lugano

24/2/2016
Universität Zürich, Irchel Theatersaal
Zurich

25/2/2016
Theater BFS Kohlenberggasse
Basel

8/3/2016
Collège Voltaire
Geneva

2015

SWITZERLAND

1/10/2015
Teatro Arlecchino
Basel

2/10/2015
Salle Communale
Commugny

3/10/2015
Salle Communale
Commugny

2014

SLOVAKIA, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND

24/11/2014
DK Dúbravka
Bratislava

25/11/2014
DK Dúbravka
Bratislava

25/11/2014
Divadlo Malá scéna
Bratislava

26/11/2014
Konzervatórium / Conservatory
Bratislava

27/11/2014
Divadelná scéna akadémie umení
Banská

28/11/2014
Umelecká škola
Dunajská

29/11/2014
Schauspielschule Krauss
Vienna

9/12/2014
University of Basel, Engelhof-Keller, Nadelberg
Basel

2014

ITALY

11/3/2014
Teatro Filodrammatici
Milano

13/3/2014
Teatro San Matteo
Piacenza

2/7/2014
Fringe Festival, Villa Mercede
Roma

6/7/2014
Fringe Festival, Villa Mercede
Roma

7/7/2014
Fringe Festival, Villa Mercede
Roma

11/7/2014
Culture of the Spirit Festival
Albera Ligure

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