The drama program of the XXXVIII festival Grad Teatar continued last night on the stage between the churches with the performance of William Shakespeare's "The Epiphany Night" in the production of the International Shakespeare Festival in York.
The "York International Shakespeare Festival" was founded in 2014 and strives to present both local adaptations of Shakespeare's works and international interpretations. As they themselves emphasize: "Our mission is to bring productions of Shakespeare's works – and more radical approaches to his plays – to York, from around the world. These productions act as windows into other cultures and encourage us to understand them better. Shakespeare is a universal language that ' hold up a mirror to nature'. The participation of international artists and their interpretation of plays that we think we know well allows us to see the expression of contemporary thinking and attitudes in today's world.
Epiphany is a Shakespearean comedy believed to have been written around 1601, with the first recorded performance being on February 2, 1602. Shakespeare wrote this comedy as part of the festivities during the Christmas season, set in the semi-fictional Illyria.
Viola, separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, disguises herself as a young man and enters the service of Duke Orsino, with whom she later falls in love. Orsino, in love with Olivia, sends Viola to mediate the courtship on his behalf. However, Olivia falls in love with Viola in disguise. Sebastian's return further complicates the situation with mistaken identities.
The reason they decided on "The Epiphany Night" is that now, perhaps more than ever before, this play is coming into its own by exploring the themes of gender identity that younger generations are bravely bringing to the world public. The music for the play is composed by Nick Jones and Filip Parr, who after the performance in Budva said that the stage between the churches is an extraordinary place to play plays.
"I like to create theater in places that are not natural theaters and where you use things that are around you, like the ringing of bells and other sounds. The very feeling that the theater is part of the living world, and not something that we closed in a small box called theater, which is the only a place where you can see it. As for Shakespeare and his plays are about love and sorrow and wars. We've all been in love. We all understand how Viola feels when she's in love with someone it cannot say. We are in situations that touch us every day, whether it is our own situations or those that we see. Shakespeare wrote about it in a way that he did not say. He only said that it is human man is a big thing," said Par.
U starring Tom Morris, Adam Perot, Jacob Ward, Thomas Jennings, Beatrice Bowden, Livi Potter, Katie Cohen, Sonya Dilorenzo, Nick Jones and Skylar Mabry.
After the performance, actress Katie Cohen said that Shakespeare is important because it has stood the test of time.
"I think Shakespeare is just someone who is constantly being performed and so constantly available. If he wasn't funny, we wouldn't have plays that are constantly being performed over and over again. I think an actor has so much on the page that you can really play with, especially with European Shakespeare .I think there's a lot more play within the very nature of the performance. It's a wonderful space, between these churches. I can't imagine a more perfect place to play Shakespeare in this beautiful old one the city of Budva," she emphasized.
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