London, 13 May
'Berlin Brecht' has come and gone. We hope to take the production to Berlin
later in the year. It was followed by a short workshop project, also at
london's Drill Hall, on the world and life of Casanova. We gave four
performances of a 'work in progress'.
The company are in Canada through late
May and early June. There will be a single performance of 'Macbeth' at
Theatre Calgary and then we go off to the National Centre for the Arts in
Banff, high up in the Rocky Mountains. For two weeks we will work with a
group of Canadian actors exploring shared methods of creation and using John
Buchan's novel 'Sick Heart River' as a starting point for a new show.
We
return to South Africa at the end of June for the Grahamstown Festival and
the Shakespeare Conference at Rhodes University.
The workshop performance of 'Casanova' was developed over 8 days of
workshops led by Richard Auckland, David Baird, Paola Cavallin, Rebecca Hall
and Jane Turner. The performers were Paola Cavallin, Marcia Brooks, Mandy
Fenton, Steven Hobson, Claudia Hope, Paul Huntley-Thomas, Michelle Jamieson,
Daniel Snell, Ava Taylor and Loulou Macumba.
The workshop process allowed us to develop themes and ideas with a variety
of workshop leaders and techniques. The piece developed from an original
idea of concentrating on Paola Cavallin as Casanova to a piece of devised
ensemble work with a company of 10 actors.
We were able to explore life in 18th Century Italy, the world in which
Casanova lived. We studied various performance styles and themes such as
Commedia dell'Arte and the interest in cross-dressing which features so
strongly in many of Casanova's stories. In addition we were able to relate
stories associated with Casanova with the experiences of our own actors.
We explored style and atmosphere to create a world in which to place a
narrative.
Director Luke Dixon
Designer Jane Hutchison
Texts by Giacomo Casanova and the company
Original music by David Baird
Music by Alessandro Scarlatti, W.A.Mozart and Doris Day.
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