SPANISH GOLDEN AGE SEASON AT ARCOLA THEATRE 2014

Produced in association with Ustinov Studio Theatre Royal Bath and Belgrade Theatre Coventry

SPANISH GOLDEN AGE SEASON AT ARCOLA THEATRE

INTRODUCTION

In January 2014, Arcola Theatre in association with the Theatre Royal Bath and the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, will present an epic season of Spanish Golden Age Theatre led by Olivier Award winning Director Laurence Boswell and Arcola’s Artistic Director, Mehmet Ergen.

The season will bring three masterpieces of classic Spanish theatre to the stage, opening in Bath during the autumn season 2013 and then being staged in London from January 2014 at Arcola Theatre.

This major project represents a significant theatrical and cultural event in the UK and a bold innovation in the translation and performance of Spanish Golden Age Theatre. All plays are presented in new translations.

A broad range of activities will be taking place to compliment the season of plays on stage: these include talks, screenings, exhibitions and social events that are all aimed at generating public and local community involvement.

The Spanish speaking communities of London will be central to this engagement, getting involved with the season in various dynamic ways.

Why bring the Spanish Golden Age to the British stage? The Spanish Golden Age was an era of extraordinary cultural flowering in both the arts and sciences.

The innovations and originality of the drama during this period are remarkable and have dramatically influenced the theatre of later generations in Europe and across the world.

A great number of plays of this period are considered masterpieces. However, the vast majority remains unknown to a wider audience and these translations have never been performed before on the British stage.

This is a great opportunity to give these fantastic plays their due recognition and celebrate the immense creativity of the Spanish Golden Age of Theatre.

One company, 10 actors, three incredible ‘Golden Age’ plays…

THE PLAYS

Don Gil of the Green Breeches Don Gil de las Calzas VerdesMolina (translated by Sean O’Brien). A high farce concerned with disguise, mistaken identity, trousers.

A little Lady of Little Sense La Dama Bobaby David Johnston) A feisty comedy about two 17th century sisters fleeting the chauvinism and insensitivity that plagues their era.

Punishment without Revenge Castigo sin (translated by Meredith Oakes) A dark and passionate love story. A conflict between guilt and desire, love punishment and revenge.

Don Gil de las Calzas Verdes by Tirso de

A high farce concerned with disguise, mistaken identity, role-reversal, ghosts and green

La Dama Boba written by Lope de Vega (translated

sisters fleeting the chauvinism and insensitivity that

Castigo sin Venganza by Lope de Vega

A dark and passionate love story. A conflict between guilt and desire, love and honour,

DIRECTORS

Laurence Boswell is one of the world’s leading experts on Spanish Golden Age Theatre. As Artistic Director at the Gate Theatre Laurence won the 1992 Oliver Award of Outstanding Achievement for his first Spanish Golden Age season. He also curated a significant Golden Age Season for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2005, which transferred to the West End before a sell-out run in Madrid when it won the Gold Medal for Excellence in Fine Arts. He has been Artistic Director of The Ustinov Studios Theatre Royal Bath since 2011.

“a top-flight director renowned for his productions of European classics both at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill and with the RSC, where he masterminded a superb season of plays from the Spanish Golden Age” (The Telegraph)

Mehmet Ergen has been Artistic Director of Arcola Theatre since founding it with Leyla Nazli in 2000, after founding and running the Southwark Playhouse from 1993 to 1999. He is also Artistic Director of ‘Arcola Istanbul’, Talimhane Tiyatrosu, which he founded in 2008. He has won a variety of awards for his work and directs extensively abroad in Israel, Ireland, Canada and Turkey.

“ I don't think there's anyone working in British theatre who can claim to have set up two of London's most exciting, and most respected, fringe venues within the space of a decade” (The Telegraph)

THE COMPANY

An ensemble cast of ten actors will be performing all three plays in repertory, uniquely working together over a 10-months period.

Cast includes: Creatives:

Frances McNamee Chris Andrew Mellon Jim Bywater Simon Scardifield Katie Lightfoot

Hedydd Dylan Nicholas Barber William Hoyland Doug Rao Annie Hemmingway

Directors: Laurence Boswell (la Dama Boba and El Castigo sin Venganza Mehmet Ergen (Bon Gil de las Calzas Verdes) Set and Costume Designer: Mark Bailey Costume Supervisor: Lisa Aitkin Light Designer: Ben Ormerod Composer/Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls Stage Management: Sally Hughes and Sally C Roy

Where and When?

The Spanish Golden Age Project will open in Autumn 2013 at the Theatre Royal Bath, one of the oldest theatres in Britain.

The Season will be at Arcola Theatre January to March 2014 before playing at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in April.

Key Dates

Casting (London): June 2013 Rehearsals (London): w/c 1st July 2013 for ten weeks Ustinov Studio (Bath): w/c 9th September 2013 ending Saturday 21st December 2013 Arcola (London): w/c 6th January 2014 ending Saturday 15th March 2014 Belgrade (Coventry): w/c 24th March 2014 ending Saturday 19th April 2014

Enrichment (Engaging local communities and audiences)

As part of the season there will be a series of enrichment activities, including complimentary talks and events exploring the context of the plays and the wider cultural significance of the Spanish Golden Age on Theatre and art in Spain and across the globe.

Arcola Theatre aims to be a resource to the local community and offer opportunities of the highest quality to residents in Hackney and the surrounding neighbourhoods. As part of this aim to open our space to the public from all over the city, we are offering a series of activities and events around the Season, to involve the highest number of people into the Spanish Culture. Arcola Theatre is working with the Instituto Cervantes on some of these events.

• SGA ENRICHMENT: SGA IN FILM - SinFin Cinema with a Spanish cinema series, based on Golden Age characters, roles, attitudes, etc., planned to take place at the Barbican

• SGA ENRICHMENT: EXHIBITION – An exhibition from the National Museum of Theatre, Almagro, hosted by Arcola Theatre and a locally based museum.

• SGA ENRICHMENT: ON TRANSLATION – talk by David Johnston, translator of A Lady of Little Sense, and leading translator and expert from Queens University Belfast.

• SGA ENRICHMENT: MEET THE DIRECTORS – post-show discussions with Laurence Boswell and Mehmet Ergen

• SGA ENRICHMENT: GOLD AGE TALKS – A series of talks and lectures from specialists in SGA about the cultural significance of the Spanish Golden Age on arts, politics, society and its impact on our lives today; on the playwrights, the influences on world theatre as well as the art of the period – held in association with the National Gallery or RCA

• SGA ENRICHMENT: MENTIDERO DEL ARCOLA – Social events around the performances for informal discussions and bringing

together Spanish artists and audiences

• SGA ENRICHMENT: ENTREMESES DEL ARCOLA – evenings at Arcola held with a feast of food, baroque music and verses.

Meet the Producers

Arcola Theatre Founded in 2000 by Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen and Executive Producer Leyla Nazli, Arcola Theatre is now one of the most respected arts venues in the UK – blazing a trail in artistic excellence and innovative management since it began. Housed in a converted paint factory in Hackney, Arcola is a favourite of established theatre goers as well as young, upwardly mobile innovators. Arcola has become well known for the variety of its programming – from new writing to reimaginings and rediscoveries of classic drama, music and comedy. Arcola Theatre has always been strong on programming Spanish theatre. An extensive Lorca season in 2006 is one example; another is the musical 'Goodbye Barcelona', developed in 2011, about the Spanish Civil War and more recently, a run of two new plays, 'A Taste of Catalan Contemporary Theatre' presented by Bots & Barrals/StoneCrab theatre company. Arcola Theatre is based in the centre of Hackney, one of the liveliest cultural areas in London, so it is a perfect location to bring Spanish Culture to the spotlight.

Theatre Royal Bath Built on its current site in 1805, Theatre Royal Bath is brimming with history that makes the Theatre Royal Bath one of the oldest and most beautiful theatres in Britain. Comprising three auditoria, the Main House, Ustinov Studio and the Egg Theatre for children and young people, a wonderfully varied programme of top quality theatre is on offer all year round, including WestEnd transfers. Currently enjoying the most exciting period in its illustrious history under Artistic Director Laurence Boswell, the Ustinov Studio has been nationally recognised for the extraordinary quality and range of its work, regular seasons of in-house productions, all UK Premieres of new or newly-adapted works

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry Opened in 1958, the Belgrade is the only professional theatre in Coventry and acts as both the city and region’s commercial and producing theatre. It has is also highly respected for our groundbreaking community and education initiatives. The Belgrade creates theatre in the belief that it can enrich communities and fundamentally change peoples’ lives for the better. It is one of the most dynamic producing theatres in the country and offers an exciting mix of entertaining and engaging live experiences all under one roof .

Your Collaboration, Your Partnership There are a range of sponsorship and partnership opportunities available for this exciting and major season, including through our café bar. The season offers exposure to significant numbers of culturally aware audiences with sophisticated tastes and interests, including upwardly mobile innovators, the urban intelligence, and those with an active interest in travel, design and gourmet cuisine, open to exploring new things and experiences. In facts and figures:

• 8,000 people are expected to see the plays and attend events

• the season will be promoted to o 30,000 e-newsletter subscribers, including creative learning participants o 19,000 Twitter followers o 4,600 Facebook likes o 31 London universities and colleges o via 5,000 leaflets distributed locally and London-wide o advertising in key papers such as the Guardian, Evening Standard, Metro and website such as whatsonstage and

Time-Out o via our website which receives on average 15,000 unique visits per month with a total of 24,000 visits overall, of which

50% are new ones o and through similar channels in Bath and Coventry, offering significant national coverage

Programme advertising will also be available.

CONTACT We would be delighted for to join the project as a partner. If you would like to discuss any aspect of this proposal further, or indeed suggest any alternative events or programmes as part of the season, then please contact

Ruth Tosha Mulandi Commercial Manager Arcola Theatre 020 7503 1645 ruth@arcolatheatre.com

Arc

24 Ashwin Street, Dalston London E8 3DL

Company Number: 5242988, Charity Number: 1108613

to join the project as a partner.

cuss any aspect of this proposal further, or indeed suggest any alternative events or programmes as part of the season, then please contact

Arcola Theatre Production Company

24 Ashwin Street, Dalston London E8 3DL

www.arcolatheatre.com

Company Number: 5242988, Charity Number: 1108613

Charity Number: 1108613

cuss any aspect of this proposal further, or indeed suggest any alternative events or