Romeo and Juliet

This production of Romeo and Juliet was commissioned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and performed in the gardens of Hall’s Croft in Stratford-upon-Avon. In 2012 the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust organised an innovative programme of work under the umbrella title ‘Inspired by Shakespeare’. The brief was to bring work which would challenge and surprise: so director Amy Bonsall, working with Roe Lane as dramaturg and Malawian theatre-maker Aaron Ngalonde Nhlane, re-imagined this the most famous of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Transported to a modern Malawian setting, only Romeo and Juliet speak in orignal Shakespearean verse; the other characters’ lines were translated into Chichewa, one of the most poetic of the Bantu languages. The music was traditional and the use of drums and gule wamkulu dance (traditionally used in coming-of-age initiations) highlighted the friction between modern young Malawians and their more traditional relatives from the generation before.

The show is currently touring Malawi.

Cast & Crew

Cast

Benvolio
Capulet
Juliet
Montague
Nurse
Paris
Prince/ Mercutio
Romeo
Tybalt/ Friar Laurence

Crew

Assistant Director
Director
Stage Manager

Photographs

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Observations

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