SEASON EXTENDED + NEW SHOWS ADDED
Antony & Cleopatra + Much Adoe About Nothing added to schedule
The Pop-up Globe phenomenon continues, with the producers today announcing extensions to seasons of ROMEO & JULIET and TWELFTH NIGHT and the addition of two new seasons, ANTONY & CLEOPATRAand MUCH ADOE ABOUT NOTHING in a bid to satisfy demand.
The theatre, a temporary full-scale working replica of the second Globe theatre, will be constructed in Auckland in the New Year, and present a full season of Shakespeare performances opening on 19 February.
“The Shakespeare Festival at Pop-up Globe is now one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere,” says Dr Miles Gregory, Artistic Director of the temporary Globe replica, “and with over 20,000 tickets already booked, this is on track to be the single most important Shakespeare event in New Zealand history – an incredible tribute to the power and significance of Shakespeare 400 years after his death.
“We’ve been overwhelmed with demand for premium A and B reserve tickets, and to try to satisfy this demand we have today released additional performance dates for ROMEO & JULIET and TWELFTH NIGHT through to 10 April 2016.”
Dr Gregory also confirms that the season ticket, which gives ticket-buyers a 20% discount when they book for two or more productions in a single transaction, will continue for a limited period.
“We want our audience to have the opportunity to access more than one of these superb productions, and the season ticket makes this possible,” he adds.
The cast for ROMEO & JULIET and TWELFTH NIGHT, drawn from New Zealand and internationally, is in the final stages of negotiation, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have secured some of New Zealand’s finest stage actors,” says Dr Gregory, “with over 400 applications for just 15 places in the company. This kind of demand is extraordinary, and we’re going to make some of the best Shakespeare you’ve ever seen, in a building the like of which has never been experienced before in Australasia.”
The producers have also announced today two new productions, ANTONY & CLEOPATRA and MUCH ADOE ABOUT NOTHING. ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, presented by Byrnes Productions, is a radically-reworked version of Shakespeare’s take on one of the greatest love story ever told, performed by a large cast of young, fearless, energetic, and musical professional actors for a limited season. MUCH ADOE ABOUT NOTHING, is performed by the Young Auckland Shakespeare Company using “original practices”, a form of rehearsal that seeks to recreate the exciting historical experience of performing Shakespeare using Elizabethan techniques.
ANTONY & CLEOPATRA and MUCH ADOE ABOUT NOTHING are added to an already impressive line-up of masterpiece Shakespeare that includes ROMEO & JULIET, TWELFTH NIGHT, THE TEMPEST and TITUS ANDRONICUS.
On sale now:
Romeo & Juliet from Friday 19 February
Twelfth Night from Saturday 20 February
Much Adoe About Nothing Sunday 21 February Only
The Tempest from Thursday 3 March
Titus from Monday 7 March
Antony & Cleopatra from Tuesday 22 March
