This is a press release, so I will cut & paste in entirety.
Original post is here: http://www.broadwayworld.com
Celebrate Shakespeare at the National Theatre - Free App for iPad and iPhone!
Celebrate Shakespeare at the National Theatre with a free app for iPad and iPhone - now available to download
Released to mark the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death, National Theatre Shakespeare draws together a wealth of incredible archive material from the 55 main-house Shakespeare productions the NT has staged to date, from Peter O'Toole as Hamlet in 1963 and the 1964 all-male production of As You Like It, to the critically acclaimed 2013 Othello and Same Mendes' production of King Lear in 2014.
Packed with videos, production photographs, costume and set designs, annotated scripts and more, it gives a unique glimpse behind the scenes of the NT, and demonstrates Shakespeare's continuing relevance to the Modern Stage.
Featuring:
• Exclusive video interviews including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi;
• An interactive timeline of production posters;
• Hundreds of production and rehearsal photographs, costume illustrations, set designs, technical images, annotated scripts and other content from a selection of NT productions;
• An introduction to each production from journalist and critic Benedict Nightingale;
• Cast and production lists
The history of the creation of the NT is inextricably linked with William Shakespeare. Effingham Wilson's proposal for a national theatre was partly inspired by the purchase of Shakespeare's Birthplace for the nation in 1847. In Wilson's 1848 Proposition for a National Theatre he set out a claim that a theatre - 'a house for Shakespeare' - would be an important complement to the preservation of Shakespeare's home.
The inaugural production of the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic was Hamlet in 1963, directed by Laurence Olivier and featuring Peter O'Toole. When the NT moved to its new building on the South Bank in 1976, the first production was Hamlet directed by Peter Hall, with Albert Finney in the title role. This year, therefore, also marks the 40th anniversary of Shakespeare productions at the NT on the South Bank.
Including those staged at the Old Vic, there have been 55 main-house productions of Shakespeare's plays at the NT, the most recent being As You Like It, directed by Polly Findlay. Twelfth Night, directed by Simon Godwin and featuring Tasmin Greig, will open in early 2017.
The National Theatre Shakespeare app is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The NT is part of the Shakespeare400 partnership coordinated by King's College London (http://www.shakespeare400.org/)
In total, there are 55 Shakespeare productions at the NT featured in this app:
1963. Hamlet
1964. Othello
1965. Much Ado About Nothing
1967. As You Like It
1968. Love's Labour's Lost
1970. The Merchant of Venice
1971. Coriolanus
1972. Richard II
1972. Macbeth
1974. The Tempest
1975. Hamlet
1977. Julius Caesar
1978. Macbeth
1979. As You Like It
1979. Richard III
1980. Othello
1981. Measure for Measure
1981. Much Ado About Nothing
1982. A Midsummer Night's Dream
1984. Coriolanus
1986. King Lear
1987. Antony and Cleopatra
1988. Cymbeline (Late Plays)
1988. The Tempest (Late Plays)
1988. The Winter's Tale (Late Plays)
1989. Hamlet
1990. Richard III
1990. King Lear
1992. A Midsummer Night's Dream
1993. Macbeth
1994. Pericles
1995. The Merry Wives of Windsor
1995. Richard II
1995. Titus Andronicus
1997. King Lear
1997. Othello
1998. Antony and Cleopatra
1999. The Merchant of Venice
1999. Troilus and Cressida
2000. Hamlet
2000. Romeo and Juliet
2001. The Winter's Tale
2003. Henry V
2003. Love's Labour's Lost
2004. Measure for Measure
2005. Henry IV - Parts 1 & 2
2007. Much Ado About Nothing
2009. All's Well That Ends Well
2010. Hamlet
2011. Twelfth Night
2011. The Comedy of Errors
2012. Timon of Athens
2013. Othello
2014. King Lear
2015. As You Like It
The National Theatre is dedicated to making the very best theatre and sharing it with as many people as possible. We produce productions on the South Bank in London each year, ranging from re-imagined classics to modern masterpieces and new work by contemporary writers and theatre-makers. The National's work is seen on tour throughout the UK, in London's West End, internationally (including on Broadway) and in collaborations and co-productions with theatres across the country.
Across 2015-2016, the NT staged 34 productions and gave 3,057 performances in the UK and internationally. They reached audiences of over 787,000 on the South Bank, and over 3.7 million worldwide. Via the NT Live programme, which broadcasts live performances to cinema screens internationally, they reached 1.5 million people around the world.
The Clore Learning Centre at the NT is committed to providing programmes for schools, young people, families, community groups and adult learners, including the nationwide youth theatre festival Connections and playwriting competition New Views. Last year, they engaged with over 189,000 participants through the NT Learning events programme. Further, over 2,200 secondary schools have signed up to the free streaming service, On Demand in Schools since its launch in September 2015.
nationaltheatre.org.uk
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Michael McDonough
TRW Director of Amateur Licensing
New York
Original Message:
Sent: 10-08-2015 08:17
From: Warren Kerr
Subject: New App: The Bard remixed - Royal Shakespeare Company & Hip-Hop
Here is a press release from Oregon Shakespeare festival:
Play on!
Share
36 playwrights translate Shakespeare
OSF is commissioning 36 playwrights and pairing them with dramaturgs to translate 39 plays attributed to Shakespeare into contemporary modern English between now and December 31, 2018. By seeking out a diverse set of playwrights (more than half writers of color and more than half women), we hope to bring fresh voices and perspectives to the rigorous work of translation. Each playwright is being asked to put the same pressure and rigor of language as Shakespeare did on his, keeping in mind meter, rhythm, metaphor, image, rhyme, rhetoric and emotional content. Our hope is to have 39 unique side-by-side companion translations of Shakespeare’s plays that are both performable and extremely useful reference texts for both classrooms and productions. We are also excited about the potential for a highly engaging national conversation about language that this project could prompt, and we hope you’ll join in that conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Check back often for updates and glimpses into the work being done by our extraordinary set of playwrights. Play on!
For answers to some frequently asked questions, visit our Play on! FAQ.
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Warren Kerr
Theatre Arts Teacher
Auburn School District
Auburn WA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-07-2015 15:57
From: Michael McDonough
Subject: New App: The Bard remixed - Royal Shakespeare Company & Hip-Hop
NY Times Op-Ed piece re: OSF's contemporizing of Shakespeare's language.
The Times is a pay site, but IIRC they allow a certain number of online articles 'free' before throwing up a wall to access.
NY Times opinion - Shakespeare in modern English
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Michael McDonough
New York NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-29-2015 16:01
From: Ginny Butsch
Subject: New App: The Bard remixed - Royal Shakespeare Company & Hip-Hop
Ooh, interesting. I'm always in favor of new interpretations of Shakespeare and reaching out to a broader audience, but I'd hate to think of the original language gone forever. It's what makes Shakespeare...Shakespeare. Part of the fun is learning the technique and researching the history behind the language. Judging from the number of "common" people I saw at a recent Shakespeare in the Park performance, I don't think you need to interpret it into modern day language in order for it to be accessible.
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Ginny Butsch
Community Manager
Educational Theatre Association
Alexandria KY
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-26-2015 20:33
From: Michael McDonough
Subject: New App: The Bard remixed - Royal Shakespeare Company & Hip-Hop
Nothing to do with the above - but piggybacking onto this post/thread instead of creating a new one.
In the Wall Street Journal (which used to be a pay site, but this article opened for me no problem):is this blasphemy, pragmatic or evolutionary necessity to remain relevant?
9/25/15
A Facelift for Shakespeare
| WSJ |
remove preview |
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| A Facelift for Shakespeare |
| A new translation effort aims to make all of Shakespeare's plays comprehensible to today's audiences |
| View this on WSJ > |
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Michael McDonough
New York NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-07-2015 00:48
From: Michael McDonough
Subject: New App: The Bard remixed - Royal Shakespeare Company & Hip-Hop
This was in the Times last week; thought it may interest some folks here.
Excerpt:
“RE: Shakespeare” remixes Shakespeare through a hip-hop lens.
The app, available through Google Play, is hosted by the experienced Shakespeare actor David Tennant. Its features include an examination of Shakespeare’s insults and courtships (disses and pickup lines, if you will); beatboxing from the producer Shlomo; and a quiz to determine if certain lines are from Shakespeare or hip-hop. (“Sleep is the cousin of death”? That’s Nas, not Macbeth.) Users can also access 360-degree footage of a Royal Shakespeare production of “Much Ado About Nothing.”
Further info at David Tennant fan site:
RE: Shakespeare
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Michael McDonough
New York NY
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