I was delighted to be invited back to Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory to produce and design their new Podcast series ‘What Would Shakespeare Do…?’. Each series will include contributions from audiences, actors, company members and the creative teams STF works with. Each series will cover a variety of topics, sharing readings from Shakespeare’s plays and including a range of music and soundscapes.
We set to work at the end of 2020 with the first series ‘What Would Shakespeare Do. . . In A Pandemic?’ Recorded during lockdown between January and March 2021, this sereis looks at how audiences and artists have been, and continue to be, affected by Covid-19.
To accompany the series, I composed a theme tune 'All The World..' which features a virtual lockdown choir of voices from the STF communtiy, inluding Eva Ennals, Susanne Frank, Harry Irvine, Jenny Szewiel, with thanks to Sing Out Bristol and Gurt Lush Choir.
Image Design Craig Fuller
Episode 1 - Hopes & Dreams by Heather Williams
With readings from Chris Donnelly, Dorothea Myer-Bennett, Kirris Riviere, Heather Williams.
Interview with Dr Rachel Gillibrand, Psychologist and Clinical Hypnotherapist.
Heather Williams, stf Associate Artist has over forty years’ experience working in theatre as an actor and director. She is an accredited clinical hypnotherapist. She performed in and directed numerous productions at Bristol Old Vic and in addition was Director of Education and Youth Theatre for eight years. From 2004 to 2018 she was Artistic Director of Myrtle Theatre which gained a national reputation for its ground-breaking work in health and well-being.
Readings in order of appearance:
Heather Williams reads Prospero /The Tempest Act 4 Sc 1; Kirris Riviere reads King Henry/ Henry IV Part 2 Act 3 Sc 1; Dorothea Myer-Bennett reads Mercutio/ Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Sc 4; Kirris Riviere sings Titania’s Lullaby/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 2 Sc 2; Chris Donnelly reads Bottom/A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 4 Sc 1; Dorothea Myer-Bennett reads Puck/A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 5 Sc 1
Episode 2 - Nature 7 Animals by Amy Rockson
With readings and song from: Melody Brown, Amy Rockson, Timothy Speyer.
Interview with Suzy Gibbons-Mitchell, of Seraphina Pilates.
Amy Rockson has almost thirty years’ acting experience. For stf, Amy performed as Titania and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Andrew Hilton (2010) and Montjoy in Henry V directed by Elizabeth Freestone. (2018). She is an RSC alumna; and as a voiceover artist, she narrates audiobooks and performs radio drama. Amy recently qualified as an NLP Master Practitioner and hypnotherapist.
Readings and song:
Amy Rockson reads Titania: Act 2, Sc 1 A Midsummer Night's Dream; Hamlet Act 5, Sc 1; The Merry Wives of WindsorShallow Act 1, Sc 1. Timothy Speyer reads Soothsayer Act 1, Sc 2 Antony and Cleopatra; Edmund Act 1 Sc 2 King Lear; Duke Senior Act 2, Sc 1 As You Like It . Melody Brown Where the Bee Sucks - Ariel, The Tempest.
Episode 3 - Grief, Loneliness & Togetherness by Chris Donnelly
With readings from, Rosie Armstrong, Alan Coveney, Corey Montague-Sholay, Zachary Powell and Saskia Portway.
Interview with Dave Barker and Helen Hawthorne – Arts Psychotherapist.
Readings in order of appearance:
Rosie Armstrong reads Constance from King John Act3 Sc 4; Alan Coveney reads King Lear Act 5 Sc 3; Corey Montague-Sholay reads Hamlet Act 3 sc 1; Zachary Powell reads Leontes and Saskia Portway reads Paulina The Winter's Tale Act V Sc 1.
Feste’s Dirge (‘The rain it raineth every day’) - from Twelfth Night, music by Chris Warner, performed by Luke Tuchsherer
Sigh No More - from Much Ado About Nothing, music by Chris Warner, performed by Luke Tuchsherer
Chris Donnelly, Associate Artist and Workshop Director works with stf to offer online workshops to school, college and university students . Chris is a professional trained actor who has led hundreds of workshops for stf since 2000, benefitting thousands of young people and adults. He has performed in many productions for stf, most recently as Pistol in Henry V directed by Elizabeth Freestone.
Episode 4 - Leadership & Decision Making by Luke Grant
With readings from Hannah Bristow, Luke Grant and Kate Okello. Original music and singing by Jac Cooper. Interview with actor, Hannah Bristow, Paul, an NHS pediatrician and Kate Okello, actress and 'Other Mother'.
Luke Grant played York /Bourbon in our 2018 production of Henry V directed by Elizabeth Freestone. Luke recently performed in Who Cares by Lung Theatre which toured the UK before being adapted into a radio play for the BBC. He has also just appeared in Doctors.
Readings in order of appearance:
Hannah Bristow reads Julius Caesar: Act 1, Scene 2 (Cassius); Luke Grant reads Henry IV, Part 2: Act 3, Scene 1 (Henry); Kate Okello Henry VI, Part 3: Act 2, Scene 2 (Clifford) and Luke Grant reads Merchant of Venice: Act 1, Scene 2 (Portia).
Jac Cooper singing and composition of Shakespeare's Sonnet 30.