Preview: Bristol Shakespeare Festival 2018

Bristol Shakespeare Festival is back with its usual tempting mixture of indoor and outdoor performances, both of works from the Bard’s susbstantial back catalogue and new pieces inspired by his genius (and hectic working life). Here’s the lowdown from festival manager Jacqui Ham.

So, Jacqui, tell us about this year’s Bristol Shakespeare Festival.
First of all, it’s our biggest yet! We have more shows than ever before, with an unbelievable variety in our lineup – as well as all the classics from beloved companies like The Lord Chamberlain’s Men and Folksy Theatre, we’ve got dance, music, improv, talks, workshops, and far more besides!
We’ll also be continuing with the incredibly successful Festival Fringe programme, giving you the chance to see all kinds of inventive, shoestring-budget shows on a tickets-by-donation basis. Even more than the main events, these will take you to all kinds of interesting spaces all over the city.
Most importantly, we’ve got the same spirit of fun and community as always, but across even more of Bristol, with events as far afield as Fishponds, Easton, Bradley Stoke, Southville, and Shirehampton.

Festival favourites The Lord Chamberlain’s Men return again this year

Last year’s Festival included a homegrown Festival show, Shakespeare’s Worst. Will you be doing the same again this year?
Yes! Building on the roaring success of Shakespeare’s Worst, we have produced not one but two shows ourselves this year. In the main programme, at Southville’s Stackpool Playhouse we have 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, a hilarious adaptation of James Shapiro’s brilliant book, featuring plenty of laughs and a chance to see the Globe built live on stage!
For our Festival Fringe, we have Hamlet the Musical, which retells Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy through witty parodies of songs by everyone from Morecambe and Wise and Frank Sinatra, all the way to Queen, Hairspray and Kanye West.

This year’s major homegrown Festival show is ‘1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare’, a hilarious adaptation of James Shapiro’s acclaimed book

Tell us more about 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare.
With big plans to develop both its education programme across the city and its own in-house productions, the Festival was the perfect home for a production that delves into Shakespeare’s life, showcasing the four great plays he wrote that year: Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Hamlet.
The conceit of Philip Henslowe (Elizabethan theatrical impresario), Will Kemp (leading actor of the day) and Shakespeare – Phil, Will and Bill – meeting at a haycart on the site of the soon-to-be-constructed new Globe theatre is, however, all the Festival’s own work. With great music, jokes, Shakespeare played by a woman and a replica of the Globe itself, this truly is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen before!

Any other new features for this year’s festival?
We’re pairing up with lots of great companies this year, including Bath’s favourite site-specific street performers The Naturals, super-accessible touring powerhouses Quantum Theatre, and the Bristol-based Librarian Theatre who’ll be bringing their punchy, condensed, two-hand retelling of Henry V to libraries all over the city and even a little beyond it.

Bristol’s Librarian Theatre bring their condensed, two-hander ‘Henry V’ to libraries across the city

We’ll also be welcoming the incredibly talented solo performer Edward Day with his wonderfully imaginative Super Hamlet 64, a must-see for any Shakespeare fan who grew up playing video games!

Edward Day’s ‘Super Hamlet 64’

And of course, it just wouldn’t be Bristol Shakespeare Festival without plenty of amazing shows in perhaps the city’s most iconic park, Brandon Hill. Two of our star companies from last year – the beautiful Heartbreak Productions [with their 1918-set Much Ado About Nothing, pictured top] and the world-famous Lord Chamberlain’s Men – will be joined by Quantum Theatre, all performing their shows against the glorious backdrop of Cabot Tower.

Bristol Shakespeare Festival continues throughout July at venues and outdoor spaces around town. For more info, visit www.bristolshakespearefestival.org.uk/bsf2018

Grab some rewards including Pieminister pies and VIP tickets to 1599 by pledging on BSF’s fundraising site www.fundsurfer.com/crowdfund/bristol-shakespeare-festival