Dartmouth Shakespeare Week 2016: 26 - 30 July

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Dartmouth Shakespeare Week 2016

There is an almost never-ending fascination with stories that we know. We know, for instance, that the Titanic sinks yet the James Cameron film, which is now almost unbelievably twenty years old, still gathers huge audiences wherever and whenever it is shown.

We know that Robin Hood will, in some way or another, come out on top and end up killing the bad guy of choice, whether that be the Sheriff of Nottingham or Guy of Gisborne, just as we also know that he will get the girl in the end. It is unerringly comforting, somehow, to know the outcome, whatever that maybe.

And so it goes with Romeo and Juliet, the perennial tale of feuding, fighting families and the young, star-cross’d lovers’ fatal end. We know they die, we know the twists and turns that bring them to that deadly conclusion, just as we know many of the words spoken by so many of the characters in the play.

‘But soft, what light from yonder window breaks?’; ‘A plague on both your houses’; ‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet’ (Always mis-quoted, but no less powerful an image is conjured) and on and on. Hugely famous soliloquies as in the ‘Queen Mab’ rant, delivered by Mercutio, and Juliet’s ruminations on the balcony; and that scene is probably one of the most famous episodes in any play from any era: which tells us much about the enduring popularity of Shakespeare’s plays - and Romeo and Juliet in particular - especially in this year of the 400th anniversary of The Bard’s death.

The Inn Theatre Company have been particularly busy this year, inevitably, and are not only presenting Dartmouth Shakespeare Week for its fourteenth year, but have also been touring a production of ‘Twelfth Night’ throughout May and June. They are justifiably proud to have been placed in the top ten must-see shows for this commemorative year, across the whole of the UK, by Tripadvisor and their partner company, Holiday Lettings.

Over the years the company have always striven to bring new understanding and new audiences to Shakespeare and they have been helped hugely by their affiliation to the Royal Shakespeare Company and many of the amazing practitioners from the RSC, who have given of their time and expertise. The company also stretch their own bounds, bringing new ideas and presentation to familiar plays, as in last year’s wonderful, 1950’s rendition of ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’.

This year, however, they thought it only right to return to the more ‘traditional’ style but, as always, they have tried to breathe new life into the production. Not by setting it in a different time-frame, but by introducing some amazing and talented new young actors from schools and colleges in the south of Devon. There are a couple of familiar faces in this year’s cast that those of you who are regular Dartmouth Shakespeare Week patrons will recognise, but 75% of the players are new…not only to Dartmouth, the Castle and the Inn Theatre Company, but also to Shakespeare. This promises to be an exciting year and one the company hope and trust everyone will enjoy as much as they have in previous years. And added to that mix is a new director, yet another familiar face: Jon Miles, who gave such a stirring and profound performance as King Lear in 2013.

Next year – and it really isn’t too soon to be speaking of this – is the Company’s fifteenth anniversary and they are already planning something quite spectacular. As has been said before, they tend not to rest on their laurels and always seek out new ways to improve and expand by producing work that many would not expect a non-professional company to even think of attempting. So, in 2017, to celebrate their own anniversary, the Inn Theatre Company will be presenting ‘Othello’.

For more information about the Inn Theatre Company and to purchase tickets for Romeo and Juliet, please visit www.theinntheatrecompany.co.uk – tickets are also on sale at the Dartmouth Tourist Information office. You can also find them on Facebook (just search for Friends of the Inn Theatre Company) and on Twitter @inntheatre.

by Max Brandt