Shakespeare-Festival 2013

_William Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet"

_Five national productions and one international production

_Students of the Lucian Blaga University Sibiu, Shanghai Theatre Academy, Drama Academy Ramallah, Ludwik Solski Drama School Cracow and Folkwang University of the Arts

_From 04.10 to 04.20.2013 | Neue Aula | Essen-Werden


Review in pictures

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This year we will continue with the successful Shakespeare Festival which started in 2001 and will take place at Folkwang in Essen for the second time. Drama students from partner countries will perform a Shakespeare play. Firstly, they will be presenting their own productions, then, in a short rehearsal phase, they will create an international performance in which all language barriers are dropped, the theatre thus becoming truly international. This time we will deal with one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays: »Romeo and Juliet«.

Brian Michaels commenting on the play: »When reading the text, one is struck by the poverty of both the history and plot. For example, there appears to be no serious beckground to the conflicht between the Houses of Montague and Capulet. In facht, until Mercutio's death in the third act, the play contains no really serious or omninous conflict at all, and even after that, it is a series of misunderstandings and coincidences that result in its unfortunate conclusion. One of the advantages of the flimsy plot is that it allows for all manner of projections. Almost any conflicht can be rediscovered in »Romeo and Juliet«, but what was Shakespeare's real intention? This is a play about language and the magic of words. It's as if the words create the reality - and not the other way around. Ultimately, it's Julia's simple sentence »What's in a name?« that captures the essence of the play. The disasters that happen are all a product of a lack of communication, of characters misunderstanding each other and the world created by these misunderstandings. Therefore it's first what we say, and only what we do that determines the fate of the star-crossed lovers.« This time there are again four schools guesting in the Folkwang Shakespeare Festival. The Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu (Romania), the Ramallah Drama Academy (Palestine) and the Shanghai Theatre Academy (People's Republic of China) are already familliar partners. The Ludwik Solski State Drama School in Cracow (Poland) will participate this year for the first time.

Information on the participating Universities

Lucian Blaga University, SibiuShanghai Theatre AcademyRamallah Drama AcademyFolkwang University of the ArtsLudwik Solski State Drama School

We would like to thank the following institutions for their support:

Haus am Turm, Essen-Werden
Hotel Domstuben, Essen-Werden