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ROMEO AND JULIET Actors From The London Stage SPRING 2023 Tour

The Actors From The London Stage residency at the University of Notre Dame is generously supported by the McMeel Family Endowment for Excellence for Actors From The London Stage, the Paul Eulau Endowment for Excellence for Actors From The London Stage, the Deborah J. Loughrey Endowment for Excellence in Shakespeare Studies, the D & J Smith Endowment for Shakespeare and Performance, the Office of the Provost, and the College of Arts and Letters.

THE AFTLS APPROACH

For most of his working life, William Shakespeare was a sharer in the King’s Men, London’s leading theatre company. He knew the actors he was writing for and collaborated with them on seeing the plays into performance.

All theatre is a collaboration, of course, and while actors can no longer collaborate directly with Shakespeare, the Actors From The London Stage (AFTLS) company always aims to work with him, respectfully and creatively, throughout the rehearsal process. Our company’s aim is to make his words exert their magic and their power in performance, but we do this in a vital, and perhaps unconventional, way. We have no massive sets to tower over the performers and no directorial concept to tower over the text of Shakespeare’s play. In fact, AFTLS does not have a director at all; instead, the play has been rehearsed by the actors, working together to create theatre, cooperating with each other in their imaginative engagement with the play’s words.

Now the actors ask you, the audience, to perform that same kind of imaginative engagement that Shakespeare was thinking about when, in the Prologue to Henry V, he instructed his spectators: “Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them, / Printing their proud hoofs i’ the receiving earth / For ’tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings.” Now the actors seek a new collaboration, working with you, the audience, in the way that only live theatre can. It is not a hard job for people to do, even though we are now used to having everything shown us on screen, and even though we usually no longer rely on the powers of imagination and collaboration to bring a play’s world into being. If you share the fun of collaborating with us, then the excitement of the performance will be richly rewarding for you and for the actors, for this special act of working together, actors and audience combined, marks the latest stage of that long journey Macbeth has made from Shakespeare’s writing the play with and for the actors he knew so well. So, tonight, watch and listen and “let us... / On your imaginary forces work.”

- Peter Holland, McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies, University of Notre Dame

THE PLAYERS

Grace Andrews: Juliet / Benvolio / Apothecary

Kaffe Keating: Mercutio / Capulet / Abraham

Hilary Maclean: Nurse / Prince / Paris / Friar John / Old Capulet / Sampson

Jonathan Oldfield: Friar Lawrence / Lady Capulet / Tybalt / Peter / Montague

Thomas Wingfield: Romeo / Lady Montague / Gregory

SPECIAL THANKS

Philip d'Orléans, Fight Choreographer

Hazel Monaghan, Musical Arrangements

TOUR SCHEDULE

  • Jan. 23-29: Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
  • Jan. 30-Feb. 5: Rice University, Houston, TX
  • Feb. 6-12: Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
  • Feb. 13-19: John Carroll University, University Heights, OH
  • Feb. 20-26: University of North Alabama, Florence, AL
  • Feb. 27-Mar. 5: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
  • Mar. 23 & 24: The Cockpit, London, UK

Grace Andrews (Juliet / Benvolio / Apothecary) trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She recently attained an MA in Actor Training and Coaching at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She has worked with progressive and international directors such as Declan Donnellan, Katie Mitchell, Vladimir Scherban, Owen Horsley, Alain Perroux, Mike Alfreds, and Kristine Landon-Smith. Professional acting experience includes The Forbidden Zone (Schaubühne production), Peer Gynt (London Symphony Orchestra), See What I See (Oxford Playhouse, Eyestrings), Tomorrow I Was Always A Lion (Arcola, Belarus Free Theatre) The Winter’s Tale (international tour, Cheek By Jowl), Hamlet (US tour, AFTLS) and Macbeth (documentary, Cheek By Jowl). She works frequently in voiceover. Grace is also an acting tutor, teaching at Guildhall, ArtsEd and Central in London, as well as directing internationally.

Kaffe Keating (Mercutio / Capulet / Abraham) trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, winning the Michael Bryant Award for verse-speaking in 2014 which was awarded by a judging panel at the National Theatre including Nicholas Hytner. Theatre credits include: Hal/Hotspur in Henry IV (Old Red Lion Theatre), Orsino/Feste/Fabian in Twelfth Night (Actors From The London Stage), Macduff/Malcolm in Macbeth (The Factory), Christopher Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (West End, National Theatre world tour), Colin in The Secret Seven (Storyhouse, Chester), Ed Montgomery in Posh (Nottingham Playhouse), Joe Bonham in Johnny Got His Gun, and The Player in Prince of Denmark (National Theatre). Teaching work includes: Workshop leader for the Access and Participation Department at Guildhall, tutor at Kingdom School of Arts, guest tutor at Emil Dale Academy, and the Twelfth Night tour for AFTLS in 2019.

Hilary Maclean (Nurse / Prince / Paris / Friar John / Old Capulet / Sampson) has been an actor for 35 years, having trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now RCS). Theatre credits include: Sunshine on Leith (UK tour); The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatr Clwyd); The Autumn Garden (Jeremy’s Street Theatre); Dirty Dancing (Aldwych Theatre); Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Poor Superman (Manchester Royal Exchange); Bloody Sunday and The Colour of Justice (Tricycle Theatre); The Mill on the Floss (Shared Experience - New Ambassador’s, Washington and China); Life is a Dream (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Barbican and BAM, New York); The Conquest of the South Pole (Traverse Theatre and Royal Court); Great Expectations (Traverse, Middle and Far East tour); Bondagers (Traverse, Donmar Warehouse, Canada and Hungary); and Inès de Castro (Traverse and Riverside Studios). Television credits include: Annika (Alibi TV); Outlander (Starz); Torchwood, Lip Service, Dangerfield, Doctors, Monarch of the Glen, Casualty, Holby City, and The Creatives (BBC); Coronation Street, Arthur and George, Alibi, Taggart, Doctor Finlay, and The Bill (ITV). Hilary’s voice work includes voicing various characters in the animation series Sarah and Duck for CBeebies and several radio plays and series, most recently Secrets and Lattes and Alone for BBC Radio and The Harrowing for Storyglass.

Jonathan Oldfield (Friar Lawrence / Lady Capulet / Tybalt / Peter / Montague) trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, with Antonio Fava in Commedia dell’Arte and with John Yorke in storytelling. Recent theatre credits include: Twelfth Night (Theatre on Kew), Petal (Omnibus Theatre), Dogsitting (Conflicted Theatre), Nicholas Nickleby (Bristol Old Vic), and Tales from Hans Christian Anderson (Guildford Shakespeare Company). Recent TV and film credits include: The Power (Amazon Prime), Board Games (Stern Productions) and David French (Dovetail Films). Voiceover credits include: Hanna (Amazon Prime), White Lines (Netflix) and Endeavour (ITV). Jonathan is one half of PillowTalk Theatre, who make playful, anarchic work for stage and screen in the UK. He spent 4 years performing with The Improverts, Edinburgh Fringe’s longest running improv troupe. As a teacher and workshop leader, he has taught all ages, from beginners to experienced performers. This includes teaching at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Bristol Acting Academy, Bristol Old Vic Youth Theatre, Hoopla Impro, Stanley Arts, New Diorama Theatre Broadgate and weekly workshops for the BBC.

Thomas Wingfield (Romeo / Lady Montague / Gregory) trained in Acting at Mountview and studied Drama at The University of East Anglia. Hailing from Leeds, West Yorkshire, Thomas has been acting professionally for the past decade. His theatre credits include: The Mousetrap (St. Martins Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice (Pop-Up Globe – Sydney); Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing (Pop-Up Globe – Auckland); One Last Thing (For Now) (Old Red Lion Theatre); Frankenstein’s Stooge (King’s Head Theatre); Love in the Time of Gilmore Girls and Margaret Thatcher, Queen of Soho (Theatre 503); and Pied Piper (The Yard Theatre). His screen credits include: Love Bitten (Lense Film Festival - Best Actor Award) (Major Zeus); Making Ends Meat (Strangers in a Cinema) Mefjus - Suicide Bassline (music video; HAUS Pictures). Other credits include host of The Oldest Question: A Doctor Who Gameshow Podcast and one half of the comedy sketch duo The Exquisite Corpses. Teaching experience: workshop collaborator for the Richard III Outreach Project for Norwich Schools, and part-time class assistant for the Pop-up Globe Youth Theatre Company. Thomas is delighted to be making his AFTLS debut in Romeo and Juliet.

THE STORY

Set in the city of Verona, the play opens with an argument and a brawl between the servants of the feuding noble families of Capulet and Montague. The Prince, ruler of Verona, stops the fight and decrees that whoever disturbs the peace again shall be sentenced to death. Montague's son, Romeo, and his cousin, Benvolio, talk about Romeo's love for Rosaline.

Meanwhile, at the Capulet home, Paris, a kinsman of the prince, seeks Juliet's hand in marriage. Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people to invite to a masquerade and feast that he holds every year. He invites Paris to the feast, hoping that Paris will begin to win Juliet's heart. Juliet talks with her mother, Lady Capulet, and with her Nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not yet considered marriage, but agrees to talk with Paris during the feast to see if she will accept him as her husband.

Romeo and Benvolio encounter the Capulet servant bearing the list of invitations to the masquerade ball and, since Rosaline will be there, they decide to attend the feast with their friend Mercutio. Once inside the Capulet residence, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and instantly falls in love with her. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and she, too, falls in love with him. They kiss, not even knowing each other's names. When the two find out that they are from opposite sides of the city's largest feud, they are both distraught. Romeo and Juliet are married the next day by Friar Lawrence, who agreed to marry the young lovers in secret hoping that their marriage will end the feud between Capulet and Montague.

The next day, Romeo kills Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, in fury after Tybalt has killed Mercutio. The Prince declares that Romeo will be banished to the city of Mantua for his crime. Friar Lawrence arranges for Romeo to spend his wedding night with Juliet before he has to leave for Mantua the following morning. Lord Capulet pushes ahead with the plan to marry Juliet to Paris. The Friar concocts a plan to reunite Juliet with Romeo in Mantua. The night before her wedding, Juliet must drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest in the family's tomb, the Friar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will be free to live with Romeo, away from their parents' feuding.

That night, Juliet drinks the potion. The Nurse discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. Juliet is entombed in the Capulets' family tomb according to plan; however, the message to Romeo explaining the plan never reaches him, and Romeo hears only that Juliet is dead. Rather than live without his true love, Romeo buys a vial of poison and returns to Verona to kill himself at Juliet's tomb. He finds Paris mourning at the tomb and kills him in a fight. Standing by Juliet's body, Romeo drinks the poison, and when Juliet awakens moments later, she sees the body of her beloved Romeo and stabs herself with his dagger. After seeing their children's bodies, Lord Capulet and Lord Montague agree to end their long-standing feud and to raise gold statues in honor of their children in the town square.

- Peter Holland, McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies, University of Notre Dame

ABOUT ACTORS FROM THE LONDON STAGE

[Pictured, clockwise from top: Sir Patrick Stewart, Michael Thomas, Vivien Heilbron, John Burgess, David Rintoul, Philip Voss.]

Actors From The London Stage is a national outreach program of Shakespeare at Notre Dame. Shakespeare at Notre Dame consists of the McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies, the Shakespeare in Prisons Network, the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Actors From The London Stage, ancillary lectures and events, and library collections. Shakespeare at Notre Dame’s mission is to serve as a pre-eminent venue for the study and performance of the works of Shakespeare, providing Notre Dame and the wider community with an on-campus culture steeped in the works of William Shakespeare — both on the page and on the stage.

Founder: Homer Swander

Academic Director: Peter Holland

Founding Directors: Tony Church, Lisa Harrow, Bernard Lloyd. Sir Patrick Stewart

Associate Directors: David Acton, Bruce Alexander, Peter Bray, Matthew Davies, Caroline Devlin, Tim Hardy, Evvy Miller, Richard Neale, Paul O’Mahony, Michael Palmer, Eunice Roberts, Alison Skilbeck, Chris Staines, Lucy Tregear, Jack Whitam, Jennifer Winter, Alinka Wright

Emeritus: Gareth Armstrong, David Rintoul, Vivien Heilbron

ABOUT SHAKESPEARE AT NOTRE DAME

Shakespeare at Notre Dame is a program that recognizes the centrality of the study of Shakespeare in humanistic pedagogy at the University of Notre Dame.

Officially established in 2007, Shakespeare at Notre Dame's mission is to fuse the University’s pursuit of compassionate social justice with the study of the works of William Shakespeare. The program’s reach extends deep into the South Bend community, with a number of community-focused events every year, and beyond, to audiences from over a dozen countries across the world.

Mary Irene Ryan Family Executive Director: Scott Jackson

General Manager: Debra Gasper

Audience Development Manager: Jason Comerford

Ryan Producing Artistic Director for the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival: Grant Mudge

Don't miss Dawn's Early Light, an original musical from Solomon Duane '24. Feb. 23-Mar. 5 at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Get your tickets now!

Make it an arts-filled weekend! Tickets for DPAC events available at performingarts.nd.edu.

Notre Dame Film, Television and Theatre presents "TUKO! TUKO! or Princess of the Lizard Moon," written and directed by Anton Juan. Tickets on sale now at performingarts.nd.edu!