Shakespeare in LA

Santa Monica Playhouse will host its annual Hands Across the Sea FREE Festival of Theatre October 26-30, featuring Playbox Theatre, its sister theatre company from the U.K., which will include a number of shows for children and adults.

In honor of Shakespeare’s 450 birthday this year, the festival will feature four theatrical events inspired by the Bard: a clown’s staging of The Comedy of Errors; Shakespeare’s Wronged Women, a powerful rant based on the female personas throughout Shakespeare’s plays; MustardSeed’s Magical Mayhem, an interactive riff on A Midsummer Night’s Dream for children (and their grown-ups!); and Youth’s a Stuff Will Not Endure, a community-involved city-wide character parade, bringing audience members of many generations together in the life-affirming, community-building magic of a live multi-national theatre experience. Playbox Theatre, the Playhouse’s sister company, will perform October 26 – 30, 2014. 

MustardSeed’s Magical Mayhem, inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is a participatory show for children ages 3 to 8 (and their grown-ups!) Children work and play with the fairy character of MustardSeed to prepare for Titania’s revels in the woods. This fully interactive theatre experience includes complimentary refreshments (be prepared to get messy!) Sunday, Oct. 26 at 2:30 pm at Santa Monica Playhouse. Tickets are FREE but Space is limited to 15 families.

The Comedy of Errors: Re-imagined. Shakespeare’s comedy is given an original and non-verbal staging, infused with the spirit of Shakespeare’s clowns, Commedia dell’arte and circus clowns of today. A troupe of clowns has happened upon the play and wants to stage it in their own, highly physical and slapstick style; the result is a colorful and fast-paced topsy-turvy story suitable for all ages. Oct. 29 & 30, 2014 at 7:00pm at Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica

The Oct 29 performance will be followed by an open panel discussion led by Playbox and Playhouse artists with guest panelists Lisa Wolpe (Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company), Tony Cronin (An American Shakespeare Company) and UK screen personality Victoria Baxter. Tickets are FREE, but reservations are required.

Shakespeare’s Wronged Women (pictured above) Across Shakespeare’s plays women are often the victims, pawns and mysterious figures. Blending Shakespeare’s text, powerful dramatic encounters, movement and sound the company creates a summoning that invites the women to a group trauma therapy session to relive their experiences and share their journeys, aiming to get beneath the skin of Shakespeare’s women and discover whether they are as wronged as perceived. This work is for older young people (aged 11+) and adult audiences. Oct. 30, 2014 at 9:00 pm at Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica. Tickets are FREE but reservations are required.

Youth’s a Stuff Will Not Endure, a procession created by Emily Quash, is a reminder of time as a major player across the plays of William Shakespeare. Characters emerge across locations and move together to form a procession of Shakespeare-inspired characters across time. This unique event will be staged on Sunday, October 26th in Downtown Santa Monica, bringing together Playbox Theatre from the UK, Santa Monica Playhouse and participants from across the local community.

For more information about all of the events and workshops, many of which are FREE, please visit www.santamonicaplayhouse.com or call the box office at (310) 394-9779 x 1. Santa Monica Playhouse is located at 1211 4th Street, in the heart of downtown Santa Monica, one block east of the Third Street Promenade.

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England’s renowned Playbox Theatre, now in its 28th year and helmed by Executive and Artistic Directors Emily Quash, Stewart McGill and Mary King, is an arts training program with centers in five major cities in England, reaching all ages, demographics and community with a program of study, performance and enrichment whose patrons include Adrian Noble (Artistic Director, RSC), Sir Ben Kingsley and performer Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), and is one of only 21 arts organizations across the entire UK to be awarded a partnership with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales Arts Foundation.

Santa Monica Playhouse® is a not-for-profit theatre and educational conservatory currently celebrating its 54th year of continuous service to the community renowned for its work with artists domestically and internationally. The Playhouse has made cultural exchange a top priority, hosting companies from or traveling to Canada, Cuba, England, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and The Netherlands as part of its belief in the power of theatre to make a difference in people’s lives.