Follow Ariel through Dante´s nine circles of Hell to discover the blood spattered histories of eighteen of Shakespeare's most memorable characters as they collide with likewise guilty sinners from the Bard's canon. Faithlessness, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery are their sins.
What are you going to Hell for?
Shakespeare in Hell was first constructed as a promenade piece, a horror story performed in near darkness. The script by Kolbrun Bjort Sigfusdottir and Emily Carding is a mash up of all of Shakespeare’s work blended with Marlowe’s Faust and Dante's Inferno.
It was first performed in University of Exeter’s campus drama studio, Roborough, as a work in progress by Brite Theater in collaboration with So Potent Arts in December 2013, graciously funded by the Cymbeline Fund. It then went on to be a part of RAW Platform at Exeter Northcott Theatre, Ignite Festival, Bristol Shakespeare Festival and London Horror Festival. Each performance was made to fit each venue and had audience interaction throughout.
Creators: Kolbrun Sigfusdottir, Emily Carding and Dana Bowman
Directed by Kolbrun Sigfusdottir
Assistant director: Dana Bowman
Original Music: Tom Oakes
Mashed by Kolbrun and Emily Carding
Costumes and artwork: Emily Carding
Original cast: Bryony Reynolds, Emily Carding, Dana Bowman, Kris Jennings and Melissa Barrett
Cast at London Horror Festival: Bryony Reynolds, Emily Carding, Melissa Barrett and Tessa Hatt
Fight Choreography: Tom Chadwick and the company
What are you going to Hell for?
Shakespeare in Hell was first constructed as a promenade piece, a horror story performed in near darkness. The script by Kolbrun Bjort Sigfusdottir and Emily Carding is a mash up of all of Shakespeare’s work blended with Marlowe’s Faust and Dante's Inferno.
It was first performed in University of Exeter’s campus drama studio, Roborough, as a work in progress by Brite Theater in collaboration with So Potent Arts in December 2013, graciously funded by the Cymbeline Fund. It then went on to be a part of RAW Platform at Exeter Northcott Theatre, Ignite Festival, Bristol Shakespeare Festival and London Horror Festival. Each performance was made to fit each venue and had audience interaction throughout.
Creators: Kolbrun Sigfusdottir, Emily Carding and Dana Bowman
Directed by Kolbrun Sigfusdottir
Assistant director: Dana Bowman
Original Music: Tom Oakes
Mashed by Kolbrun and Emily Carding
Costumes and artwork: Emily Carding
Original cast: Bryony Reynolds, Emily Carding, Dana Bowman, Kris Jennings and Melissa Barrett
Cast at London Horror Festival: Bryony Reynolds, Emily Carding, Melissa Barrett and Tessa Hatt
Fight Choreography: Tom Chadwick and the company
An intense evening of murder, suicide, witchcraft, magic, treachery and betrayal, all done in just over an hour and all in the most beautifully eloquent language ever written, what more could a Hothouse Flower want?
Simon Ball, Horror Hothouse
Shakespeare in Hell devised and performed by Brite Theater Co was a prime example of daring and inspired programming.
Lou Trimbly, Bristol 24/7
A painstakingly researched, smoothly crafted re-imagining of what happens to those who think themselves above the judgment of their author or audience. It’s a cautionary tale set in a facility that already reeks of past punishments. Hell is murky, but you don’t want to miss out!
Madeleine Golding
This powerful emotional engagement that Shakespeare in Hell provoked served as a strong argument against Shakespeare – and theatre in general – being revered and elevated to the metaphorical status of ‘high culture’. The currency and power of Shakespeare is shown at its best when the audience is made to feel involved – that they have a personal stake in the narrative – and that is what Shakespeare in Hell does so well.
Lucy Corley
The atmosphere was suitably uneasy; the darkness, the eerie red glow and the heat of the room created the hellish backdrop for some disquieting moments.
Helen Carrington, Razz
The director has planned well so each pairing is arranged in a variety of positions around the stage. Particularly impressive is the enormous silky red sheet that Henry V and Richard III stand in, conveying the river of blood they have shed.
Maryam Philpott, The Public Reviews
The power of ‘Shakespeare in Hell’ is that having full and complex knowledge of the plays or the prose itself does not necessarily put you at an advantage, as the whole show is a new education in Shakespeare in itself. A dummy’s guide to the most conflicted of the Shakespearean characters, but from a different perspective, a Dante perception. Afterwards you cannot help but want to throw yourself into the complete works of Shakespeare, to learn more about the intriguing characters you had a brief meeting with, to explore the hidden gems amongst the greatest hits.
Ellen Waddell
Dates
3rd of December 2013, Roborogh Studios
4th and 7th of June 2014, Exeter Northcott as part of RAW festival
7th of June 2014, Exeter Phoenix as part of Exeter Ignite Festival
11th-13th of July 2014, The Island as part of Bristol Shakespeare Festival
16th, 17th and 18th of October at Camden Etcetera Theater as part of London Horror Festival
3rd of December 2013, Roborogh Studios
4th and 7th of June 2014, Exeter Northcott as part of RAW festival
7th of June 2014, Exeter Phoenix as part of Exeter Ignite Festival
11th-13th of July 2014, The Island as part of Bristol Shakespeare Festival
16th, 17th and 18th of October at Camden Etcetera Theater as part of London Horror Festival
