London 2012

A scene from The Persians. Image: Toby Farrow

Aberystwyth University creative team to make a major contribution to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad

Following the critical success of National Theatre Wales’ award-winning production of The Persians on the military training ranges of mid-Wales last summer, the creators of the work, Professor Mike Pearson, Simon Banham and Mike Brookes of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, have been invited to make a new production for the company as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2012 World Shakespeare Festival, which will celebrate how the world performs, teaches and engages with Shakespeare.

The Festival will form part of the London 2012 Festival which is at the heart of cultural celebrations surrounding the London Olympic Games, and will showcase the best of UK and international creative talent in world-class productions across the UK.

Colriolan/us will see the Aberystwyth team that created The Persians reunited in a re-imagined version of the tale of the Roman General Caius Martius - Coriolanus.

The political intrigue in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and also in Bertolt Brecht’s 20th century adaptation, Coriolan, provides a wealth of contemporary theatrical opportunities, and the production plans to use outside broadcasts from the battlefield, popular grievances straight to camera and audience participants as the body politic.

Director Mike Pearson’s The Persians was the flagship production of National Theatre Wales’ inaugural season of new work, and the contribution of Mike Brookes and Simon Banham was acknowledged with the award for Best Design by the Theatre Managers Association in November.

The invitation to participate in the world-class Shakespeare Festival in 2012 is further recognition that the partnership between National Theatre Wales and the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies is proving highly productive, creating performance events at the cutting edge of contemporary British theatre.

Professor Adrian Kear of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies welcomed the invitation: ‘I’m delighted by this prestigious invitation for National Theatre Wales to participate in the Cultural Olympiad’s World Shakespeare Festival. The Department is privileged to have world-class theatre-makers working within it and our close association with National Theatre Wales shows the benefit and impact of the Department’s practice-based research profile.”

“The contribution of TFTS to the cultural life of the nation could not be clearer and we will continue to build on our reputation for innovative theatre research, critical rigour, and creative excellence”, he added.  

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