The York International Shakespeare Festival is in full swing and here is a sample of three events.

By Angie Millard

Photos by John Saunders

On Sunday, I saw a performed reading of The Rape of Lucrece – a long narrative poem which is rarely performed. This was an utter delight and made me realise how many unappreciated works of Shakespeare there must be. The narrative explores the tragic dilemma of Lucrece who is raped by her husband’s friend. Using this challenging topic Shakespeare articulates her agony and takes us into contemporary issues of female oppression and the need to take action.

I was surprised by Shakespeare’s empathy and moral disgust.

Liz Elsworth directed with not only a full understanding of the verse form but with a passionate desire to transcend the barrier of time as the poem was actually written in 1594. Emma Scott, playing Lucrece carried us with her and inhabited the role utterly. The whole production was beautifully realised by the cast.

Sunday also saw me in the first night audience of Richard III at Friargate Theatre which plays until 29 April. Harry Summers gave us a bravura performance in this reassembling of Shakespeare’s tragedy as a political farce. He was very funny and the audience applauded on every exit Richard III made in the first part of the play. This worked (once you got into the mood) but I found that the style failed to set the tone for a gun-toting showdown at Bosworth Field. 

What is most important however, is that the director, Daniel Roy Connelly surprised us and set a marker for subsequent productions. So don’t go along expecting solemn poetic pieces; The Shakespeare Project has been reinvented and may confound your expectations! 

My only request is don’t mess too much with Hamlet.

Thursday night I attended one of the free events at York University; a rehearsed reading of a Croatian short play called Stan or a Fool Fooled newly translated by Filip Krenus. We were hearing this Renaissance piece for the first time in English and were given background of the problems of using a twelve beat poetic rhythm rather than our English Iambic pentameter. The play performed in Commedia dell’Arte style by a troupe led by Jacob Ward was thoroughly entertaining and went far beyond a reading. The traditional situation of tricking a country bumpkin, played with pathos by Chris Pomfrett, was a delight, and reminiscent of Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Hurry there are still more events left to be discovered. What a treasure trove!

York International Shakespeare Festival runs until 1 May at various venues around York. The full programme is available on the festival website.