Cleopatra at Knole

Here are some wonderful photos by our photographer, Anna Wilton, which record our recent event at Knole. 

 

The evening light was beautiful as our audience arrived at Knole.

Helen Hackett introduces the event, and explains that we want to highlight female participation in Renaissance drama, and challenge the narrative that suggests it was an exclusively male realm.

After Yasmin’s wonderful talk on her work on the portrait of Anne Clifford as Cleopatra, Emma answered Helen’s questions about the process of staging Cleopatra.

‘This blood within thy veins came out of mine': Cleopatra must part from her son, Caesario, played by Emily Stiff

‘This solitary horror where I bide': Elspeth North, as Cleopatra, has sequestered herself in Antony’s tomb

‘Princes, like lions, never can be tamed’ – Caesar holds forth to Roman General, Proculeius, played by Mike Waters

‘Rise madam, rise, yourself was cause of all': Cleopatra prostrates herself before Caesar, played by James Phillips

‘I know some things she hath reserved apart': Treacherous Selecus, played by Anna Sowerbutts, betrays Cleopatra to Caesar

‘A poor revenge can work so feeble hands': Caesar restrains Cleopatra as she tries to attack her treacherous servant, Seleceus

Our lutenist, Sam Brown, laughs with cast members after the performance

Magical Knole!

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Knole

We are so very delighted to share pictures from our day at Knole as we prepared for our event, and are immensely grateful to everyone at Knole House and the National Trust for this incredible opportunity! These pictures are taken mainly by Emily Stiff and some by me.

The event was chaired by Professor Helen Hackett. It included a talk by Yasmin Arshad on the research that inspired the production and an interview with Emma Whipday on the decisions we undertook in mounting a Jacobean style country house production. It also included a performance of extended scenes from the play by our amazing team, made up of Elspeth North, James Phillips, Emily Stiff, Mike Waters, Anna Sowerbutts, and our lutenist, Sam Brown.

We are hugely excited to have held this special presentation at Knole, where Lady Anne Clifford may have played Daniel’s Cleopatra, and to have been able to show how moving this drama is in performance.

It was a magical evening at Knole as the summer sun shone through the high windows of the Great Hall. Stay posted for our professional photos of the event to follow shortly…

Rehearsals for Knole

We’re so excited to be performing at Knole on Monday! Take a look at our rehearsal shots, and if you want to book, you can do so here: http://www.stagsevenoaks.co.uk/whats-on/live/women-in-renaissance-drama-954/

We hope to see you there!

We’ll be updating this blog with images of the event, so watch this space…

 

 

Cleopatra at Knole rescheduled!

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performance, Project, The portrait

On Monday 23 June, we will be making a very special presentation at Knole House in Kent! 

Although in the public playhouses of Shakespeare’s time female roles were played by boys, awareness is growing of the participation of women themselves in early modern drama. Much of this took place at great country houses like Knole, home of Lady Anne Clifford. Come and hear us explore Clifford’s connection with Samuel Daniel’s Tragedie of Cleopatra, while actors recreate scenes from the play.

Knole is one of the country’s most precious and exceptional historic houses, containing world class collections of royal furniture, silver, paintings and tapestries. It was built by the Archbishops of Canterbury in the fifteenth century, gifted to Henry VIII and remodelled in the seventeenth century by the Sackville family. Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676), one of the most remarkable women of the English Renaissance, lived here as a young wife. The house, set in a medieval deer park, has inspired writers, artists and visitors for centuries. Knole was the birthplace and childhood home of Vita Sackville-West, who went on to create the gardens at Sissinghurst. Knole was also the setting for Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando. 

Booking details are:  Women in Renaissance Drama: Lady Anne Clifford and Cleopatra at Knole.Talk and Performance, Monday 23 June, 7-8.30pm Adult £10, concessions £8. Book on: 01732 450 175 or at http://www.stagsevenoaks.co.uk/whats-on/23-Jun-2014/

Performance at the Shakespeare Institute

We were warmly welcomed at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon on the 12th November. The Shakespeare Institute Players kindly provided us with a stage and an impressive monument for Antony’s Tomb. We performed a number of scenes from our production, and our actors and production team participated in a vibrant roundtable discussion, with great questions from the audience. Take a look at some photos from the event, taken by Emily Stiff (who plays Caesario), to see the cast in action!

Knole Event

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Lady Anne Clifford, performance, Project, The portrait

We are sorry to let you know that our Cleopatra event at Knole has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict with Guy Fawkes Day celebrations! It would be too difficult for attendees to make their way from Sevenoaks Station to Knole House. We are looking to reschedule the event and will post details as soon as we have any information.

Cleopatra at the Shakespeare Institute

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cleopatra, closet drama, Daniel's Cleopatra, early modern drama, practice as research, Shakespeare Institute, the Shakespeare Institute

We are delighted to announce that we will be giving a presentation on ‘Staging Cleopatra‘ at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, on 12th November at 3pm.

The Shakespeare Institute Players will be hosting us in a round table discussion between our director, producer, musical director, lutenist and cast members. We will talk about the research that underpinned the production, and share our experiences of the rehearsal process and the performance itself.

Cast members will perform extended scenes from our production, and we will also be screening clips from our DVD. It will be a unique opportunity to hear how the production has influenced our thinking about Daniel’s play, closet drama, and the dramatic involvement of elite early modern women; and to see that research in action.

The University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute is an internationally renowned research institution for the study of Renaissance drama. The Shakespeare Institute Players is the dramatic society for the postgraduate students of the Shakespeare Institute; they stage numerous productions of early modern plays each year, alongside evenings of dramatic readings, poetry and music. We are very excited that they have invited us to speak, and hope to see many of you there!

Entry is free to current Shakespeare Institute members, for all others tickets are £5, £3 concessions. Tickets available on the door, or by email to shakespeareinstituteplayers@gmail.com

Cleopatra at Knole

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cleopatra, Daniel, Knole, Lady Anne Clifford, The portrait, The Project

On Saturday 9 November, we will be making a very special presentation at Knole House in Kent, exploring whether Lady Anne Clifford played Daniel’s Cleopatra. This is a unique opportunity to hear the research that led to our recent production, and to see scenes from The Tragedie of Cleopatra recreated in the Great Hall at Knole, where the closet drama might originally have been performed 400 years ago.

Knole is one of the country’s most precious and exceptional historic houses, containing world class collections of royal furniture, silver, paintings and tapestries. It was built by the Archbishops of Canterbury in the fifteenth century, gifted to Henry VIII and remodelled in the seventeenth century by the Sackville family. Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676), one of the most remarkable women of the English Renaissance, lived here as a young wife. The house, set in a medieval deer park, has inspired writers, artists and visitors for centuries. Knole was the birthplace and childhood home of Vita Sackville-West, who went on to create the gardens at Sissinghurst. Knole was also the setting for Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando. 

Booking details for this National Trust event are: Saturday, 9 November, 5pm-7pm, tickets £15 (bookable on 0844 249 1895).

DVDs of our production are now available!

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Daniel, performance, The Project, The Tragedie of Cleopatra

Cleopatra DVDS are finally here and can be purchased at:

http://thetragedieofcleopatradvd.eventbrite.co.uk/

Watch the first performance of Daniel’s tragedy in at least four hundred years. DVDs of this rare and sold-out production are now available for research and teaching purposes and to anyone with an interest in Daniel and his Cleopatra.

Cleopatra at the UCL Festival of the Arts

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actors, cleopatra, Daniel, Helen Hackett, performance, The portrait, The Project, Yasmin Arshad

As a follow-up to our production, we will be putting on a Cleopatra presentation as part of UCL’S Festival of the Arts on Thursday 16^th May, at 6:30 pm, at the Roberts Lecture Theatre. Professor Helen Hackett and I will be discussing the research on the portrait that led to the idea for this production and which sheds light on female participation in drama in Shakespeare’s time. Charlotte Gallagher and Beth Eyre, our incredible Cleopatra and Caesar, will re-enact some scenes from the play and we will discuss our experience of staging Daniel’s closet drama. We will also show some clips from the DVD of the performance. This will be the first public showing of the DVD, which we are excited to report looks fantastic! The event is open to the public and free of charge but pre-booking is required at the link below. The presentation is followed by a drinks reception. Do come and join us.

http://staging-daniels-cleopatra.eventbrite.co.uk/#

This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy an in-depth discussion of all things Cleopatra and to relive some moments from the performance. We look forward to seeing you there.

Emma Whipday, our director, is currently in the US doing research and will join us for Cleopatra-related events on her return.