Love in Shakespeare open-air play opens in Jesmond

Jul 28 2010 by Tamzin Lewis, The Journal

THE air might turn blue at the church green this week as TAMZIN LEWIS reveals.

She won’t be drawn further so you clearly have to go with the theatrical trickery, but I think the plot involves a pub talent show.

Hopefully Shakespeare fans will enjoy the folio lucky dip, but it’s not a case of spot the play as the extracts are listed in the programme.

Maddy says: “The interesting thing is thinking about what the Shakespeare scenes are saying about the relationships on the stage.”

The Heartbreak Productions Press release talks about a blending of old and new and “how amazingly transferable the words and emotions of these classics are in the context of our often confused and pressurised lives.”

My own sense of confusion and pressure reminds me of Lear on the heath, but I suppose that wouldn’t be as amusing as Bottom playing the fool.

And I suspect there is a bit of tomfoolery in this play which Maddy describes as comic and feel-good with a big surprise at the end. No doubt All’s Well That End’s Well.

She says: “We have been doing Shakespeare for a long time and I wanted to see if we could do something which would make it more relevant to people who think that they won’t like Shakespeare.

“We are certainly lucky that our loyal Shakespeare audiences are coming, along with people who have never seen our work before.”

Maddy is executive director of Heartbreak Productions and established the company in 1991 with Peter Mimmack.

Love in Shakespeare, St George’s Green, Jesmond, Newcastle, until Saturday. Tickets are available from www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk or the Northern Stage box office on 0191 230 5151.