Mischief Festival comes to RSC's Other Place
For the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Mischief Festival this autumn, Gemma Brockis and Wendy Hubbard present a new devised piece, Kingdom Come.
Running from the 7th to 30th September, Kingdom Come is accompanied by a series of talks and events.
The company includes: Nigel Barrett (Cyrano de Bergerac/Northern Stage); Emmanuella Cole (Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again/RSC); Lucy Ellinson (A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation/RSC); Solomon Israel (What Country Friends Is This?/RSC); Tom Lyall (Associate Artist Shunt) and Madeleine Worrall (The Tempest/RSC and Peter Pan and Jane Eyre/National Theatre).
Deputy Artistic Director, Erica Whyman told us: “I am delighted that the RSC has had the opportunity to collaborate with Gemma, Wendy and their team. They are theatre artists whose work I have known and admired for a long time, and Kingdom Come looks set to be properly ambitious, rich, visceral and thoughtful and quite unlike anything else you will see here this autumn. They are true Mischief-makers.”
Kingdom Come is conceived and created by Gemma Brockis and Wendy Hubbard, and devised with the company, with designer Charlotte Espiner and sound artist Melanie Wilson. It is set in 1640, at the bitter end of one political order and in the struggle towards something new. Parliament is rebellious. There are mobs on London’s streets. England, Ireland and Scotland are on the brink of a devastating civil war. In Whitehall, supported by the newest theatrical machinery, King Charles I is playing a god. As the world turns upside down women preach, poor men lead, and radical ideas illuminate the carnage. But the puritan state starts to tighten its grip, and making theatre could soon be a capital offence.
Gemma Brockis is a founder member of pioneering immersive theatre company Shunt. She is also a director, writer and performer. Recent projects include the lead in the feature film No Light and No Land Anywhere (2016). Wendy Hubbard is a director and dramaturg, whose recent directing work includes Chris Goode’s Men in the Cities (Royal Court 2015).
Talks and events
Play On — Thursday, 7th September, after the show at Susie’s Bar at The Other Place, free. Local musicians perform.
Writer and Director talk — Saturday, 9th September, 5.15pm, Events Space @ The Other Place, £5. The team behind Kingdom Come discuss the production.
Bright Smoke — Friday, 15th September, 7.30pm, Susie’s Café Bar, Spoken word night with headline guest poets, in collaboration with Apples & Snakes – this month the theme is ‘ranting’ inspired by the Ranters, a group of dissenters that emerged during the interregnum in the 1600s. Free.
Unwrapped — Saturday, 16th September, 10.15am, Rehearsal Rooms, The Other Place, £5. An insight into the devising and rehearsal process for Kingdom Come, looking at excerpts from the show with the Assistant Director and members of the company.
A Conversation: The Interregnum — Monday, 18th September, after the show, Events Space, free. Director Gemma Brockis in conversation about the period of history that inspired Kingdom Come.
To book any of these events call the box office on 01789 403493 or online at www.rsc.org.uk
