For the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth – being celebrated next Wednesday – actress/director Simone Ellul, together with her friend and colleague Sarah Clough, are producing a Shakespearian play with a difference.
Clough and Ellul met 12 years ago while studying Shakespeare in Performance in the UK, and they have shared a passion for Shakespeare and his works ever since.
“We decided to celebrate the 450th anniversary by staging a play that is faithful to Shakespeare’s style and language, as well as engaging to audiences unfamiliar with his works,” explains Ellul. “We started working on this project around one-and-a-half years ago, and wanted to find a play that we both loved, and that would be entertaining to our audience, giving them a fun night out at the theatre.”
It contains comedy, love, adventure and practical jokes – what more could you ask for?
They chose Twelfth Night – Or What You Will, to give it its full title, because it is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays. They decided to stage it both in the UK and Malta, with two actors from the UK and another two from Malta.
“It contains comedy, love, adventure and practical jokes – what more could you ask for?” smiles Ellul. “It is also an island play, and since we are performing it in England and Malta, two islands, we thought it would be ideal.”
During the play, which they have titled What You Will – A Sea-Dog’s Tale, the story of Twelfth Night will be told in just one-and-a-half hours, with a band of sailors bringing the tale to life through storytelling, shadow theatre, music, stop-motion and Shakespeare’s language.
“The creation of a framework tale was a great way for us as actors to play with the story, and gave us the freedom to help the audience understand the twisting plot lines within the play,” she says.
In What You Will – a Sea Dog’s Tale, a group of sailors is preparing to set sail when a young and inept William Shakespeare asks to join the crew on their voyage to find adventure and inspiration for a new play. The sailors refuse to accept this landlubber but change their minds when they find out that he’s a writer and could make them immortal through his plays.
The sailors use everything at their disposal to tell the story, including acting scenes out (even Shakespeare gets roped in to play some parts). They awaken his imagination and the play ends with him being inspired to create Twelfth Night.
“The satisfaction of successfully putting on an international Shakespeare adaptation in a short time was immense.
“It was a real high point of the project to be able to work with a close friend, and to be able to collaborate with wonderful artists for the first time – the other actors, Chris Galea and Phil Coggins, and Maltese visual artist Alison Shaw,” says Ellul.
“Everybody had something to contribute. I felt that I’ve learnt so much in such a short period and I’m looking forward to using my newfound knowledge in future projects.”
• The play is being staged at St James Cavalier on April 25-27 and May 1-4 at 8pm. Tickets may be obtained by phone on 2122 3200 or online: www.sjcav.org. The project is part-funded by the Malta Arts Fund.