News
Twelfth Night
Sunday 4 January 2009
Twelfth Night is an annual seasonal celebration held in the Bankside area of London. It is a celebration of the New Year, mixing ancient seasonal customs with contemporary festivity. It is free, accessible to all and happens whatever the weather.
October Plenty
This year's October Plenty took place on Sunday 28 October 2007.
Joust!
the Lions part appeared at Joust! We staged The Dead Husband which is from the Fastnachtsspiele or Non-sensenightplays. These eccentric, ebullient Mediaeval verse plays about pastoral life were written by the German Hans Sachs for the once highly popular Shrovetide carnivals which preceded the long fast of Lent. He wrote 85!
By the by, the word Fast(en) or Fest or V/Fass(eln) can mean to fast, to thrive or be fertile, or to talk nonsense/to have fun. Fass is also the name of the cask that holds beer. Hurrah for the etymological acrobatics of Early Modern Language.
The Land
'..the audience was held enthralled..'
The Guardian
Sonia Ritter has acquired the rights to Vita-Sackville West's remarkable poem The Land, which she has adapted for performance with a long standing associate of the Lions part, Tim Laycock.
Following a tour in Novermber 2006 which was very warmly received, The Land is travelling in June to the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. as one of the participants representing the best of Kent's culture and heritage. Tim and Sonia are also taking a Dickens interlude, Dancing with Dickens, created especially for the interactive nature of the festival. The Land is also touring venues in England in September 2007. If you are interested in seeing or booking The Land, please go to The Land page for details.
Dates for October Plenty and Twelfth Night
The dates are set for our next seasonal festivals. October Plenty 2008 will take place on Sunday 26 October, and Twelfth Night 2009 will take place on Sunday 4 January.
STEP Festival 2006 Steps to Write
The Lions part were delighted to join STEP Festival 2006 with their workshop Stand Up Shakespeare - Write Up!, which invites students to make Shakespeare's vocabulary their own. The workshop was part of this year's STEP Festival focus, which was to enable young people to develop their skills in creative writing. There are full details in the Outreach section.
Twelfth Night review and photos
Onionbagblog has a wonderful article about this year's Twelfth Night Bankside Festival, along with lots of lovely photos. Read it here.
Red Bull Playhouse Project
To celebrate the founding of the Red Bull, Dr Eva Griffith of the Lions Part hosted an academic conference at the London Metropolitan Archives in October last year. After the success of the talk-entertainment, Jigs Ballads and Drolls, it is hoped that other relevant Red Bull evenings will be produced. There was also a rehearsed reading of Thomas Heywood's 'Rape of Lucrece' during October 2005 at St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield. These events are part of the Red Bull Playhouse project.
Yours Ever, Jane
Performances of Yours ever, Jane: Pride, Prejudice, Manners and Marriage were held through autumn 2005, venues including Jane Austen's House (Chawton House Library) in Hampshire on Wednesday 12 October 2005.
Lilies on the Land in the West End!
We held a highly successful rehearsed reading of our hugely successful production of Lilies on the Land at the Theatre Museum on 13 July 2005.
Lilies on the Land is a unique theatrical tribute to the women of the 'Forgotten Army.' For two years the production toured to the heart of local communities where it was received with passion and enthusiasm by audiences of all ages. It played to 96% capacity audiences, was extended and managed to earn its keep without subsidy. It is our long-cherished aim to bring this wonderful production into the West End and to a wider audience.
Lilies on the Land was nominated for the Mark Marvin Rent Award, November 2004.
STEP Festival
We took our workshop Ruffs and Cuffs and Farthingales and Things; into four Southwark primary schools in July, introducing the children to A Midsommer Night's Dreame. We plan to return to these schools in September with workshops to prepare for our October Plenty Bankside Festival.
Shakespeare's Birthday Celebrations at Shakespeare's Globe
We performed Spring's Glorie/The Dreame of St George to a full house at the Globe as part of the Shakespeare's Birthday Celebrations on 23 April.
Death of an Actress
We have acquired the rights to produce Death of an Actress in the UK and hope to stage a full professional production.
