"Shakespeare. He’s an integral part of our heritage and our identity.”
Maev
````````````````````````````
(quote, excerpts)
````````````````````````````
IN A case of life imitating art imitating life, a British theatre
company has announced plans to rebuild an Elizabethan playhouse using
the set from the hit film Shakespeare in Love.
The oak-timbered set, modelled on London’s 16th-century Rose Theatre,
was donated to the British Shakespeare Company by Judi Dench, who won
an Academy Award for playing Queen Elizabeth I in the 1998 romantic
comedy.
The set – a full-size replica of a galleried theatre interior – was
given to Dench by the filmmakers and is currently in storage.
British Shakespeare Company artistic director Robert Williamson said
the actress had recently made the “wonderful decision” to donate it to
the troupe for a permanent base in northern England.
The original Rose was built in 1587 on the south bank of the River
Thames – then just outside the city limits of London, whose officials
frowned on “disreputable” actors and often banned plays.
Its repertoire included plays by William Shakespeare and Christopher
Marlowe.
Williamson said northern England lacked a permanent Shakespearean
venue. Audiences in southern England can visit Shakespeare’s Globe, a
rebuilt Elizabethan theatre in south London, and the Midlands has the
Royal Shakespeare Company, based in the Bard’s hometown of Stratford-
upon-Avon.
And yet, Williamson said, “the four biggest Shakespearean actors are
from the north of England – Ben Kingsley, Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart
and Ian McKellen”.
“We want to offer the north of England what London has,” he said.
“Every child in Great Britain still has to study Shakespeare. He’s an
integral part of our heritage and our identity.”