Grassroots Shakespeare London is a British theatre company based in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
UK. The company specialises in producing accessible works of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
inspired by using Elizabethan original theatre practices.
Company history
Grassroots Shakespeare London was established in London in 2011.
The company's first production was ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'', which performed in
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
and
Victoria Embankment Gardens
The Victoria Embankment Gardens are a series of gardens on the north side of the River Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and Westminster Bridge in London.
History
Between 1865 and 1870 the northern embankment and sewer was built by Sir Jose ...
. In December 2011, they performed ''
The Merry Wives of Windsor
''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...
'' at the New Red Lion Theatre and in 2012, they launched the theatre festival at The Scoop at
More London
More London, part of an area known as London Bridge City, is a development on the south bank of the River Thames, immediately south-west of Tower Bridge in London. It is owned by the Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund.
It includes the City Hall, ...
with ''
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' during
HM The Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. This production also played at the Dell Theatre,
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
as part of the
World Shakespeare Festival 2012.
In August 2012 they devised a new production of ''
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'' for their summer residency at
Victoria Embankment Gardens
The Victoria Embankment Gardens are a series of gardens on the north side of the River Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and Westminster Bridge in London.
History
Between 1865 and 1870 the northern embankment and sewer was built by Sir Jose ...
and were nominated by the Off West End Theatre Awards for Best Ensemble and Best Production. They also received recommendations from London newspaper ''
The Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' and ''
Time Out''.
In December 2012 to January 2013, the company performed a
repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
season of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'' and ''
The Tempest''. In 2013, the company presented a 'Summer of Love' repertory season of ''
Love's Labour's Lost
''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and ...
'' and ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' in Islington at the
Old Red Lion Theatre
The Old Red Lion is a pub and fringe theatre, at Angel, London, Angel, in the London Borough of Islington.
The theatre was founded in 1979 as the Old Red Lion Theatre Club. The pub was listed building, Grade II listed in 1994 by Historic Engla ...
.
In 2014 a sold out production of ''
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
'' was presented at the Leicester Square Theatre starring
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
nominee Nari Blair-Mangat as Othello. They were the only company to be performing Shakespeare in London's West End for the 450th birthday celebrations, which also saw them perform with actor
. Rehearsals were recorded by
and James Alexandrou's performance as Iago featured in their programme ''The Why Factor''.
In 2016 the company was announced as the first ever resident theatre company at
. As part of
throughout April - May 2016. They additionally produced a 14-hour live 'Dawn til Dusk' broadcast in association with the live-streaming app
, which saw the company gain over 700,000 views on Twitter alone. In May 2016, the company performed speeches with
, one of the top 5 quality editions left remaining in the world.
.