Olde is New Again: FARINELLI AND THE KING and A Recent History of New Works at Shakespeare's Globe

The critically acclaimed Shakespeare's Globe production of Farinelli and the King, a new play by Claire van Kempen, starring three-time Tony and Academy Award-winner Mark Rylance, opened this week at Broadway's Belasco Theatre.

Though Shakespeare's Globe has traditionally showcased an impressive Shakespearean and classical theatre repertoire, Farinelli is just one in a long line of new plays that have been produced by the company since Rylance signed on as artistic director in 1995- a position he held through 2005.

Under his direction, the company took this necessary and exciting turn, working with new playwrights and producing classic theatre for the modern day. The first of these works was Augustine's Oak by Peter Oswald, a writer-in-residence, which was performed in 1999. A second play by Oswald followed in 2002: The Golden Ass or the Curious Man.

Since these initial productions, Shakespeare's Globe has produced a number of new works over almost two decades. In 2017 alone, the Globe produced five new works for the classical audience. Below, take a peek at some of the other new plays that have passed through the Globe this year. You never know, one of them could be making a trip to Broadway in the future!

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Boudica

Written by: Tristan Bernays
Directed by: Eleanor Rhode

Iron Age Britain (50AD) has been conquered by Roman invaders.

When an ally of the Romans - King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe - dies, his estranged wife Boudica returns to claim her rightful throne. When she is denied her inheritance and instead brutally punished by the Romans, she leads a tribal uprising in an attempt to exact bloody revenge.

Boudica is a brand new ancient history play that tells the story of one of Britain's most infamous women: a queen, a warrior and a rebel. The role of Boudica will be played by Gina McKee. In 2016, McKee performed in Faith Healer at The Donmar Warehouse, and is well-known for her role as Bella in the 1999 film Notting Hill.

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Lions And Tigers

Written by: Tanika Gupta
Directed by: Pooja Ghai

Based on the true story of her great uncle and freedom fighter Dinesh Gupta, Lions and Tigers is the world premiere of a new play by leading playwright Tanika Gupta. This dramatically relevant and authentic story is set against the backdrop of negotiations between the leaders of the Indian National Congress; the future Prime Minister Nehru wavers between his respect for Gandhi's non-violence and his admiration for the youthful fervour of the militant Bengali nationalist, Subhas Chandra Bose.

Lions and Tigers charts Dinesh Gupta's emotional and political awakening as this extraordinary 19 year old pits himself against the British Raj. Culminating in actions that shook the foundations of the British Empire, Lions and Tigers challenges our assumptions about Indian independence and offers new insights into the battles between the British lions and the Bengal tigers.

The play gives an insight into the lives of the ordinary men and women struggling to achieve freedom. Among scenes of brutality, aggression and strong language there are touching moments of love and humour.

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Tristan & Yseult

Written by: Carl Grose and Anna Maria Murphy
Directed by: Emma Rice
Adapted by: Emma Rice

Cornish King Mark is at war: he rules with his head not his heart. But he hasn't counted on falling head over heels for his enemy's sister, or expected the arrival of the enigmatic Tristan. Seen through the eyes of the 'Unloved', Tristan & Yseult, the most successful and beloved of all of Kneehigh's shows, blends comedy, live music, grand passions and tender truths in an irresistible night of love.

This critically acclaimed production catapulted the company onto the international stage over a decade ago. Since then the show has played to rapt audiences across the world, from roofless Cornish castles to intimate New York warehouses. In its latest incarnation this unforgettable version of the greatest love story of the Celtic tradition will tour for the first time to the four corners: Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as to Shakespeare's Globe and other UK theatres, delighting audiences as well as breaking hearts...

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Nell Gwynn

Written by: Jessica Swale
Directed by: Christopher Luscombe

Charles II has cast off London's drab, puritanical past with a love of all things loud and sexy. A young Nell Gwynn is selling oranges for sixpence in the burgeoning West End theatre scene, unaware of who is in the audience one fateful night.

Jessica Swale's triumphant, joyful, critically-acclaimed play about the unlikely heroine who went from lowly orange seller to National Treasure comes home to the Globe for a limited run.

Laura Pitt-Pulford takes on the heroic role of Nell as part of a national tour presented by English Touring Theatre. This production was originally produced at the Globe in 2015 under the artistic direction of Dominic Dromgoole.

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The White Devil

Written by: John Webster
Directed by: Annie Ryan

In Annie Ryan's dystopian reimagining of John Webster's Jacobean tale, the flickering shadows of the candlelit Playhouse reveal a nightmarish world of deceit and madness, where lust and desire entwine and breed murderous atrocity.

Cloaked in the hallucinatory half-light of the Italian court, the Duke of Brachiano murders his wife in order to possess another woman, triggering a cycle of brutality, deceit and insanity that shatters family bonds and moral codes.

Inspired by bizarre real-life events from Renaissance Italy, Webster conjures an extraordinary tale of hypocrisy, seduction and revenge. In Annie Ryan's bold take on the original, her cast of villains, victims and conspirators move through the dark spaces between reality and nightmares, creating scandal and destruction at every shadowy turn.