Young Hearts 2009 Season Begins 4/23 With Romeo & Juliet

Shakespeare's Globe launches its 2009 theatre season - Young Hearts - on Shakespeare's birthday, Thursday 23 April, with artistic director Dominic Dromgoole's production of Romeo and Juliet. It will be the first of nine productions during the Globe's most ambitious season to date, which explores the great expanse of the heart. Shakespeare's heartbreaking tale of these tragic and iconic young lovers is widely considered to be one of the greatest of all love stories, and this will be Dominic's first production of the play.

The Globe's ability to spot fresh young talent continues with the casting of Ellie Kendrick as Juliet, who received great acclaim for her recent performance as Anne Frank in the BBC dramatisation of The Diary of Anne Frank. Other newcomers joining Ellie are Adetomiwa Edun as Romeo, Ukweli Roach as Tybalt and Jack Farthing as Benvolio. Friar Laurence will be played by Maori actor Rawiri Paratene - one of New Zealand's best known and versatile actors, who is recognised internationally for his lead role in the 2002 film, The Whale Rider.

Over the last three seasons at the Globe, artistic director Dominic Dromgoole has directed King Lear (2008), Love's Labour's Lost (2007 and 2009 revival), Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra (both 2006). He will also direct Trevor Griffiths' new play A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine later in the 2009 season. Dominic was Artistic Director of the Oxford Stage Company, 1999-2005, and the Bush Theatre 1990-96, and Director of New Plays for the Peter Hall Company in 1996/7. Also an author, his books include The Full Room (2001) and Will and Me (2006).

Composer Nigel Hess delighted audiences at the Globe in 2008 with his charming and witty score for The Merry Wives of Windsor. Nigel has won numerous awards, including the New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play for Much Ado About Nothing and Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway. Simon Daw's set and costume designs for theatre include Triple Bill: DNA/Baby Girl/The Miracle and The Enchantment (National Theatre), Fast Labour (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Hampstead Theatre) and Dolls (National Theatre Scotland). This production will employ Renaissance staging and costume.

The Globe's Young Hearts theatre season includes Shakespeare's As You Like It, Troilus and Cressida and Love's Labour's Lost. The Globe will present three new plays: The Frontline by Ché Walker, Helen by Euripides in a new version by Frank McGuinness and A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine by Trevor Griffiths. In addition to its main stage programme the Globe will present two nationAl Small-scale tours of The Comedy of Errors and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

 

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