The 21st Gdańsk Shakespeare Festival will take place from 29 July to 6 August in various locations of Gdańsk and Tricity. The festival is one of the biggest international events which every year hosts the best Shakespeare productions and the most eminent theatre artists from all over the world.
The 21st edition will host outstanding Shakespearean productions from the United Kingdom, Russia, Hong Kong, India, Ukraine, Croatia and Poland. The performances will be accompanied by workshops, meetings with artists, open rehearsals and seminars of the Summer Shakespeare Academy. The programme will also include a diverse ShakespeareOFF selection of alternative theatre and artistic presentations.
The British Council supports two festival productions.
Shakespeare in Love is a great comedy show with lively action, numerous daring duels and dynamic role changes where you can find love, a battle with destiny, the stormy fates of lovers and disputes between theatres – and all of this set in the climate of the Elizabethan age. The play is based on a screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. It was originally produced on the West End by Disney Theatrical Productions & Sonia Friedman Productions, directed by Declan Donnellan and designed by Nick Ormerod. The Polish premiere is based on the translation of Małgorzata Semil and directed by Paweł Aigner.
Measure for Measure by Cheek by Jowl and the Pushkin Theatre is a new co-production with the Barbican, a result of the artistic work of Declan Donnelan and Nick Ormerod. The play is a unique brew of laughter and high seriousness, where Shakespeare dissects the nature of government, love, and justice – asking unsettling questions about how we are governed.
The show will be preceded by a meeting with the director Declan Donnelan, moderated by Simon Gammell, Director of the British Council in Poland, on 4 August at 17.30.