News

Tiffany Parker
/ Categories: News

Janet Suzman - Shakespeare as a Protest Playwright

Black Lives Matter

Shakespeare in Italy Summer School tutor and esteemed actress Janet Suzman is leading two online lectures in conjunction with the Rose Theatre, Kingston, on Shakespeare as a Protest Playwright.

The event lasts approximately 60 mins with a Q&A session Tickets are £5.00 and can be booked through TryBooking by going to this link https://www.trybooking.co.uk/TVI

Janet will refer to two specific passages in her formidable career. This first one describes her experience of directing 'Othello' - a banned play in apartheid South Africa - which has many resonances for the Black Lives Matter movement right now.

“The Othello talk is aimed at understanding the apartheid status quo in SA at the time we broke the Equity boycott with this rather controversial production, which hit global headlines due to the time and place. It’s important to remind and inform people what sort of world we were in. And even more importantly, in the light of BLM, that John Kani was the very first black African to play Othello. There had been many fine African-American actors from Ira Aldrich in 1833 onwards, but their mother tongue was English; Kani’s mother tongue is Xhosa.”

In the second lecture, date to be confirmed, she will talk about her take on directing Antony & Cleopatra (many years after her own Cleo at Stratford) with Sex and the City’s liberated Kim Cattrall, which will ring bells for those interested in Shakespeare’s inherently super-aware feminism. Who did Shakespeare have in mind with this part, unique among all the parts he wrote for women?

Janet has delivered sessions on both plays at Shakespeare in Italy's Summer Schools and was this summer due to look at another play with us. This has been postponed to 2021 due to COVID.

Previous Article Exploring Shakespeare: Hamlet's Act
Next Article Exploring Shakespeare: Hamlet's Proof
Print
2705