Play On Shakespeare has announced its 2022-2023 season, which will include both modern verse translations of Shakespeare with Next Chapter Podcasts, and fully-staged co-productions in 2023.
Launching the season with the podcast series, Play On Shakespeare will release Measure for Measure translated by Aditi Brennan Kapil and directed by Jessie Austrian. The comedy will feature the Fiasco Theatre ensemble. Tracy Young's translation of The Winter's Tale is set to follow in December.
In 2023, the company will co-present Sean San José's translation of the political thriller Coriolanus March 29, 2023-April 23, 2023 at The Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts. Actors' Shakespeare Project explores the tragedy with a particular lens on the "impact of violence and political power on marginalized populations" as well as the "nuances of advocacy" in the Melisa Pereyra-directed production.
Concurrently at New Jersey's Two River Theater, Two River Theater Company and NAATCO will present Hansol Jung's translation of Romeo and Juliet April 8-30, 2023. The classic story about star-crossed lovers will feature an all-Asian American cast under the direction of Jung and Dustin Wills. Jung's take on the work was originally presented by Two River Theater as part of their Benefit Reading Series under the direction of Chay Yew.
Further podcasts and production collaborations will be announced at a later date.
READ: Lloyd Suh’s Modern Translation of Henry V Debuts August 19 on Play On Shakespeare
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies releases all Play On Shakespeare’s translations in print.
Play On Shakespeare commissions contemporary playwrights and translators to update Shakespeare’s words into modern verse, “with a majority of commissions being helmed by BIPOC and womxn playwrights.” Some translations are then presented as audio performances in episodic form via the podcast series, and are often accompanied by additional episodes that take listeners inside the play. Previous series include Macbeth, Pericles, Coriolanus, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night. The podcast is available on Apple and Spotify.
For more information on the podcasts and to listen, visit NCPodcasts.com; for tickets and more information on Coriolanus, visit ActorsShakespeareProject.org; and for tickets and more information on Romeo and Juliet, visit TwoRiverTheater.org.
