Robin French - Crooked Dances

METHUEN DRAMA Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square. London WC1B 3DP. UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY, METHUEN DRAMA and the Methuen Drama logo are trade marks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2019 Copyright Robin French, 2019 Robin French has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as author of this work. Cover design: Ben Anslow Cover image RSC Visual Communications Original artwork University of Houston Libraries & Sgoronwy Tudor Jones, University of Birmingham/Science Photo Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book.

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No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: PB: 978-1-350-13649-6 ePDF: 978-1-350-13650-2 eBook: 978-1-350-13651-9 Series: Modern Plays To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters. ABOUT THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1879. Since then the plays of Shakespeare have been performed here, alongside the work of his contemporaries and of living modern playwrights.

In 1960, the Royal Shakespeare Company was formed, gaining its Royal Charter in 1961. The founding principles of the Company were threefold: the Company would embrace the freedom and power of Shakespeares work, train and develop young actors and directors and, crucially, experiment in new ways of making theatre. The RSC quickly became known for exhilarating performances of Shakespeare alongside new masterpieces such as The Homecoming and Old Times by Harold Pinter. It was a combination that thrilled audiences and this close and exacting relationship between writers from different eras has become the fuel that powers the creativity of the RSC. In 1974, The Other Place opened in a tin hut on Waterside under the visionary leadership and artistic directorship of Buzz Goodbody. Determined to explore Shakespeares plays in intimate proximity to her audience and to make small-scale, radical new work, Buzz revitalised the Companys interrogation between the contemporary and classical repertoire.

Reopened in 2016 under the artistic directorship of Erica Whyman, The Other Place is once again the home for experimentation and the development of exciting new ideas. In our 55 years of producing new plays, we have collaborated with some of the most exciting writers of their generation. These have included: Edward Albee, Howard Barker, Alice Birch, Richard Bean, Edward Bond, Howard Brenton, Marina Carr, Caryl Churchill, Martin Crimp, Can Dndar, David Edgar, Helen Edmundson, James Fenton, Georgia Fitch, Robin French, Juliet Gilkes Romero, Fraser Grace, David Greig, Tanika Gupta, Matt Hartley, Ella Hickson, Kirsty Housley, Dennis Kelly, Hannah Khalil, Anders Lustgarten, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Martin McDonagh, Tom Morton-Smith, Rona Munro, Richard Nelson, Anthony Neilson, Harold Pinter, Phil Porter, Mike Poulton, Mark Ravenhill, Somalia Seaton, Adriano Shaplin, Tom Stoppard, Debbie Tucker Green, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Peter Whelan and Roy Williams. The Company today is led by Gregory Doran, whose appointment as Artistic Director represents a long-term commitment to the disciplines and craftsmanship required to put on the plays of Shakespeare. The RSC under his leadership is committed to illuminating the relevance of Shakespeares plays and the works of his contemporaries for the next generation of audiences and believes that our continued investment in new plays and living writers is an essential part of that mission. The RSC is grateful for the significant support of its principal funder, Arts Council England, without which our work would not be possible.

Around 75 per cent of the RSCs income is self-generated from Box Office sales, sponsorship, donations, enterprise and partnerships with other organisations. NEW WORK AT THE RSC We are a contemporary theatre company built on classical rigour. Through an extensive programme of research and development, we resource writers, directors and actors to explore and develop new ideas for our stages, and as part of this we commission playwrights to engage with the muscularity and ambition of the classics and to set Shakespeares world in the context of our own. We invite writers to spend time with us in our rehearsal rooms, with our actors and creative teams. Alongside developing new plays for all our stages, we invite playwrights to contribute dramaturgically to both our productions of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as our work for, and with, young people. We believe that engaging with living writers and contemporary theatre-makers helps to establish a creative culture within the Company which both inspires new work and creates an ever more urgent sense of enquiry into the classics.

Shakespeare was a great innovator and breaker of rules, as well as a bold commentator on the times in which he lived. It is his spirit which informs new work at the RSC. Erica Whyman, Deputy Artistic Director, heads up this strand of the Companys work alongside Pippa Hill as Head of Literary. The work of the RSC Literary Department is generously supported by THE DRUE AND H.J. HEINZ II CHARITABLE TRUST. Crooked Dances by Robin French was first presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, on 20 June 2019.

The cast was as follows:

KATY PORLOCK	JEANY SPARK
NICK SOBERS	OLLY MOTT
SILVIA DE ZINGARO	RUTH LASS
DENIS ZANN	BEN ONWUKWE

Crooked Dances is supported by the John S Cohen Foundation. The role of Assistant Director in Crooked Dances is supported by The Nina and Roger Stewart Charitable Trust. The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by THE GATSBY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION and THE KOVNER FOUNDATION.