WHAT IS “SHAKESPEARE IN TOWN”?
In the crowded proposal of Shakespearean classics which every year “descends” upon the Western world, the festival “Shakespeare in Town!” presents features that are absolutely original. In fact, the festival “Shakespeare in Town!” every year is entirely dedicated to a different work by William Shakespeare, presented together with a series of events of different kinds, not only related to the theatre.
The work of staging of the final show is open and spread-out in the community through events whose aim is not only to get the people involved in that specific cultural activity (Shakespeare) but also to scatter the values of the professional theatrical production.
Each of these events symbolizes a particular point of view and a specific admission point of the audience to the play. Each event takes place in a different part of the city of Savona, preferring the areas which are less exposed to cultural events. The festival ends with the performance of the text itself, in front of an audience that has increased its awareness and interest towards the festival.
The events change according to:
– The place where they take place: sometimes known, some other times less popular. This allows the community to get close (again) to their own spaces, and to the Festival to move towards its audience instead of the opposite;
– The cost: many events are free, while the ones you have to pay for have a wide range of possibilities;
– The form: each event represents a different potential meeting point with the Shakespearean work: from the themed dinner to the conference, from the film to the internship;
– A somewhat popular nature: the Festival intends to square the circle between the highest “popularization” of the play and the highest accuracy and cohesion to the most advanced academic/theatrical/cultural techniques, instilling depth to the divulgation.
Such features of strength, flexibility and originality of the offer, together with the expertise with which the Festival is run takes it to achieve the following results:
1. The achievement of social classes very different among them for cultural skills, habits, origin, etc. and therefore widespread availability of the proposal;
2. A high level of cultural opportunities, but also friendly, not severe and not elitist at the same time;
3. Participation of the students of the high schools;
4. Confrontation with the academic world with the circulation of original and philologically innovative translations which complete the present proposal of Shakespearean classics in Italy;
5. A high level theatrical production which can also be performed in other stages (the quality of which is well summarized by the words of the TG3 newscast dedicated to one of these:”A lively and energetic version, enough to lead the audience very close to the Shakespeare’s original”).
6. Efficient cooperation with local and national cultural institutions;
7. Creation of the only and unique cultural exhibition of which Savona can be proud of and, as such, that can be exported in other contexts.
It is important to underline how the basis for the itinerary towards the achievement of all these targets is laid every year in the activity of translation of the original text. In fact, the Shakespearean work, the subject of our Festival, is proposed again in a new translation that is also innovative for its lexical choices and the connection with the original Shakespearean editions of the 17° century.
An important recognition for the progression carried out by the Festival from 2005 to date has been conferred by public institutions: in 2008 Liguria region has honoured Salamander’s artistic director with the Regional Prize for Theatre and the municipality of Savona has invited the company to stage the final show at the Teatro Chiabrera, which is now the centre of the strategy of identity and visibility of the event.
