YORK Shakespeare Project's spring production of Pericles, Prince Of Tyre will conclude on April 23, the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.
Sophie Paterson is directing YSP for the first time, having previously directed Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet and Twelfth Night elsewhere, alongside a wide range of works both old and new.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre/Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts in the United States and is at present studying for an MA in writing, directing and performance at the University of York's department of theatre, film and television.
Sophie has decided to set her version of Pericles in a seaside pub, replete with rousing sea-shanties and plenty of beer. "The audience will enter an 18th Century pub, full of the warmth of hearth light, with the regulars singing and socialising," she says, outlining her directorial vision. "This is a place where friends and strangers, family old and new, are welcome.
"Outside, the wind howls, rain and sea-mist spatter against the windows. As people take their seats, a voice rings out in the darkness. A limping sailor rests against his table, and sings us an old shanty of loss at sea. His community rallies around him, joining his song, and so the story of Pericles begins."
In that adventurous story, Pericles, a Prince on the seas, travels to many lands, meets the love of his life, Thaisa, loses her in a storm, and returns home leaving his daughter, Marina, with trusted friends.
However, she is then betrayed, kidnapped by pirates, and sold into prostitution. She manages to escape through rhetoric, gaining a position of respect in Mytilene, until one day Pericles, believing both his wife and daughter to be dead, lands on their shores.
Sophie has chosen a cast of nine for YSP's 29th production, led by Andrew Isherwood as Pericles, after his appearances in York Theatre Royal’s In Fog And Falling Snow at the National Railway Museum last June and YSP's All’s Well That Ends Well in November 2014.
Claire Morley as Thaisa in rehearsal for Pericles, Prince Of Tyre. Picture: John Saunders
His daughter Marina and wife Thaisa will be played by Emily Thane and Claire Morley respectively, following up their principal roles as Fluellen and Henry in YSP’s all-female Henry V last October.
Nick Jones will play Simonides; Rory Oliver, Boult; Jimmy Johnson, Lysimachus; Taylor Sanderson, Cleon; Carrie Morrison, Dionyza, and George Stagnell, Helicanus. Other parts will be performed by the company.
Sophie and her cast are joined by assistant director Buffy Watling, musical director John Robin Morgan, costume designer Amy Rhianne Milton, stage manager Emily Humphrys and assistant stage managers Margarita Mazurova and Alex Wallis.
Pericles will be performed at Upstage Theatre, 41 Monkgate, York, from April 19 to 23 at 7.30pm plus a 2pm Saturday matinee. Tickets are available at £12, concessions £10, on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or on the door from 7pm and 1.30pm.
York Shakespeare Project was established in 2001 and is committed to performing all of Shakespeare’s known plays in York over a 20-year period.
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