2012 Company Profiles
paul brendan
actor
Paul left Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in summer 2008. He immediately joined the Old Vic Company in London to understudy the roles of Tom and Reg in the acclaimed production of “The Norman Conquests”.
King Lear
Public Booking Now Open! Click HERE to book online or call 0117 902 0344 to book tickets.
Directed by Andrew Hilton
John Shrapnel in the title role as King Lear
One of the pinnacles of world drama, and Shakespeare’s greatest masterpiece, King Lear is the most complete account we have of what it is – and what it is not – to be human. At a time when autocratic regimes around the world are under unprecedented threat it has also acquired a new contemporary relevance.
This play was SATTF ’s very first production twelve years ago and the company is thrilled to be bringing this new production to a much wider audience in 2012.
“Andrew Hilton’s commanding production of Richard II … is once again a revelation”
Elisabeth Mahoney - The Guardian (22 Feb 2011)
John Shrapnel is a commanding actor with a long and enviable track record in both theatre and film.
He has a huge raft of work with The National Theatre from Olivier's days to Hytner's, played in films for Warner Brothers, Dreamworks and Working Title and has worked extensively in Television and Radio. He recently played Gloucester opposite Pete Postlethwaite in Rupert Goold's Liverpool Production.
'John is a fiercely intelligent and explosive actor and I know he will relish our space and make us all sit up.'
Artistic Director, Andrew Hilton
Press Reviews
**** The Sunday Times: 'Twelve years ago, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory was launched with a production of King Lear. Now the wheel has spun and the lauded company return to the play, with John Shrapnel as the rash king. There are no gimmicks here; instead, all that counts is the actors and their words....every word sounds as if it had been written yesterday.' (Jane Edwardes)
The Stage: 'When Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory launched on an unsuspecting Bristol public with this self-same tragic masterpiece at the turn of the millennium, there were just a dozen people out front on opening night. Yet by the end of the run, word of mouth had already sparked a rush for tickets and such is the company’s enviable reputation 12 years later that a sell-out is assured for the entire six weeks.' (Jeremy Brien)
****The Arts Desk: 'The company, under the inspired artistic direction of Andrew Hilton, opened its 2012 season with a brand new production that displays all the qualities that have made this remarkable company unique in Britain.' (Mark Kidel)
***The Guardian:'What Shrapnel gives us is a Lear who, even if he learns through suffering, remains a king in his own mind.' (MichaelBillington)
Bristol 247: 'King Lear kicks off Shakespeare Season at the Tobacco Factory – with a confidence and aptitude that comes with twelve years of producing the Bard at the very top level.' (Max Boon)
Exeunt Magazine: ''Students and sixth-formers plagued with essay questions about the Lear and Gloucester double-plot would do well to see this production........SATTF’s production is more radical in its apparent conventionality than many a highly conceptual ‘re-working’.' (Tom Phillips)
ReviewsGate: 'And Shrapnel’s Lear, moving from authoritatively-dressed ruler, through sweaty derangement in a string vest to eventual white-clothed serenity with Cordelia, inhabits the costume changes with a path from brisk orders through flashes of insight amid a turbulent mind to ultimate understanding. Rarely has a Lear, or a Lear, so cohered in its various stages.' (Timothy Ramsden)
Gazette: ''Shrapnel gave a spell-bounding performance of a man with a tormented soul.'(Liza-Jane Gillespie)
Cast
John Shrapnel King Lear
Julia Hills Goneril
Dorothea Myer-Bennett Regan
Eleanor Yates Cordelia
Alan Coveney Albany
Byron Mondahl Cornwall
Simon Armstrong Kent
Trevor Cooper Gloucester
Christopher Staines Edgar
Jack Whitam Edmund
Christopher Bianchi Lear's Fool
Paul Brendan Oswald
Benjamin O'Mahony 2nd Knight
Piers Wehner Curan
Danann McAleer as cast
Paul Currier France/ 2nd Attendant
John Sandeman Burgundy/ 2nd Captain (the Herald)
Production
Director Andrew Hilton
Associate Director Dominic Power
Designer Harriet de Winton
Composer Elizabeth Purnell
Lighting Designer Matthew Graham
Please note since first announced there has been a change to the casting.
King Lear - William Shakespeare
9 February – 24 March 2012
Monday: 7.30pm £16
Tuesday: 7.30pm £16
Wednesday: 7.30pm £18
Thursday: 8.00pm £18
Friday: 8.00pm £20
Saturday Matinee: 2.30pm £16*
Saturday Evening: 7.30pm £20
*No Saturday matinee on 11th Feb
Thursday matinees: 1st & 8th March 2.30pm - all tickets £12.
Special preview price Thursday 9th February: £12
Concessions: Groups of ten or more £1 off each ticket. Children under 15 all matinees £12
Priority Booking: for Friends and Patrons opens on Monday 3rd October 2011. To become a Friend or Patron of SATTF click here.
Public booking: opens on Tuesday 1st November 2011
Box Office: 0117 902 0344
Online booking: Click here
The Bridge Foundation Conference
Once again The Bridge Foundation and SATTF will team up in 2012 for a conference using Shakespeare's text as its basis. The play discussed will be King Lear. Click here for a booking form and more information. The Bridge Foundation for Psychotherapy and the Arts is a well established Bristol based organisation and is a registered charity which was established in 1984. Therapy and counselling is provided at our main base at Sydenham Rd, Cotham and in a number of outreach places in the inner city area. We have been co-hosting lectures with SATTF since 2006.
