Double Falsehood – Shakespeare’s ‘Lost’ Play

In January 2011 I will be lighting MokitaGrit’s production of Double Falsehood at the Union Theatre in Southwark. This will be the first professional revival since 1792 of what many believe to be a play written — at least in part — by William Shakespeare.

From the website:

In 1727 DOUBLE FALSEHOOD was premiered by English playwright and editor Lewis Theobald at Drury Lane claiming that it was based on a lost play by Shakespeare and John Fletcher of 1613. The production enjoyed several popular revivals despite critics questioning its authenticity. The piece fell out of favour and into obscurity dividing academics as to its worth until 2010 when Methuen published the play as part of its scholarly Arden Complete Works of Shakespeare, igniting debate as to which, if any, passages are by Shakespeare.

It’s fair to assume that most audiences at most productions of most of Shakespeare’s plays are going to have a reasonable understanding of the story. Actors and audience alike start with a common understanding of Hamlet or Lear or even Falstaff, and have some basis on which to craft and to judge a performance. This, on the other hand, is truly unexplored territory for everyone. So, a big part of our challenge will be to make the characters and the story clear enough for the audience to decide whether it’s a play worth doing at all, Shakespearean roots or not…

Is it really Shakespeare? Which parts? Is it any good? Come find out at the Union Theatre in London, starting January 18, 2011.

Double Falsehood

18th January − 12th February 2011
Tuesdays to Saturday at 7.30pm,
Sundays at 4pm
(30th January and 6th February)

Tickets: £15.
Limited £5 tickets for U21s
(first two weeks only)

Tel: 0207 2619 876
or book Double Falsehood tickets online

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