St Paul's Players takes Dragons to the RSC in Stratford

An

amateur theatre company based in Southville is taking an original production to

Stratford-upon-Avon in the summer, after being invited to take part in a

national drama festival by the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company.

The

St Paul's Players, which has been entertaining the community with quality

productions for more than 50 years, will be performing a play written

especially for the group called Dragons – based on the classic Shakespeare

tragedy King Lear.

And

audiences in Bristol will be the first to see the production when it makes its

debut at the Bierkeller Theatre in the city centre, from May 22 to 24.

Dragons

takes the themes from King Lear and throws them into the chaotic future of a

world plunged into anarchy following a global financial crisis. It is a

production anchored firmly in Bristol using images of derelict areas of Stokes

Croft as the backdrop for play, which have been produced by city-based

photographer Liz Eve.

The

original script has been penned by television writer David Heslop and it is

being directed by Bristol-based journalist Kirsty Hemming, who has also

appeared in recent St Paul's Players productions.

The

show is part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Open Stages season and will be

performed at The Dell open air theatre in Stratford on June 24. Then on July 6 the

group will move to the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, where selected scenes will

be showcased along with a number of theatre groups from the region as part of

the festival.

Kirsty,

who lives in Southville, says: "Dragons is a fantastic and innovative

production which we are really looking forward to performing it first at the

Bierkeller Theatre which is the perfect setting for the play.

"We

are of course very excited about the prospect of performing in

Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the RSC's Open Stages competition, which would

be a first for our group.

"The

quality of the performances from all the actors in Dragons is really impressive

and everybody in the group is giving their time voluntarily to make sure the

production is the best it can be and that we can realise the vision of the

writer who has created the script for the St Paul's Players."

Writer

David Heslop said he had been thinking about adapting a Shakespeare play for

some time when he was asked take on the script for the St Paul's Players.

He

said: "The germ of this idea came from me trying to think of a Shakespearean

story that would work well in the future and I loved the idea of King Lear in

the future. 

"It's

about the idea of order breaking down in times of strife, and of the men and

women who are strong enough to keep a society together.  These themes, would

allow me to paint a picture rarely seen in Shakespearean adaptations."

Dragons

features Peter Irwin in the lead role of The Dragon, with Christine Sargent, Helen

Parker, Dominic Newton, Toby Rome and Natasha Finch taking up the major roles.

For

information about tickets for The Dragons at the Bierkeller Theatre from May 22

to 24, and upcoming performances in Cardiff and Stratford-upon-Avon, please go

to: www.dragonsinbristol.com