Thursday 15 May 2014
STAR LINEUPS ANNOUNCED FOR COMPLETE
READING OF SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS AND
DRAMATISATION OF PLATO’S SYMPOSIUM
Ten of the UK’s greatest actors will take part in a complete reading of all 154 of Shakespeare’s
Sonnets as part of an introductory weekend to Southbank Centre’s Festival of Love this summer.
Simon Russell Beale, Maureen Beattie, Deborah Findlay, Oliver Ford Davies, Victoria Hamilton,
David Harewood, Guy Paul, Juliet Stevenson, Harriet Walter and one more actor to be confirmed
will between them read all of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
The event, which marks the 450th anniversary year of Shakespeare’s birth will take place in
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 1 June, and is part of an introductory weekend,
On Love – A Weekend Celebrating Two Love Classics, ahead of Southbank Centre’s summer-long
Festival of Love (Saturday 28 June – Sunday 31 August).
The same weekend, Southbank Centre presents two performances of a dramatised reading of
Plato’s Symposium with Adjoa Andoh, Chipo Chung, Ray Fearon, Tunji Kasim, Michael Maloney
(as Socrates), Michael Nardone, Steve Toussaint and Daniel Weyman (Friday 30 – Saturday 31
May, Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.) Possibly the most influential book about love ever
written, the piece sees some of the finest thinkers in Ancient Greece come together for a drinking
party, with each guest making the case for a different type of love and why it matters. This
modern adaptation by Southbank Centre’s Head of Literature & Spoken Word James Runcie
explores the different types of love featured in Southbank Centre’s Festival of Love and examines
whether love really is the meaning of life.
Throughout the weekend, as well as these two dramatisations, there will be talks, debates,
performances and many free workshops and participatory events to usher in a whole summer of
activities about love at Southbank Centre. On Love – A Weekend Celebrating Two Love Classics
(Friday 30 May – Sunday 1 June) will include a free workshop where participants can stitch a
sonnet into a handkerchief or create an edible sonnet out of chocolate and confectionary letters, a
free screening of Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 classic film Romeo and Juliet, as well as Love Bites – short
talks or ponderings about the seven Greek types of love which have inspired Southbank Centre’s
Festival of Love.
There will be a mass readathon of all Shakespeare’s Sonnets by members of the public, ahead of
the evening reading in Royal Festival Hall. Southbank Centre is looking for people who would like
to learn a sonnet and take part in this mass readathon. Those interested should email
[email protected] for details of how to get involved.
The award-winning Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company will perform a free series of responses to and
reinterpretations of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and two poets Dan Simpson and Niall O'Sullivan, will
be locked in Southbank Centre’s iconic Saison Poetry Library at midnight and given 12 hours to
come up with 154 new poems, which they will tweet throughout the night at
#IronTongueOfMidnight and read at a public event the next morning.
The actors at the Shakespeare’s Sonnets event will read from a Folio Society Letterpress
Commemorative 450th year limited edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets (RRP £350) and Southbank
Centre has one book and a pair of tickets to the (almost sold out) event to giveaway. Members of
the public can enter the competition from 1pm on Thursday 15 May to 5pm on Friday 23 May by
tweeting Love Shakespeare’s Sonnets & Poems @foliosociety @litsouthbank #southbankforlove
Full listings for the weekend are included below.
For further press information please contact:
Katie Toms, Press Manager, 020 7921 0926, [email protected]
Ticket line: 0844 847 9910
Website: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/love
#southbankforlove
Notes to Editors
Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a 21-acre site that sits in the midst of London’s
most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and
architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is home to the Royal
Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery as well as The Saison Poetry
Library and the Arts Council Collection. www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Festival of Love, Southbank Centre’s summer 2014 festival is dedicated to the theme of love. Hundreds of
artists, communities and partners will participate in creating a festival that will explore the many different
facets of human love – from romantic love and the breakdown of relationships, to the harmony (or
disharmony) between nations and the concept of memorials. The festival runs from 28 June to 31 August,
with a taster weekend from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June. Featuring a wide-ranging programme of
themed weekends, performances, talks, outdoor art installations and urban greenery across the site, one of
the highlights, in celebration of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act becoming law in England and Wales
this March, will be the mass wedding event for opposite sex and same-sex couples on the finale festival
weekend (30 and 31 August).
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/love #southbankforlove
The Folio Society has been publishing beautiful illustrated editions of the world's greatest books for over
65 years. The society believes that the literary content of a book should be matched by its physical form.
With specially commissioned illustrations, many of their editions are further enhanced with introductions
written by leading figures in their fields: novelists, journalists, academics, scientists and artists. There are
hundreds of Folio Society editions currently in print covering fiction, biography, history, science,
philosophy, children's literature, humour, myths and legends and more. Exceptional in content and
craftsmanship and maintaining the very highest standards of fine book production, Folio Society editions
are created to last for generations. www.foliosociety.com
FULL LISTINGS
ON LOVE – A WEEKEND CELEBRATING TWO LOVE CLASSICS
PLATO'S SYMPOSIUM
Friday 30 – Saturday 31 May, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, £15, £10
Some of the finest thinkers in Ancient Greece come together for a drinking party to discuss the nature of
love. What is it? Where does it come from? What does it mean to be in love? Whether it's erotic or
platonic, the love of self, family or country, each guest makes a case for a different type of love and why it
matters. Plato's Symposium is possibly the most influential book about love ever written, setting out the
differences between 'erotic' and 'platonic' love and including the origin of the idea that each of us need to
find our 'other half.' This modern adaptation by Southbank Centre’s Head of Literature & Spoken Word
James Runcie, stars Adjoa Andoh, Chipo Chung, Ray Fearon, Tunji Kasim, Michael Maloney (as Socrates),
Michael Nardone, Steve Toussaint and Daniel Weyman.
THE MANY FACES OF LOVE
Saturday 31 May, 11am-5pm, The Clore Ballroom at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Free
Participants – whether beginners at poetry or those who have been writing for years – are invited to take
part in poetry creating workshops in accordance with Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man. With incrEDIBLE
Poetry, edible poem drop in workshops, and a sew a sonnet into a Shakespearean handkerchief session,
there will be something for all ages at the Seven Sonnet Activity Stations.
LOVE BITES
Saturday 31 May, 2.30-6.30pm, The Front Room at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Free
Seven speakers will look at the seven Greek themes of love inspiring Festival of Love. Love Bites are short
digestible and informal ponderings to encourage group discussion around each theme.
BAZ LURHMANN’S ROMEO AND JULIET
Saturday 31 May, 7-9.15pm, The Clore Ballroom at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Free
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest love stories of all time. Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film
adaptation will be shown on The Clore Ballroom and members of the public are invited to dress up as a
character from the film’s famous ball scene – as Claire Danes’s angel or Leonardo DiCaprio’s knight – and
immerse themselves in this story.
THE PEOPLE’S SONNETS
Sunday 1 June, 10am-12pm Queen’s Walk, 12.30-2.30pm Riverside Terrace, 3-5pm Hayward Terrace, Free
Ahead of the Shakespeare’s Sonnets event, there will be The People’s Sonnets. Southbank Centre is calling
out for readers of all ages to learn a sonnet and recite it in a marathon reading. Those interested should
contact [email protected] for details of how to register to read.
THE IRON TONGUE OF MIDNIGHT
Sunday 1 June, 11am, The Clore Ballroom at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Free
Using the 154 Shakespearean Sonnets as inspiration, poets Dan Simpson and Niall O'Sullivan will be locked
in The Saison Poetry Library at midnight and given 12 hours to come up with 154 new poems. They will be
tweeting their work at #IronTongueOfMidnight throughout the night, and the following morning will take
to The Clore Ballroom to present some bleary-eyed readings and an installation of their midnight
ponderings.
HIP-HOP SHAKESPEARE – ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
Sunday 1 June, 12-3pm, The Clore Ballroom at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Free
Founded in 2009 by MOBO award-winning hip hop artist Akala, The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company is a
music theatre production company aimed at exploring the social, cultural and linguistic parallels between
the works of Shakespeare and modern day hip-hop culture. THSC also produce interactive live music events
and theatre productions showcasing the work of up and coming young talent who share the stage with
established artists, poets and actors. Some of the exciting new talent from THSC’s Peer Leader artist
collective will perform a series of musical responses and reinterpretations in celebration of Shakespeare’s
legendary Sonnets.
SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS
Sunday 1 June, 5pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, £25, £20, £15, £10
Part one: 5pm – 6.30pm; Part two: 7.15pm – 9pm
To mark the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, all 154 Shakespearean Sonnets will be read in
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall by ten of our finest actors – Simon Russell Beale, Maureen Beattie,
Deborah Findlay, Oliver Ford Davies, Victoria Hamilton, David Harewood, Guy Paul, Juliet Stevenson and
Harriet Walter.