Norwich Arts Centre
Norwich Arts Centre
Pirateutopia's multi-media wizardry and Shakespeare's writing combine to create a play in which “virtual” film characters projected on a giant screen appear to overlook and converse with those on stage. At some points, film clips even re-enact the past.
The action plays out on a television set. Benedick and Beatrice are the hosts for a Breakfast TV show by the name Down With Love.
The programme is fired by their animosity: old lines like “I wonder that you will still be talking Signior Benedick, nobody marks you,” come out fresh and modern, with barely a note of anachronism.
We, the hapless audience, must text in our views on the guests' lives and loves. Enter the young would-be wooers Claudio and Hero. Should they get together or should they not? Behind the scenes, evil Don John schemes against them.
In this show of live link-ups and video tricks, you cannot trust all you see. We're used to doubting the screen, but here it's unclear which is most true: the live action or the replay?
I think Shakespeare would have liked it.
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