The Waterfront Theatre School has been selected to take part in Moscow’s Shakespeare Festival from Sunday May 14 to Sunday May 21.
Representing the school are founder Delia Sainsbury and partner Paul Griffiths, professional actors Jenna Galloway and Garth Travares, and students Michael Fenn and Sindiswa Ndlovu.
Under the auspices of the Moscow Institute of Theatrical Arts and supported by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture, the festival includes drama schools from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
The concept is to advance drama schools and the methods of education for students of the BRICS countries.
The theme of the festival is “William Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Theatre”.
Each school will present excerpts from Romeo and Juliet. There will be discussions, exchanges of ideas, and role changes between the actors from the different countries as well as participation of the local students in Moscow.
Performances and the main events take place in an open-air theatre in the Kolomenskoye Park.
The stage is an exact copy of the Globe Theatre, built by the Institute for Theatrical Arts.
“As we had the freedom to develop the Romeo and Juliet theme as a South African version, we have a very interesting slant on the balcony scene with a black Juliet and a white Romeo defining the opposition to their budding relationship. Plus Sindiswa Ndlovu performs a monologue to African drum rhythms with a modern slant on traditional dress.
Genna Galloway performs a scene in the traditional classical style and Garth Travares performs a monologue as a ‘punk Afrikaner’,” say Delia and Paul.
“This is a great honour to have the Waterfront Theatre School singled out for its high standard of teaching and ongoing success of our graduate students.
“We look forward to this invaluable opportunity to present our work, learn, debate and network in the interest of our students,” they said.