Last Life: A Shakespeare Play is a riveting new piece created entirely from the plays, songs, sonnets, and poems of William Shakespeare.
Writer and director Sara Fay George has put together a striking new assemblage of Shakespeare’s words examining the evolution of a relationship and revealing The Bard as an early feminist.
In an intimate setting we see the story of a man, a woman and everything in-between. Trapped by Kismet in a circle of salt, they are forced to face their scars, betrayals, and vulnerabilities through a matrix of Shakespeare’s wit and words. They are both victims and predators, facing lifetimes of trauma in order to find their way out, move forward, and become free of lifetimes of hurt.
The three performers examine the evolution of a relationship, the uncovering of masculine vulnerability and the embracing of feminine strength. They encompass the elemental and essential human truth that only our bodies are truly our own and that, in the end, they too must be left behind.
‘I found inspiration in the strength and tenacity of Shakespeare’s leading women’ said Sara Fay George ‘In this post #MeToo world it is vital that we enlist men as our allies and we give each other the permission to be who we are and as we are in our shared humanity. I hope Last Life illuminates this.’
Woman is played by Esther Sophia Artner, artistic director of Piece of Yourself, Mikaal Bates plays the role of Man.
Khadija Sallet plays the Goddess Kismet, holding the space with her melodic, powerful, a capella voice and music of her own composition.,
Last Life: A Shakespeare Play is the result of collaboration between two New York based theatre companies appearing at the Fringe for the first time. The Box Collective is a female guided international artistic collective established in 2010 to explore and present
new and emerging theatre work that blurs the line between art and performance. Piece of Yourself creates and produces
performance and film dedicated to authentic and intimate storytelling, building bridges in the shape of stories and bringing into light what has been hiding in the dark.
Greenside@Infirmary Street, Venue 236, 2 – 17 Aug (not 11), 18.30 (50 mins)
