The MA Shakespeare & Creativity students are participating in the West Midlands Culture Response Unit’s ‘It Gets Lighter From Here’ festival on Monday 21 December.
Working in two groups, the students have produced nine short films that will be disseminated as part of the festival:
Out of Joint aims to delve deeper into the stories of four characters from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale; to provide answers to the unanswered. We wanted to tell how the untold parts of the play come to life through a different medium, with a focus on Leontes, Hermione, Paulina, and Perdita. We challenged ourselves to create four individual vignettes and showcase what the audience doesn’t get a chance to witness onstage.
At what point can an individual move past their mistakes? How can one heal, and what does it take in order to get to that point?
Inspired by the characters and themes in The Comedy of Errors, five short pieces were devised to create a whole that explores what it means to step away from the frantic pace of life and step out from behind our own masks. What could it look like to stop, breathe, listen, and see? Would we value people as unique individuals instead of as a ‘faceless crowd’? When we step forward and celebrate our unique selves, even during the darkest of times, #itgetslighterfromhere.
The films will be hosted by the Royal Shakespeare Company on a webpage that will go live at 10:00 GMT on Monday 21 September: Watch the films
The RSC will then release the first film in each series on Twitter. Out of Joint’s will go out at around 11:00 and Stop.Breathe.Listen.See - Value’s at around 15:00.
There will be a ‘thunderclap’ moment at sunset (around 15.55) where the students will release the remaining seven films.