Known as the ‘most popular foreign touring company in China,’ TNT Theatre has built up a huge fan base across the country. Its founder Paul Stebbings has even received an MBE from British royalty for his cultural efforts.
Despite 11 years of bringing shows to China, Stebbings promises their upcoming tour of Twelfth Night will be different for everyone involved.
“This is a brand new production, which will actually premiere in China – which is unusual for us,” he says. “It carries on to Japan and 11 European countries.”
TNT has already staged China tours of Shakespeare classics like Hamlet, Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew, and Stebbings is excited to be tackling what many consider to be the Bard’s greatest comedy.
“Twelfth Night is fascinating because it is the last true comedy Shakespeare wrote. He dispenses with a true central character and gives equal weight to so many people, who are often in disguise. It is a whirlpool of action and inter-reaction that leaves the audience breathless, usually with laughter,” Stebbings says.
The ensemble cast is comprised of TNT veterans like Glyn Connop (Tempest), Rachel Middle (Hamlet), Jean Paul Pfluger (Merchant of Venice) and Gareth Fordred (Macbeth). To capture the show’s hijinks, the company will be using a touring revolve set for the first time.
“It’s a wall that rotates and gives many opportunities for comedy,” Stebbings explains. “It also has a door and window so actors can pop through it. We also have a chair on wheels – it’s a part of the comic whirlpool effect – everything is moving and unfixed.”
“It is a whirlpool of action and inter-reaction that leaves the audience breathless, usually with laughter.”
Named after the Eve of the Feast of Epiphany, which takes place on the 12th night after Christmas, Twelfth Night captures the revelry of the holiday. During Shakespeare’s time, it was a carnival-esque night of role reversal inspired by the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, when masters became slaves for a day.
The show’s storyline of mistaken identity and cross-dressing has inspired recent remakes like the hit jukebox musicals Play On! and All Shook Up, as well as the lesser acclaimed film She’s the Man.
“Gender and identity are such modern themes,” Stebbings notes. “The play questions everything about love, romance, loyalty, purity and moral corruption. It is a work that is constantly reinterpreted.”
Adding to the experience is a live score featuring singers, trumpets, violins and drums. It mixes the original music with period pieces like Vivaldi and original music composed by TNT Theatre’s Helen Beauchamp.
TNT’s Twelfth Night boasts an impressive array of bells and whistles, but Stebbings admits that the production will have a tough time topping the highlight of TNT’s previous tour through China.
“Last year, TNT veteran Richard Ede went down on his knees and proposed marriage to his longtime girlfriend, Natalia Campbell, on stage at the end of Taming of the Shrew in front of 500 people at the Lyceum Theatre in Shanghai,” he says. “Many audience members were in tears.”
most influential theater festivals in China, Modern Drama Valley descends on Shanghai for nearly the entire month of May. A selection of 18 national and international plays split into categories like Chinese drama, pop theatre.
May 5-7, 7.30pm (2pm & 7.30pm on Sat), RMB50-380. Shanghai Grand Theatre, (400 610 3721, en.damai.cn)
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