Rough Magyck

Synopsis
Video recording of Forkbeard Fantasy’s Rough Magyck. Part outdoor, part indoor, Rough Magyck goes in search of the of the supernatural in Shakespeare mixing mechanical sets, film and cartoon, outlandish characters and puppetry. Entering the foyer of the theatre, the audience is given a box with a range of ‘souvenirs’ inside (including fairy liquid and a complimentary peanut) and is conducted on a theatre tour by either Hamlet Holidays or Arden Forest Dream Tours. The backstory centres on the current renovation of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, telling (on a large video screen in the foyer) how builders had broken into a network of tunnels beneath the theatre that dated back to Tudor times. Inside the tunnels, something had been disturbed which was now sending mystical energy up into the auditorium. Two documentary presenters, the Brittonioni Brothers, are making a film about Shakespeare’s supernatural. The audience is then escorted into the venue, to see workmen digging in the auditorium and awakening a mysterious hoofed figure beneath the theatre. The tour operators are shown to be ‘Ron’ and ‘Tania’, two fairies, and the head of RSC Marketing, ‘Paul Spero’, was a magician who had abjured his magic. Finally taken into the Cube space, the Brittonioni Brothers, assisted by Puck, show the start of their film, a strange world of fact, anecdote, video presentation that merges into real life and general confusion.
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Video
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Recording date
Oct 2006

Credits

Cinematographer
Robin Thorburn
Writer
Forkbeard Fantasy
Music
Lotus Pedals
Production Design
Penny Saunders
Cast
Brittonioni Brothersas themsleves
Chris BrittonRon of Hamlet Holidays
Ed JoblingMr Jobling, Building and Technical Manager
Jay ThomasAngelo, Tany’s assistant
Paschale StraitonMr Pasquale, Box Office Manager
Rachel ClarkeBlossom, Ron’s assistant
Tamzin GriffinTanya, of Arden Forest Dream Tours
Tim BrittonPaul Spero, Head of Marketing

Additional Details

Theatre
Cube, The
Theatre company
Forkbeard Fantasy
Production type
Stage Recordings
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); magic; Complete Works Festival (Stratford upon Avon 2006-7); Multimedia productions

Notes

General
From 25 October-18 November 2006 the auditorium of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was transformed into an intimate 100 seat studio space.
History
The production played at The Cube 25-28 October 2006 as part of the Complete Works Festival.

Production Company

Name

Forkbeard Fantasy

Archive

Name

Shakespeare Birthplace Collections

Email
collections@shakespeare.org.uk
Web
https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/collections/ External site opens in new window
Address
Shakespeare Centre
Henley Street
Stratford-upon-Avon
CV37 6QW

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Rough Magyck". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av68498 (Accessed 25 Nov 2024)