Background research for NanjingJude Christian is the writer of…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in Jude Christian, Nanjing, Refugee Week


Jude’s great grandpa, making clocks left-handed after his right hand was shot off.


.The sea at the Isle of Man where one of Jude’s set of grandparents live.


The sea at the island of Penang, Malaysia where the other set of Jude’s grandparents live.


A wall in Penang’s Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion that reminds Jude of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse where Nanjing will be performed.


A Buddhist Shrine with swastika, Penang Hill. The swastika is a Buddhist symbol widely used in Penang. Western European visitors likely associate it with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.


View from Khoo Kongsi the clan house in Penang where Jude’s mother lived as a child

Background research for Nanjing

Jude Christian is the writer of and sole performer in Nanjing.

In 1937 the Japanese army invaded China and took control of the then capital city, Nanjing. The Massacre of Nanjing, frequently referred to as the Rape of Nanking, resulted in the murder of thousands of Chinese citizens.
Jude is British-Chinese, born and raised in England. She was motivated to share her personal feelings on the massacre, and through this to make the audience reflect on atrocities of the past, how they resonate today and also reflect on current conflict in the world.

This highly personal performance has involved a lot of research and conversations with Jude’s family. Here are a selection of images taken by Jude on her research trips to Malaysia and the Isle of Man where her two sets of grandparents live.

This week Jude read this article which made her want to rewrite the play to incorporate it! She said “ I think it makes a good point that it’s important to call out hypocrisy and ugliness in the people we want to hold up as paragons of virtue.”

Further Reading:

Here is a list of books and films that formed part of Jude’s research for Nanjing.

The Undaunted Women of Nanking: The Wartime Diaries of Minnie Vautrin and Tsen Shui-fang (2010, Hua-ling Hu, Zhang Lian-hong)

American Goddess at the Rape of Nanking: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin (2000, Hua-ling Hu)

The Rape of Nanking (1991, Iris Chang)

The Diary of Azuma Shiro (2006, Kimberly Hughes)

The Making of the Rape of Nanking (2006, Takashi Yoshida)

Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia 1941-1945 (2005, Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper)

The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe (1998, John E. Woods)

Documents on the Rape of Nanking (1999, Timothy Brook)

The Gift of Rain (2007, Tan Twan Eng)

Nanking (2007 documentary, Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman)

John Rabe (2010 film, Florian Gallenberger)

Nanjing will run from 22-24 June, part of Refugee Week.  

Winter 2018/19 at Shakespeare’s GlobeThis winter we invite you…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in Globe, PlaybyCandlelight, Shakespeare's Globe, Winter 18/19

Winter 2018/19 at Shakespeare’s Globe

This winter we invite you to play by candlelight in the gilded beauty of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse as we look to the past in order to question the present.

In our first festival of the season – ‘Ambitious Fiends’ – we pair Macbeth, Shakespeare’s meditation on the corrosive nature of power, with Christopher Marlowe’s pact made between the devil and Doctor Faustus.  

In the new year, we find ourselves ‘On the Shoulders of Ghosts’ as we turn our gaze to notions of identity, sexuality, desire and power in Richard II and Edward II.

We invite today’s writers to respond to Shakespeare and Marlowe with a range of new writing. Dark Night of the Soul is a collection of writing by women responding to the Faustian bargain, whilst After Edward regards the king with a queer eye.

Ralegh: The Treason Trial is an immersive verbatim account of the trial of an Elizabethan hero, performed 415 years after it shocked the nation. Before a short run in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, you can catch it in Winchester Great Hall, the location of the original trial.

Looking forward, Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank, our production for young people, will share the story of the tragic romance of Romeo and Juliet.

Our Read Not Dead series continues to shed light on rarely performed plays including Edward I by George Peele, and we have Macbeth and Henry V storytelling and workshops for families. 

Special events include Armistice Day, marking 100 years since the end of the First World War, and our Winter Wassail, a festive celebration of the season.  

Join us this winter as we explore stories from the past, the ghosts of then, and the storytellers from yesteryear, and simultaneously, collectively, create the ghosts of ‘tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’. 

What’s past is prologue
The Tempest, Act II, scene 1

Become a Member to access priority booking

  • Advance priority booking for Patrons: Wednesday 20 June, 10.00am
  • Priority booking for all Friends and Best Friends: Monday 25 June, 10.00am
  • Public booking: Monday 16 July,10.00am

The Theatre at the Hippodrome Casino is being …

Posted on by Since 1985 Posted in Uncategorized

The Theatre at the Hippodrome Casino is being transformed into an intimate, state of the art, magical new home for the show which is based on the smash hit films Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL.

Guests will enter Magic Mike’s mythical club and marvel as a group of extraordinary artists perform a 360-degree dance and acrobatic spectacular in front of, behind, and above their audience.  Sexy dance routines intertwined with one-of-a-kind acts will be presented by a wildly diverse cast of performers from around the world for this hot new production.  Made for a woman’s gaze but directed at a woman’s heart, Magic Mike Live will transport you to a world where the only thing hotter than the men are their unforgettable performances.

Empowering and exhilarating, Magic Mike Live is a scorching, immersive, dance and acrobatic spectacular that will leave you breathless. Whether you’re looking for the perfect date night or an unforgettable girls night out, with this show, the woman is always on top.

Get your tickets at http://magicmikelondon.co.uk

Shakespeare Trilogy on the BBC | Donmar Wareho…

Posted on by Shake & tumble Posted in bbc, donmar warehouse, reblog, television

Shakespeare Trilogy on the BBC | Donmar Warehouse:

sunrayravine:

Julius Caesar, Sunday 17 June on BBC FOUR
The entire Trilogy – Julius Caesar, Henry IV and The Tempest – available on iPlayer following the broadcast.

Realising the Design.James Perkins is the costume designer for…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in costume, costume design, the winters tale

Realising the Design.

James Perkins is the costume designer for this year’s production for The Winter’s Tale. In the run up to opening night he’s given us an insight into what work goes into dressing the cast, and the dangers of being enthusiastic about fabric.

Yesterday I got stuck in a costume.

It was like that moment you try on a ring, slide it past a knuckle and then realise, eyes wide, that you might need some soap.

Except it wasn’t a ring, and I couldn’t solve it with soap, it was a tailor-made irreplaceable pink overshirt, at work, with my new colleagues watching.

We have one in-house and one freelance costume supervisor. They transform my pencil drawings into beautiful reality. We’ve bought fabric from all over London, £3 per metre from Shepherds Bush Market vs appointment-only haberdasheries that sell one-off pieces of vintage embroidery. It’s not until you find and (importantly) touch the fabrics that you know what the costumes will really look like… I think that’s why I wanted to wear the shirt.

Our bespoke items have been sewn by a team of freelance makers. They all start from my drawings, yet their expertise means we have costumes that are both rich in detail as well as wearably practical.

Costume fittings, and the conversations that surround them, are a vital part of the process. The character, and therefore costume, belong to the actor. We can help and suggest and lead but the notes that cut to the core of the character’s identity will nearly always come from the actor.

We’re only halfway through fittings, but between the intelligence and wit of the cast and the support and wisdom of the costume team I’m quietly confident that the end result will be excellent.

I got the shirt off, eventually, with some help.

Tomorrow we’ll see if it fits an actor better…

 The Winter’s Tale opens Friday 22 June.

Images by James Perkins 

Realising the Design.James Perkins is the costume designer for…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in costume, costume design, the winters tale

Realising the Design.

James Perkins is the costume designer for this year’s production for The Winter’s Tale. In the run up to opening night he’s given us an insight into what work goes into dressing the cast, and the dangers of being enthusiastic about fabric.

Yesterday I got stuck in a costume.

It was like that moment you try on a ring, slide it past a knuckle and then realise, eyes wide, that you might need some soap.

Except it wasn’t a ring, and I couldn’t solve it with soap, it was a tailor-made irreplaceable pink overshirt, at work, with my new colleagues watching.

We have one in-house and one freelance costume supervisor. They transform my pencil drawings into beautiful reality. We’ve bought fabric from all over London, £3 per metre from Shepherds Bush Market vs appointment-only haberdasheries that sell one-off pieces of vintage embroidery. It’s not until you find and (importantly) touch the fabrics that you know what the costumes will really look like… I think that’s why I wanted to wear the shirt.

Our bespoke items have been sewn by a team of freelance makers. They all start from my drawings, yet their expertise means we have costumes that are both rich in detail as well as wearably practical.

Costume fittings, and the conversations that surround them, are a vital part of the process. The character, and therefore costume, belong to the actor. We can help and suggest and lead but the notes that cut to the core of the character’s identity will nearly always come from the actor.

We’re only halfway through fittings, but between the intelligence and wit of the cast and the support and wisdom of the costume team I’m quietly confident that the end result will be excellent.

I got the shirt off, eventually, with some help.

Tomorrow we’ll see if it fits an actor better…

 The Winter’s Tale opens Friday 22 June.

Images by James Perkins 

The Winter’s Tale in rehearsal. Blanche McIntyre directs…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in photos, Rehearsal, the winters tale

The Winter’s Tale in rehearsal.

Blanche McIntyre directs Shakespeare’s great play of the irrational and inexplicable.

In a fit of groundless jealousy, Leontes wrecks his marriage, defies the gods, destroys his family and ruins himself. As the years roll around, a new generation flee their own country and take refuge in Sicilia. Unknowingly they bring with them the key to the past, present and future…

The Winter’s Tale opens Friday 22 June.

Photography by Marc Brenner

The Winter’s Tale in rehearsal. Blanche McIntyre directs…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in photos, Rehearsal, the winters tale

The Winter’s Tale in rehearsal.

Blanche McIntyre directs Shakespeare’s great play of the irrational and inexplicable.

In a fit of groundless jealousy, Leontes wrecks his marriage, defies the gods, destroys his family and ruins himself. As the years roll around, a new generation flee their own country and take refuge in Sicilia. Unknowingly they bring with them the key to the past, present and future…

The Winter’s Tale opens Friday 22 June.

Photography by Marc Brenner

Globe on Tour: The Taming of the Shrew in production.Our Globe…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in Globe On Tour, The Taming of the Shrew, Voter's Choice

Globe on Tour: The Taming of the Shrew in production.

Our Globe on Tour cast are giving you the chance to choose the play you see performed. At Chilham Castle in Kent the audience chose to see The Taming of the Shrew from a selection that also included The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. 

Find your nearest tour venue.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner 

Globe on Tour: The Taming of the Shrew in production.Our Globe…

Posted on by Shakespeare's Globe Blog Posted in Globe On Tour, The Taming of the Shrew, Voter's Choice

Globe on Tour: The Taming of the Shrew in production.

Our Globe on Tour cast are giving you the chance to choose the play you see performed. At Chilham Castle in Kent the audience chose to see The Taming of the Shrew from a selection that also included The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. 

Find your nearest tour venue.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner