The Curious Lives of Shakespeare and Cervantes

Description

The Curious Lives of Shakespeare and Cervantes

by Asa Palomera

• 2016 was the 400th anniversary of the deaths of two of the world’s most famous authors, William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.
• Pioneering writer and director, Asa Palomera (“a powerhouse on Melbourne’s independent theatre scene”): “I’ve tried to bring forth the sheer humanity of theirs, to present them as it were in their under wears, to show that the emotions we feel from their work are as human as the emotions they, in turn, experienced when they were alive.”
• Productions of The Curious Lives of Shakespeare & Cervantes took place at Adam House Theatre (Edinburgh, 2010), Bloomsbury Theatre (London, 2010), Thai premiere (Bangkok Theatre Festival, 2014). Staged reading at Tara Arts Theatre (London, November 2016).

This comic romp through the lives of literary masters William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes charts their influence on the modern world. It contrasts the fortunes of two contemporaries whose native countries’ – England and Spain – went from alliance to enmity in a short space of time.

“this well-charted account of key events in each of their lives moves at a relentless pace … dynamic narration…the audience never loses touch.”

“The private lives of creative geniuses have long fascinated literary groupies in search of clues about where inspiration comes from… Asa Gim Palomera’s restless piece of imagined history [treats] the two writers as equals with an awful lot in common, despite the age gap that nevertheless saw both men shuffle off this mortal coil within 11 days of each other.”  — Sydney Morning Herald

 About the Author

Asa is a Japanese-born Korean/American playwright and director whose work has been performed internationally. She trained at TISCH in New York and started her theatre career on and off Broadway under the producer, Joseph Papp. In Melbourne, Australia she created the Women of Asia Company that produced Monologues and The Prodigal Daughter which won the ‘City of Melbourne Award for Original Play’ and was invited to open at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Her play The Curious Lives of Shakespeare & Cervantes opened at Edinburgh’s Adam House Theatre and has been performed at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, and at Tara Arts Theatre in Wandsworth as well as numerous performances in Asia. Asa now divides her time between Chicago and Madrid.