Beaten Gold: Poppea and Richard II

14th/15th September 2018, St Batholomew-the-Great

Who has not wondered what lies behind the faces of our leaders? Authority, desire and fear - chiseled, sanded and beaten into human forms. The New Renaissance Collective presents the stories of two such rulers, whose desires threaten the long-sculpted work of their forefathers. Weaving together selected scenes from Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with Shakespeare’s de-coronation of Richard II, we lift the curtain on the sighs, the glances, the clashes of metal, and the stutters of failure that lie beyond the smooth beaten surface of a mortally longed-for crown.

Trained in physical theatre at l'École Jacques Lecoq, Paris, director Sam Rayner unites the lyrical rhythms of Shakespeare’s poetry and Monteverdi’s fleshly musical lines with the drama of the body, in a production led by musical director Frederick Waxman (Ante Terminum Productions) and produced by Camilla Seale and Frederick Waxman.