LOVING DALSTON has been a keen promoter of the spreading realisation that Shakespeare and Shoreditch are words that go together.
In the late 1500s the playwright-poet was acting at theatres in Curtain Road and New Inn Yard.
He was residing in Bishopsgate when he wrote Twelfth Night.
Now a suitably enchanting Hackney setting, the gardens, top, of the Geffrye Museum, is to be used for performances of this beguiling comedy about love and frustration.
The Malachites, Shoreditch’s resident Shakespeare company (their words), say they are on a mission “to reconnect Shakespeare with Shoreditch in the public consciousness by performing these works at venues throughout Hackney and beyond”.
Benjamin Blyth, who co-founded the company two years ago, champions what he calls the “Shoreditch 19”, works written while Shakespeare was around the Ditch.
Nancy Loader, Geffrye press manager, told Loving Dalston: “If this is a success, we will explore more options as we are keen to open up and use our front gardens as much as possible for public events such as this.”
If the weather gods smile on the Geffrye, the venue will be perfect for the play.
As the bard wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on”.
Hamish Scott 260615
* Twelfth Night, Geffrye Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Road, Hoxton E2 9EA (020 7739 9893), Thurs 2, Fri 3, Sat 4 July 2015, 7.30pm, £12 (conc. £10 ). Tickets online, at the door (cash only). Take a picnic or buy food and drink at the venue.
* Backstory: Shakespearo, Hackney hero; Shaka was a Shoreditch dude; Geffrye’s Hackney Plan B
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