Hello, and thank you for watching our video!
We are Ami Jay, Abigail Pickard Price and Alexandra Da Silva and together we make up the team behind Shrew, a brand-new, hugely exciting, award-winning one-woman show based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. We have all given countless hours to this project and we fervently believe in it, and we'd love to take it even further.
ANY money you can give really will make a difference. We are genuinely thankful for anything you an afford to give us - even if it is just a pound or two.
We want to build relationships with people who help us and it's important to us that we thank you all properly, so do have a good look at our excellent rewards.
SHREW
written and performed by Ami Jay
directed by Abigail Pickard Price
produced by Alexandra da Silva
7.30pm, Oct 28, Theatre Row, NEW YORK
United Solo Theatre Festival 2014
Photo credit Stephanie Yt Chan
'This is all wrong. I'm not supposed to have ended up here. Who put me here?'
Katharina – or Katharine, or Kate, or the Shrew, she isn’t sure which – is trapped.
She laughs. She rails. She throws things. She reminisces.
About her father, who never seemed to care. About her sister, who figured it all out better than she did. And - most and least - about her husband, who made it all happen and who destroyed it all in equal measure.
She is equal parts funny, sad, and repulsive.
She is a tragic figure stuck in comedy.
She is waiting for her audience to come back.
Shrew takes one of literature's most notorious, puzzling and disturbing women - Katharina from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew - and probes her, shakes her up, and turns her inside out to create a piece which asks what it means to be someone, what it means to be a woman, and what it means to be trapped in our own underwhelming destinies.
“…an electrified, heartfelt and impassioned plea to our modern sensibilities.” - Broadway Baby, ★★★★
"…powerful, intelligent writing… the audience don’t dare to look away…A real debate-starter of a show.” - Three Weeks, ★★★★
"…a powerful, active performance that is one of the strongest I have seen at the Fringe…Heartbreaking and accurate.” - Ed Fringe Review, ★★★★
WHERE IS MY MONEY GOING?
Paying our Stage Manager (£50)
It's important to us that people are paid for the hard work they put into our show. The Stage Manager runs the technical rehearsal, makes sure that lighting, sound, set and props are all in order, operates the show and generally ensures that the show runs as it should.
Marketing (£600)
As we are an up-and-coming company performing as part of a wider festival, it's crucial that we raise awareness and get our names out there in order to pull audiences in. We will be advertising online and printing out flyers.
Set (£45)
We're lugging as much as we can from London to New York, but there are a few larger pieces which we'll need to hire on the other side of the pond.
Rehearsal Space (£55)
We'll be brushing up and re-rehearsing before we take our baby up to the Big Apple, and to do this we'll be needing to hire rehearsal space in London.
Fees (£350)
Boring admin costs, including our registration fees for the festival, visa and insurance costs.
Flights and Accomodation (£2500)
And finally, a means to get us all there and a roof over our heads!
Photo credit Rachel Zweig
WHY SHREW?
We believe in making theatre which you can really sink your teeth into - theatre which is knotty, interesting and not always straightforward, and we believe Shrew is exactly that. It tackles feminist issues and what it means to be a woman, both throughout history and in the present day, but isn't out to be a lecture or a sermon. Instead, we want to expose those issues along with all the delicious, problematic strings that come attached. This is precisely why The Taming of the Shrew lends itself so well to the piece - typically regarded as a comedy, Shakespeare's play upon further inspection is deeply troubling, complex, and ultimately not easily solved. We also love tackling classical texts and shaking them up to create something which marries the fresh and the familiar in exciting ways.
WHY NEW YORK?
We have been invited to perform as part of the United Solo Theatre Festival, which is the world's largest festival of solo theatre. We will also be performing in Theatre Row on 42nd Street, an Off-Broadway Theatre right in the heart of the city. This is a huge, unbelievable opportunity for us as young, emerging artists. This is United Solo's biggest year yet, with performers coming to perform from six continents. Theatre companies are given the opportunity to reach out to the industry and receive media attention through previews, profiles, and reviews. Shows are also considered for participation in the exclusive United Solo showcase in Europe, as well as for script publication and other honors at the Festival. Not only are we excited to gain exposure and get our names out there, but we want to bring Shrew to a whole new audience, and discover what responses we might get across the globe. It is also an invaluable opportunity for us to meet other creatives from across the world, and see exciting new work.
WHO WE ARE
Ami Jay
Ami is an emerging young actor, writer and theatre-maker based in London. Recent acting credits include: The Tempest (The Movement/New Diorama and UK Tour), The Kindness of Strangers (curious directive/Southwark Playhouse) and Enduring Song (Bear Trap/Southwark Playhouse). Shrew is her first solo project.
@AmiJay_
Abigail Pickard Price
Credits include:
As Director: Anna Weiss, The Space; On Love, The Bedford and The Bike Shed Theatre; Kitchen Sinking, The Hope Theatre (rehearsed reading) and Oxford School of Drama (workshop); A Brief History of the World Told by a Lady of Conviction, Central School of Speech and Drama.
Assistant Director: The Hunters Grimm, Teatro Vivo/The Watermill/ The Albany, directed by Sophie Austion (R&D week); Sense and Sensibility, The Watermill, directed by Jessica Swale (R&D week); The Adventures of Pinnochio, The Watermill, directed by Robin Belfield; Pushing up Poppies, Hill Street Theatre, directed by Hannah Chissick; Much Ado About Nothing, Guildford Shakespeare Company, directed by Hannah Chissick.
Upcoming productions: Baby (rehearsed reading), Tristan Bates, October 2014.
For more information on Abigail’s theatre company or work please see www.kitehightheatre.co.uk.
@APickardPrice
Alexandra Da Silva
Alexandra graduated from the BA (Hons) Acting course at ALRA in 2012. Since then, she has worked extensively in theatre, namely originating the role of Lily in the Offie-nominated show Streets (Cockpit Theatre/Hackney Empire). As a producer she has worked with Speckulation Entertainment and was production assistant for Idina Menzel’s UK Tour, and co-producer for the successful concert series Been On Broadway (The Pheasantry and Duchess Theatre).
@alexdasilva27
