Contact Us
Contact Details
For more information on The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival Productions:
Tel: 07955 218824
Email: mail@cambridgeshakespeare.com
The Company
The Festival Company was established in Oxford in 1988 by Artistic Director Dr David Crilly. The main focus for the Company is the annual Cambridge Shakespeare Festival which runs throughout July and August. Situated in the gardens of the Colleges of Cambridge University, its pastoral setting is one of the loveliest in the world, and certainly it would be a difficult task to find a more appropriate and beautiful setting for the staging of Shakespeare's plays.
Education
The Company's commitment to providing access to all to these greats works has resulted in the establishment of a programme of educational events associated with the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. Leading up to the Festival, talks, workshops and lectures are available which introduce students of all ages to the plays which are to be performed.
Also, during the Festival, it is possible to book visiting workshops involving the actors and the director of any of the plays in the Festival. The members of the CSF will visit your school, college or language-school and introduce the play and (perhaps more importantly for overseas students) our particular production of it. In this way the students gain the greatest possible benefit from the performance which they attend. During the workshop, students may be called upon to take part in acting out one or two scenes. If preferred, it is possible to book a visit after the students have seen the production.
To book a workshop or talk, contact the Education Officer at mail@cambridgeshakespeare.com or call 07955 218824 to discuss your individual needs.
Company Members
Dr David Crilly
Artistic Director David Crilly established the Festival Company in Oxford in 1988 whilst still a member of Magdalen College, where he undertook doctoral research in musicology. He is a composer and performs regularly as an orchestral conductor in Cambridge. He has published on semiotics, music analysis and aesthetics, and also on the music of Britten, Debussy and Charlie Parker. He is currently Director-in-Residence for Anglia Opera.
Jan Burns
Executive Producer Jan Burns took over as Executive Producer of CSF in 1996, prior to which she worked in publishing and investment banking. Apart from her administrative responsibilities for the Company, she is also the Company dramaturge and advises on aspects of text editing leading to performance.
Simon Bell
Associate Director Simon Bell has been with the CSF since 1994 as Associate Director and fight-choreographer for over fifteen CSF productions. As a freelance director he has devised and directed over fifty productions, including eighteen Shakespeare plays. He is a founder member of The Regenerator Theatre Company and a graduate of both Reading University and Guildford School of Acting. As a qualified stage combat instructor, he regularly teaches at established drama schools and has been responsible for combat displays at the Globe Theatre, Southwark.
David Rowan
Associate Director David Rowan trained at the Guildford School of Acting and has been Associate Director for the CSF for nine years. He has written and directed over fifty productions in rep. and regional theatres, collaborating in one instance with the playwright Arnold Wesker. Recently he set up the Education Department for The Harlequin Theatre. He is visiting drama tutor for Blackheath Conservertoire.
Heidi Gjertsen
Education Officer Heidi Gjertsen studied acting at Mountview Theatre School and has acted in many productions since 1992 for the CSF. Roles taken include Lady Macbeth, Katharina (The Taming of the Shrew) and Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing). She has a degree in Philosophy from Birkbeck College, University of London, and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Wales (Cardiff). She has been Education Co-ordinator for the CSF since 1994.