Cheek By Jowl to Present New Production of PERICLES in 2018

In Shakespeare's 400th anniversary year, Cheek by Jowl is delighted to announce that Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod will return to the French language with a new production of Shakespeare's Pericles opening in Paris and then going on to perform in Europe in 2018. This follows their acclaimed French language production of Ubu Roi which performed worldwide from 2013- 2015.

Pericles is one of Shakespeare's strangest and most heart rending plays. Pericles, shipwrecked on the Mediterranean navigates a stormy sea of pirates, magicians, brothels, kidnappers, tournaments, plots against his life... ?and divine intervention from the Goddess Diana. Incest, treachery, murder, love, joy all explode in this giant theatrical firework ... the embers dim and glow in one of the greatest and most moving scenes Shakespeare ever wrote, Pericles recognition of his long lost daughter Marina.

Pericles marks Cheek by Jowl's first Shakespeare in French and will complete the company's cycle of Shakespeare's four late romances: Cymbeline (2007), The Tempest (2011) and The Winter's Tale (2015).

Prior to Pericles in 2018, Cheek by Jowl returns to the Edinburgh International Festival this August with their Russian-language production of Measure for Measure. The co-production with Moscow's Pushkin Theatre runs at the Royal Lyceum Theatre from 16 - 20 August 2016, and marks the company's 35th anniversary. Its inaugural production of William Wycherley's The Country Wife, opened at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 17 August, 1981 at St Columba by the Castle.

Ahead of performances in Edinburgh, Measure for Measure opens the 2016 Shakespeare Festival at Hamlet's Castle, Kronborg, Elsinore, with performances from 1 to 7 August. The festival also celebrates a landmark anniversary, marking the 200th year of performing Shakespeare in this traditional setting.

Measure for Measure has been hailed in Moscow as "a shattering portrait of contemporary Russia" (Novaya Gazeta). With his unique brew of laughter and high seriousness, Shakespeare dissects the nature of government, love, and justice - asking unsettling questions about how we are governed, exploring the "complex relationships between those in power, and ordinary citizens" (Kristina Matvienko).

A corrupt government policing a chaotic city's convents, prisons and brothels... Cheek by Jowl's Measure for Measure, through "a series of swiftly changing spectacular scenes" (Teatral) explodes as "a real thriller, piercing the heart of the entire audience"(Mir 24).

Declan Donnellan directs both Pericles and Measure for Measure. He is joint founder of Cheek by Jowl with Nick Ormerod. As joint Artistic Director of the company, he has directed over 30 productions. In 1989 he was made Associate Director of the Royal National Theatre in London where his productions have included Fuente Ovenjuna, Sweeney Todd, The Mandate and both parts of Angels in America. His other directing credits include for the Royal Shakespeare Company The School for Scandal, King Lear (Academy 2002) and Great Expectations; Le Cid for the Avignon Festival, Romeo and Juliet (Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow), The Winter's Tale (Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg). In 1999 he was invited by Valery Shadrin to form a company of actors in Moscow under the auspices of The Chekhov International Theatre Festival; this company's productions include Boris Godunov, Twelfth Night, Three Sisters and The Tempest. These productions have already been seen in 48 cities of 25 countries. He has received awards in Moscow, Paris, New York and London, including three Laurence Olivier Awards - Director of the Year (1987), Best Director of a Play (1995) and the Olivier for Outstanding Achievement (1990). He has been awarded a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his work in France. His first film was Bel Ami, co-directed with Nick Ormerod. His production of Shakespeare in Love recently played at the Noel Coward Theatre.

Cheek by Jowl was founded by Artistic Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod in 1981. Since its inception, it has toured to almost 400 cities across the world, performing in English, French and Russian. Its recent production of Measure for Measure played to a sold-out theatre at its Barbican home, and their world tour of Shakespeare's Winter's Tale is currently underway.

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