New UK Tour Of RICHARD II Hitting Major Cities Across The UK This August & September

Female-led Quandary Collective's UK tour of Richard II debuts at major UK cities this late summer. Co-Founders Annie McKenzie and Coco Maertens share their insight into running a theatre company and the challenges they face as theatre-makers in an industry that still prioritises male voices.

To be writing about success in the theatre industry in 2021 seems akin to finding gold in your back garden. Theatre sits underneath the government's swinging pendulum, which has forgotten all forms of beauty, but the beautiful game. The West End tries to keep afloat, despite isolation restrictions forcing them to cancel shows and produce 'off-site swings' to cover roles. Frankly anyone who attempts to stage theatre in 2021 deserves a standing ovation.... and yet Annie and Coco's optimism shines like sun rays through the bleak cloud Covid-19 has draped over our shoulders for so long.

The past three years have seen Annie and Coco assemble their box of jigsaw puzzle pieces, organically put together to create one of the UK's few Shakespeare tours of 2021. Their version, with a male-heavy cast in which Coco features as the only female (Richard), demonstrates how a woman cannot be powerful without judgement. Hi Nicola Sturgeon, Angela Merkel, Kamala Harris, Jacinda Ardern, Maia Sandu... shall we go on? Has anything really changed? No, we thought not.

With their impressive tour debuting at major UK cities, the only make-up on their faces these days is passion, and maybe a hint of that traditional bravado. They must have learnt it from somewhere, right? The Co-Founders reveal how acting in a more 'masculine' manner, by being less apologetic and 'sweet' has given them faster results. Annie admits how "we've had conversations about writing a more 'masculine' email...we've been conscious of the tone of emails and phone calls." "We sent a kind of 'bugger it' email to one venue, thinking they weren't interested and got a response within twenty minutes saying they can make it work." It's sad to hear that in creative industries, women feel this subconscious pressure to act masculine in order to get ahead.

In spite of all this, Annie and Coco are women to watch. They stand out as active, passionate theatre-makers. Their fearlessness is admirable as they proclaim the tour is going ahead "no matter what rules are in place." They are full of exuberance, words come to them with the ease of someone who is confident in all the right ways a woman deserves to feel. Despite occasionally bending to masculine perceptions behind-the-scenes, Annie and Coco are opening up conversations and sharing their experiences, inviting women in 2021 to take what they want. No matter who is holding you back, be it gender, society, or history, if you give yourself permission to say no, to take those opportunities and do what you feel is right, life can change quite dramatically in a short space of time.

SHOW SYNOPSIS

A kingdom in which a woman is presenting as a man to hold on to power. Where feudal law has returned due to global ecological collapse and the ravaging effects of the pandemic. A place where a war is brewing between neighbouring lands, and the politics of old and young wrestle with each other to maintain a fragile peace.

Somewhere between Mad Max: Fury Road, an episode of Game of Thrones and a visit to the Museum of British Folklore, Quandary Collective's Richard II is a bloody outdoor exhibition that blends Shakespeare's text with visceral movement and live electronic music. This young company's fearless adaptation investigates deeply what it means to lead a country, the devastating effects of toxic masculinity, and why gender continually seems to matter in positions of power.

Tickets are on-sale at www.quandarycollective.com, £18.00 Adults, £16.00 Concessions, £15.00 Group Tickets - across all venues.

TOUR DATES & VENUES

18th - 21st Aug - (Bristol) Shakespeare Festival, *Preview

24th - 25th Aug (Dorset) - Old School Amphitheatre, * Preview

31st Aug - 3rd Sept (London) - Eagle London/The Garden Theatre,

10th - 11th Sept - (Oxfordshire) Waterperry Gardens Amphitheatre,

15th - 18th Sept - (Brighton) Open Air Theatre,

21st - 22nd Sept - (Liverpool) St Luke's Bombed Out Church,

24th - 25th Sept - (Hull) Stage @ The Docks,

Age Recommendation: 16+

Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes (including a 15 minute interval)

This show contains bloody violence and full-frontal nudity.

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