Three dance and theatre professors from London’s Kingston University will visit UNC Charlotte to collaborate on a planned student theatrical production. They will be working with Maryrica Lottman, associate professor of Spanish.
The proposed production will combine a 45-minute, English-language version of Cervantes’ “The Sultan’s Queen” with a 45-minute version of Shakespeare’s “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.”
The visiting Kingston faculty members are James Reynolds, theatre director; choreographer Jon Chu; and Andrew Nasrat, sound/lighting designer. While on campus, they will participate in workshops, being held in Cone University Center, McKnight Hall; anyone interested in contributing to the development of the project can attend one of the workshops. The first one, dealing with the creation period “All at Sea” will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 29. A second workshop on “The Hero’s Journey” will be from 3 to 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 30; and the third one on “Sacred Space” will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 31.
According to the researchers, several themes and plot elements are common to “The Sultan’s Queen” and “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.”
Lottman noted, “While ‘Pericles’ periodically is staged in the English-speaking world, ‘The Sultan’s Queen’ rarely is staged, even in Spain, despite its great merits.”
Cervantes’ story takes place in 16th-century Istanbul and deals with piracy, human trafficking and Christian-Muslim conflicts; but the play is actually a romantic comedy and ends happily.
The UNC Charlotte workshops will serve as introduction to a study abroad program in England. The Cevantes/Shakespeare adaptations will be performed in London as part of a summer course in which University students will work with Kingston University enrollees. The production will be part of the Kingston International Youth Arts Festival, one of the largest such festivals in Europe.
For more information, email Lottman at mlottman@uncc.edu.