Everything about The Renaissance Theatre Company totally explained
The
Renaissance Theatre Company was founded in 1987 by
Kenneth Branagh and
David Parfitt as a development of the work they'd been doing periodically on the London 'Fringe', producing and appearing in lunchtime shows, leading up to Branagh's full-scale production of
Romeo and Juliet, at the Lyric Studio in Hammersmith in August 1986 co-starring Branagh and
Samantha Bond.
With a group of 'angels' — fellow actors, writers and kindred spirits - the newly-formed company was able to finance its first full season, including the premiere of Branagh's thriller,
Public Enemy, in the Lyric Hammersmith main house, with Branagh in the 'Jimmie Cagney' style leading role. In the same season this was followed by
John Session's satirical solo
The Life of Napoleon which transferred from
Riverside Studios to the
Albery Theatre.
Over Christmas 1987 it ended triumphantly with Branagh's production of
Twelfth Night at Riverside, starring
Richard Briers as Malvolio,
Frances Barber as Viola, and with an original score directed on stage by Scottish actor, musician and composer
Patrick Doyle (who later achieved fame as an international film composer). The production was also recorded by
Thames Television.
Although Renaissance received no public funding, it achieved a high point in 1988 in partnership with
John Adams and the
Birmingham Rep: a touring season of plays launched as
Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, with three leading classical actors making their directing debuts:
Judi Dench with
Much Ado About Nothing,
Geraldine McEwan with
As You Like It, and
Derek Jacobi with Hamlet, which featured Branagh in the title role. After a UK tour and an August stop-over at Elsinore, the three productions were seen in a successful London repertory season at the
Phoenix Theatre.
In 1989 Dench again worked as director for the Renaissance revival of both the theatre and television productions of
Look Back in Anger, presented first in Belfast then in London, starring Branagh as Jimmy Porter and Emma Thompson as Alison.
The company was disbanded in 1994.
They've performed many plays, both famous and discreet, such as William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, and the Midsummer's Night Dream.
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