A Tender Thing
May 22-June 13; Bådteatret, Nyhavn 16, Cph K; tickets: 40-140kr, teaterbilletter.dk
The ever-energetic Why Not Theatre Company, fresh from their run of O, for the love of Shakespeare, are returning to the Bard, this time to stage a modern retelling of his greatest romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
With Shakespeare’s timeless poetry providing the backdrop, British playwright Ben Power has crafted a tale about a couple (Andrew Jeffers and Sure Hansen-Styles) whose love continues to burn with the same ferocity as when they met 40 years ago.
“What you lose of the innocence of the first flowering of teenage love, you gain in the enduring quality of a mature and deeply loving long relationship,” explains director Barry McKenna, who has single-handedly been responsible for well over half of all English-language theatre in Copenhagen over the last decade. (He’s rarely out of work, and for good reason!)
Juliet is dying and painfully deteriorating, and in her anguish, she asks Romeo to help her on her way. What unfolds is a magical poetical portrait of a deep and fulfilling love affair and the sacrifices we make in the name of love.
Power has woven a provocative and powerful new tale of love, passion, and fate. It’s the same dramatic tragedy, only this time it’s imaginatively tailored with a trademark or two …
Raw, rough and achingly beautiful, A Tender Thing is one of a kind – a harrowing account of love, old age, memories and the unbearable pain of sweetly sorrowful parting, which will make your emotions vacillate between all-embracing joy and extreme sadness.
