“inspiring and stimulating and utterly wonderful from start to finish”
Contact UsThe third SHAKE Festival produced by Jenny Caron Hall
took place at Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall & Aldeburgh Cinema
on 7th & 8th October 2023
Alex Jennings & Laurence Edwards at SHAKE Festival, 2023
photo by Bill Jackson
"SHAKE created a hub that drew many good and inspiring folk into the festivities"
"A fabulous festival. So much variety, food for thought, wonderful entertainment"
"Moving, marvellous, fascinating, hilarious!"
"What an experience"
"Fantastic!"
Professor Katherine Scheil. Sir Stanley Wells, Tim Fitzhigham, Michael Imison, Councillor Katie Graham at SHAKE 2023
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Nick Fowler, the children of Jubilee Opera, Dame Janet Suzman at SHAKE Festival 2023
Laura Wright, Dr Paul Edmondson, Sir Stanley Wells at SHAKE Festival 2023
Usher Fiona Darrington with colour-coordinated outfit
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AJH audience from the Wings...Drinks on the terrace of The Suffolk Hotel
Sunday 8th October 2023
Jenny Hall and Alde Valley Academy at SHAKE Festival 2023 | Jubilee Opera's pianist Liz Wood takes a bow
This year we are proud to include our Eco-Leaflet, King Lear and the Natural World, by JULIA BLACKBURN at all events
With thanks to Aldeburgh Bookshop for being our superb Festival bookseller!
PRIVATE DONATIONS
Mackintosh Foundation, Mrs Carol Boyle, Mrs Xanthe Mosley, Ms Raana Hosseinpour
Ms Kirsten Hecktermann, Mr Paul Raphael, Ms Karen Dotrice, Mme Leslie Caron, Ms Sasha French
Mr Bill Batten, Spectra Packaging, Ms Rebecca Hall, Ms Sara Keene, Ms Lucy Forman
Mrs Victoria Seale Jones, The Backstage Trust, Ms Emma Thompson
Mr Stephen Fry, Professor Jean Gooder
SEPTEMBER 2023
Leo Wringer, Jenny Caron Hall and Laura Wright
performed songs, sonnets, extracts from Antony & Cleopatra and A Midsummer Night's Dream plus
a short talk on Shakespeare's verse and the influence of Petrach's Canzoniere 132,
at the Hurlingham Club, London on September 1st.
AUGUST
VERONA INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL - MASTERCLASSES
JUNE 2023
We had a great time at FirstLight Lowestoft, doing a verse workshop
(Barnaby Taylor, Beth O'Halloran and Jenny Hall) Saturday June 17th
The 2nd SHAKE Festival weekend was held 24-25 September 2022
WHAT PEOPLE SAID
1. GERALDINE JAMES - Playing Portia and Imogen - Talk
2. EDWARD HALL - The Making of Propeller Theatre Company– Talk
3. ALAN COX - The Taming of the Shrew -
a wild workshop with Wendy Morgan, Alistair Hall, Richard Blaine, Helen Adie and Katie MacRae
4. BOLD AND SAUCY WRONGS - Original songs - Music Performance
5. STEPHEN UNWIN - Poor Naked Wretches -Talk
6. Issy van Randwyck & Stefan Bednarczyk- Kiss Me Kate & West Side Story- Musicals Workshop
7. Prof GRACE IOPPOLO - Henslow/Alleyn Archive -Talk
8. PETER HAMILTON DYER - Globe Performance Workshop
9. TIM FITZHIGHAM & THOM TUCK – Mr & Mrs Scottish Play - Comedy Performance
10. DIANA QUICK - Venus & Adonis (1593)- Reading
11. PAUL BENNEY – Video Art- Theatre Backwall
12. JENNY HALL – The Book of Thomas Moore - Verse Talk
13. MALACHY KING & FRIENDS - Sonnets - Reading
Summer 2021
"Mark Quartley is a towering Leontes" Maryam Philpott, The Review Hub
A Midsummer Night's Dream was performed once, live, online on 31st March 2021
Reviews & Audience Feedback
'Dan Stevens' suave performance as Oberon was a prime asset." The Times.
"Rebecca Hall...simply seducing the screen with generous lashings of old-fashioned sex appeal." The Arts Desk.
"A strong cast and a classic work allow this production to transcend limitations of the digital format." The Stage.
Absolutely brilliant.. cast was amazing.. Thank you SHAKE festival...we were transported.
what are you doing next? We can't wait(audience member)
I found that I noticed the beauty and the poetry of the language more than in a theatre.
Maureen H.
Made me laugh a lot!" Sam R
23rd December 2020, Tea-time
A Selection of Sonnets and Music, starring Harriet Walter and Janet Suzman
with Wendy Morgan, Tim Fitzhigham, Ben Elder, Katherine MacRae and Barnaby Taylor
November 19th 2020
The Tempest was a fully rehearsed reading of Shakespeare's play, live-streamed to Youtube from zoom,
starring Geraldine James and Rebecca Hall
Audience Feedback
'Thank you so much. I had forgotten how much I missed the wonder and beauty of Shakespeare. I loved it.' Jane H.
'I have never listened so carefully, and so enjoyably' Peter A.
'A resounding stunning success!' Dale P
'You got the whole atmosphere without props or scenery, and Prospero's last speech brought tears to my eyes'.
Everyone was so good.' Caroline W.
'Geraldine James's Prospero was wonderful - she brought such a different hue to the part and the play' Fiona M.
'OMG totally enthralling. Loved it all. Congratulations to all — now that's how to zoom Shakespeare!' Liz W.
'Wonderful voices, bringing the whole play vividly to mind!' Jean G.
The inaugural SHAKE Festival weekend was held at The Cut in Halesworth, 25/26/27 October 2019
FRIDAY 25 October The Three Inch Fools presented Much Ado About Nothing.
SATURDAY 26 October
Lucy Bailey, Titus Andronicus workshop.
Tim FitzHigham - An Audience with 3 Actors Joe Sowerbutts, Ben Elder and Beth Keys-Holloway.
Dame Harriet Walter: Shakespeare & Gender (talk + performance with Ian Kelly + Q&A).
Jenny Hall, Kids Verse Workshop.
Dr Bonnie Lander-Johnson: Flowers, Folklore and Shakespeares Rural Upbringing, with actors Tamara Hinchco and Tom Marshall.
Caroline Mummery and Roger Eno: (dance workshop) Ariels Song set to original music.
Richard OBrien, Verse Drama from Shakespeare to the Present, with actors Roderick Smith, Judith Sharp and Richard Blaine.
Ian Kelly: "Shakespeare, Garrick and the Birth of an Icon (lecture).
Film Screening: David Tennant plays Hamlet at the RSC.
SUNDAY 27 October 2019
Jenny Hall The Rhetoric of Shakespeare's Women - workshop with Dame Harriet Walter and Judith Sharp.
Prof Grace Ioppolo: 'Vagrant and licentious rabble' The life of a travelling actor in Shakespeare's England (lecture).
Tim FitzHigham, An Audience with 3 Actors Joe Sowerbutts, Ben Elder & Beth Keys-Holloway.
Jo Carrick, ' Forest Theatre & Why Shakespeare Works Outdoors.'
John Wyver of Illuminations Media: Filming Shakespeare On Stage for the RSC (talk).
A rare film: Peter Hall's RSC A Midsummer Nights Dream, 1959: Diana Rigg, Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Ian Holm, Charles Laughton.
Jenny Hall, Rhythm & Rhymes (Teens Verse Workshop)
Cordelia Monsey, Shakespeare's Sonnets Workshop.
SHAKE is a Shakespeare Festival which began life at The Cut art centre in Halesworth, Suffolk, UK in 2019. The creative director is Jenny Hall.
The first weekend of events in 2019 revolved around workshops, films, talks, music, poetry readings, dance, performance, and an art exhibition.
Jenny Hall was invited to create this festival at The Cut by the late James Holloway, who also founded INK and High Tide. When the pandemic struck, SHAKE became producers of fully rehearsed online play readings, under the name, SHAKE Festival Presents.
In October 2023 SHAKE Festival moved from Halesworth to Aldeburgh.
Tickets for our events and performances are usually available from our BOX OFFICE on Ticketsource
With grateful thanks to our Friends, Volunteers and Supporters: Victoria Seale Jones, Genevieve Christie, Sara Keene, Diana Hiddleston, Janine Edge, Carol and Oscar Graves-Johnston, Lysie Kihl, Julia Sowerbutts, Caroline Wiseman, Rob Gildon and Colin Tricker at Benhall Lodge Estate Office, and Peter, Sam, Aafke and Simon Raven at The Cut.
SHAKE Festival began in 2019 as an unincorporated Community Club. In June 2021, SHAKE FESTIVAL CIC was registered at Companies House as a Community Interest Company or CIC.
We have been generously supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, The Backstage Trust, Golsoncott Foundation, Rodney and Zmira Hornstein, Geraldine Harmsworth, Scarfe Trust, Suffolk County Council, East Suffolk Council, The Mackintosh Foundation, Spectra Packaging, Charnwood Milling Company Ltd, Micronizing Company Ltd in Framlingham and private patrons.
Our Directors are Jenny Hall, Liz Cook, Wendy Morgan, Dame Harriet Walter, Geraldine James OBE, Aafke Groeneveld and Alys Kihl.
Our CIC company number is 13459942
Please feel free to Email us at info (@) shakefestival.com