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    By Joanna Cordero
     
    As part of the Globe to Globe Festival Two Gents Productions will be bringing their Shona version of the ‘Two Gentleman of Verona to the Globe theatre on 9 and 10 May. 
     
    The Globe to Globe Festival, which is part of the Shakespeare Festival for the London 2012 Festival, brings together artists from all over the world to perform Shakespeare’s famous plays in their own languages. 
     
    German-born theatre director and founder of Two Gents, Arne Pohlmeier chats with Migrant Voice about working in multicultural London and what it means to be a ‘migrant theatre director’.
     
    1. Can you talk a bit about what the Two Gents is and how it got started? How did the collaboration between you and the actors, Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu begin? Where did this focus on re-interpretations using Zimbabwe culture come from?
     
    Two Gents Productions is a cross cultural theatre company based in London. We present work in London, the UK and on the international touring circuit. We write, devise, develop and perform challenging and unique work that draws on Shakespeare, on our experience of migration and displacement and on our two actors’ Zimbabwean/Shona background.
    Our work together started in 2008. There was a joint desire to create our own work; work that reflected our experiences and inspirations of shifting between cultures and languages, of southern African modes of performance and of setting Shakespeare’s work free by giving it a contemporary, urban, outside of the box twist.
     
    2. How did Two Gents become a part of the Globe to Globe Festival? Two Gents is one of the few London-based theatre groups in the festival, was this a deliberate choice to include a ‘migrant’ group and do you think that this sets the group apart from the other performers?
     
    The festival director, Tom Bird, came to see our production of Kupenga Kwa Hamlet at London’s Oval House theatre in 2010 , really enjoyed it and thought the energy we brought to the stage would work well within the festival. The fact that we are a migrant company probably only influenced his decision indirectly in that our work is made to bridge the gap between cultures and in that we have a real facility in communicating to audiences no matter what their language and background.
     
    3. Your version of Two Gentleman of Verona is hilarious and really finds a good balance between Zimbabwean cultural features and staying ‘loyal’ to the text, how does this balance come about?
     
    This balance is absolutely crucial to our work as we aim to create a real intercultural encounter between the different element of our work. We are mindful of the fact that both the Shakespearean text and the Zimbabwean/southern African modes of performance need to be treated with equal respect, curiosity and playfulness. As a director I am aware that I cannot create this fusion between the two in my head and then only expect the actors to carried it out. It is the actors that really need to take full ownership of the text and incorporate it into the vocabulary of performance that is most readily available to them.
     
    4. How did you become interested in re-interpretations of Shakespeare?
     
    I really got in to reading Shakespeare at university and was a big fan of Shakespeare on stage and screen. It was self evident to me that any performance of Shakespeare is always going to be at a distance from the text and that a “faithful” transposition of text into performance is nothing but a myth. A real honest engagement with the text is then only possible if you integrate it into your own field of experience and interests, which necessitates re-interpretation.
     
    5. Do you think that having a ‘migrant’/’mobile’ background influenced your interest and the way that you engage with the text? Shakespeare has been re-interpreted in so many different ways, do you think that ‘inter-cultural’ readings bring something new?
     
    Directing theatre always involves bringing yourself and your perspective to the work and so I do try to us my migrant background (Germany-Cameroon-USA-South Africa-UK) to inform my reading of the text. I very much hope that the inter-cultural work I create helps to challenge the status quo by allowing audiences to see the text from a new and unexpected perspective.
     
    6. When did you arrive in London and what attracted you to the city? Has it lived up to your expectations?
     
    I moved to London in November 2007, I really wanted to direct Shakespeare in English and London seemed the best place to do it, alongside the promise of being part of a rich and diverse performing arts community. London has indeed lived up to my expectations, though making a living here and carving a space for myself within the arts scene continues to be a challenge, but one that I am happy to engage in.
     
    7. Do you consider yourself a ‘migrant’ theatre director? In your day-to-day work does this play a role?
     
    I do. For me home is a space between places, languages and cultures. When I create work my background allows me to take an impartial look at all the different cultural elements that I am drawing on.
     
    8. Collaborating with people from a different culture can be challenging and rewarding, what are the best things about it and what are the difficulties?
     
    Rewards: Seeing things from a perspective distinctly different to my own and being exposed to a cultural heritage that I otherwise have no access to. As Two Gents Productions Denton, Tonderai and I have learned and shared so much from our differing backgrounds including dance and music styles (Herbert Grönemeyer vs Oliver Mtukudzi) as well as food (Currywurst vs Boerewors) and more!
    Challenges: Recognizing and letting go of assumptions that are not shared by other cultures.
     
    9. How has your work been received by the London public?
     
    Our previous shows (Two Gentlemen of Verona and Kupenga Kwa Hamlet both had extended runs at Oval House Theatre in 2008 and 2010) have been enthusiastically received by audiences, but the big test – Two Gentlemen of Verona in Shona at Shakespeare’s Globe next week – is the biggest test so far. Denton and Tonderai are not only extremely skillful performers they are also very charistmatic and exhuberant – I am sure that anyone flocking to the Globe will come away warmed and enthused!
     
    10. Do you plan on working more in ‘inter-cultural’ settings? Other future projects (especially in London)?
     
    I plan to focus even more strongly on inter-cultural and inter-national work in the coming years. I will be working on a German classic, Schiller’s The Robbers, with a company in Yaoundé, Cameroon later this year and would love to bring it over to the UK in the future. I am also in the planning stages of a new project in which I would like to involve artists and audiences from some of London’s many migrant communities, but this won’t be confirmed for some time yet.
     
    You can see the Two Gents Productions at work during the following dates:
    9-10 May 2012 , performing  Two Gentlemen of Verona in Shona at the Globe Theatre, for more information: http://globetoglobe.shakespearesglobe.com/plays/the-two-gentlemen-verona/english
    23 May 2012, performing Hamlet at the Canada Water Culture Space, tickets are available via www.thealbany.org.uk
    25-26 May 2012, performing Two Gentlemen of Verona  in Shona at Tara Arts, for more information: http://taraarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/126523490/events
    For more information check out www.twogentsproductions.com
     
    Photo: Two Gents Productions.

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