Esther Jun talks Cymbeline with Thomas Morgan Jones | Stratford Festival 2024

"If we can teleport people, even just for a second, into a place elsewhere, our job as directors is done."
Join director Esther Jun and Thomas Morgan Jones, director of Wendy and Peter Pan, as they discuss Jun’s epic fantasy, Cymbeline. Listen as Jun and Jones discuss the director’s approach to a plot filled with twists, turns and intertwining plots, such as making the plot clear for the audience as the actors convey grief, fantasy and forgiveness through Shakespeare's poetry.
For further behind-the-curtain details on how Jun and company worked together to bring Shakespeare’s Cymbeline to life in the Festival’s 2024 epic fantasy adventure, listen in or watch now!
Cymbeline
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Esther Jun
Set and Lighting Designer - Echo Zhou 周芷會
Costume Designer- Michelle Bohn
Composer- Njo Kong Kie
Sound Designer- Olivia Wheeler
Fight Director and Intimacy Director - Anita Nittoly
Movement Director - Alyssa Martin
00:00 Cymbeline is like an impressionist painting
00:40 Intros
01:05 The Themes of Cymbeline
01:29 Overarching theme, Forgiveness
01:38 Setting the stage in Fantasy
01:41 Lord of the Rings as inspiration
02:11 Grief
02:30 Cymbeline's synopsis
03:35 multi-generational theme weaving inspiration into the production
03:58 Stratford's strength in a multi-generational acting company
05:04 Production Design elements
05:32 Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings, Airbender & more inspirations
07:06 "Wheel of Time" shoutout
08:32 Echo, Set & Lighting Designer shoutout
09:17 Olivia, sound designer shoutout
09:46 LOTR bonding with the crew
10:15 “…the greatest thing about directing Shakespeare…”
11:51 Bringing the play into your everyday life
12:25 the closest thing to speaking emotion...
13:27 Shakespeare talks about nature vs. the court
14:22 The psychological depth of the characters...
15:50 The plot synopsis
16:51 The disturbing bedroom scene
17:28 "...Shakespeare was condemning misogyny in this play..."
18:15 This production cut / Esther's Cut
19:19 The Stratford bibles
22:24 Working on the Tom Patterson Stage
27:31 The surprises in making this production of Cymbeline
29:46 How this show fits in this season's theme of "A World Elsewhere"
30:45 The magic of theatre
31:57 Why Does Esther direct?

[@MKPiatkowski]

Esther did a brilliant job with the show.. Great to hear her talk about it!

[@eviem.6903]

Big fan of this show. Saw my favorite production ever a few months ago. Will there be a way to view this show digitally?