Top Ten of 2008
December 31, 2008
Happy new year! As 2009 dawns, here’s a look back at my theatregoing in 2008, via my top ten productions. Without further ado: 10. The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare’s Globe, August) A close call between this and the Globe’s other standout production, Timon of Athens. While the inventive Timon flagged in its second act, …
2009
December 16, 2008
To offset the rather negative tone of the last few posts, I thought I’d just post some of the things I’m really looking forward to next year, partly to remind myself but also so I can officially start getting excited about the new year! Coming up: All’s Well that Ends Well: directed by Marianne Elliott …
Twelfth Night vs. National Rail
December 13, 2008
Right now, at the time of writing, I should be fifty minutes into the Donmar Warehouse’s acclaimed new production of Twelfth Night, watching Derek Jacobi, Ron Cook et al. put my favourite comedy through its paces. However, I’m instead in my study. Why? RAIN! That’s right, yet again Britain is taken completely by surprise when …
The Hamlet Drama
December 10, 2008
Sigh. Only a few months ago, I barely bothered to review the RSC’s Hamlet as, frankly, I was bored of the blanket coverage of the play even before I’d seen it. And since then, there’s been no let up. There was the drama about the skull, then the drama when the skull was removed, and …
Romeo and Juliet (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
December 8, 2008
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/6433.aspx I’m not going to beat around the bush with this review. The RSC’s new production of Romeo and Juliet is one of the worst productions of Shakespeare I’ve ever had the misfortune to sit through. As hard as I tried to find some positive aspects to the production, I honestly …
New Globe season
November 20, 2008
By sheer chance, I popped onto the Shakespeare’s Globesite this afternoon and found that this press release went up yesterday announcing the new season. The more I know about the Globe, the more I look forward to the work. Anyway, here’s the basics if clicking a link is too hard. Season title: Young Hearts Excellent, a …
Twelfth Night (Filter) @ The Courtyard Theatre
November 8, 2008
Writing about web page http://www.filtertheatre.com/ As part of the original Complete Works ‘Bardathon’, I was one of the few people lucky enough to catch the earliest days of Filter Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night, when it was still just a work-in-progress being tested out in the tiny Cube space. The finished version has been touring …
King Lear (Headlong) @ The Everyman Theatre
November 6, 2008
Writing about web page http://www.everymanplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/show-detail.asp?id=219 Rupert Goold’s new production of King Lear is a particularly major event for the Liverpool Everyman Theatre, the small repertory theatre with a longstanding reputation for excellence. One of the central events of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture, the production brings together one of the nation’s most prominent …
Love’s Labour’s Lost @ The Rose Theatre Kingston
October 30, 2008
Writing about web page http://www.rosetheatrekingston.org/whats-on/loves-labours-lost The opportunity to see two different productions of Love’s Labour’s Lost in close proximity of each other doesn’t come around very often, yet October has offered this in the shape of Greg Doran’s production for the RSC and Peter Hall’s new production for the Rose Theatre Kingston, which also happens …
Love’s Labour’s Lost (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
October 18, 2008
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/WhatsOn/5725.aspx Love’s Labour’s Lost is often regarded as a difficult play to stage, and in many cases can be a difficult play to watch. There are many good reasons for its long absence from the British stage, and modern revivals have to tread a fine line between clarity and dumbing down, between humour …
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