End of Year review
December 22, 2010
It’s been a relatively quiet year on the Shakespeare front, though still enough to justify a quick round-up of the year’s high- and low-lights. There have been a few too many routine productions this year for my liking. Specifically, the National Theatre’s Hamlet and the Bridge Project As You Like It typified the safe, conservative …
Too Many Danes
December 8, 2010
How many Hamlets can we sit through? In many ways, we’re still in the shadow of the RSC and Donmar "celebrity" productions, more recently joined by the National’s major stab. It’s one of the big institutional shows, and it’s had a good run round the main theatres over the last year and a bit. But …
For the Christmas wishlist
November 26, 2010
Courtesy of the National Theatre bookshop. You too can pretend you’re part of Team Hamlet at The Mousetrap: Hamlet ‘Villain’ T-shirt £15.00
RSC 50th anniversary season
November 23, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/press/3481.aspx Plenty to be excited about in the announcement of the new RSC season, which marks both the first new productions to play in the redeveloped RST and the fiftieth anniversary of the modern RSC. Macbeth directed by Michael Boyd: I’m genuinely excited to see what Boyd – with his vivid …
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet (Two Gents Productions) @ The Oval House, London
November 20, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.twogentsproductions.com/wordpress/shows/kupenga-kwa-hamlet Kupenga Kwa Hamlet (The Madness of Hamlet) began with Queen Gertred singing Hatina Musha, a traditional Zimbabwean funeral song. It ended with two jolly gravediggers suddenly collapsing, dead. Yet as bleak as this may sound, Two Gents Productions’ take on Hamlet found a warmth and vivacity in its relationship with …
Macbeth (Song of the Goat Theatre/ Teatr Piesn Kozla) @ The Barbican Pit
November 19, 2010
Writing about web page http://macbeth-thepoint.co.uk/ Last night’s production was informed, for this reviewer, by mimetic associations and intertextuality that bordered, at times, on déjà vu. It was the second Polish take on Macbeth I’ve seen in the last couple of years. It was also the second Macbeth I’ve seen this year at the Barbican, both …
Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany @ Shakespeare’s Globe
November 14, 2010
I’ve never, to my everlasting shame, been to a Read Not Dead reading at the Globe, which is something of a travesty for someone with such an interest in overlooked and rarely-performed early modern drama. To be fair, they’re at 3pm on a Sunday and – as was borne out today – it’s a pain …
New Globe season – and some more Jonson
November 8, 2010
Writing about web page http://shakespeares-globe.org/press/ Cheers to Duncan, as ever, for the tip: Shakespeare’s Globe has announced its new season, and it’s a fascinating one: All’s Well, Much Ado and – of special interest to me – Faustus, as well as touring productions of Hamlet and As You Like It. Also, the White Bear Theatre …
Hamlet (National) @ The Olivier Theatre
October 27, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/59866/productions/hamlet.html A lady sitting next to me at yesterday’s matinee commented how nice a change it made to have someone relatively unknown playing Hamlet. Certainly, Rory Kinnear hasn’t made the same mass-media impact yet as David Tennant or Jude Law, but he’s been working his way up, giving stunning performances in …
Prince of Denmark (National) @ The Cottesloe Theatre
Writing about web page http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/59868/productions/discover-prince-of-denmark.html As a prelude to the afternoon’s Hamlet in the Olivier, I managed to catch one of the final performances of Michael Lesslie’s new play Prince of Denmark, part of the NT’s "discover:" programme. Aimed at teenagers, the production’s purpose was to provide a bridge for young people coming to the …
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