The authority of blogging on theatre
August 21, 2007
In a couple of week’s time I’m speaking on a panel at the British Shakespeare Assocation’s annual conference on the topic Blogging Shakespeare . I haven’t fully thought out what I’m going to say yet, but a big part of it will be about the authority of blogging. I’ve been thinking about this because of …
Critics vs. Audience
April 19, 2007
The reviews are in, and Conall O’Morrison’s ‘Macbeth’ got a thorough critical lashing. Chief in the complaints were Patrick O’Kane’s unsubtle and shouty title performance (agree), the multicultural cast and setting (disagree), the concept of the witches (completely disagree) and the ultraviolent beginning (which I liked, but one critic made an excellent case for this …
The Grand Overview
April 13, 2007
Here’s the thing I’ve been looking forward to writing for quite some time- a final overview of all the productions I’ve had the pleasure of seeing during the Complete Works. They’re given in order of how highly I rate them- enjoyment, quality of production, interpretation etc. all come into it, but mostly it’s just down …
Old friends: Richard Goulding and John Heffernan
March 31, 2007
One of the satisfying things about seeing the entire Complete Works has been the opportunity to see actors – often in the smaller parts- returning to the stage again and again, excelling in parts and coming to audience’s attentions. Rob Carroll is a good example- a bit player in the ‘Antony’/’Caesar’/’Tempest’ company, who got to …
Actors and the community
February 22, 2007
I’ve just been reading the biographies of the actors in Teatr Piesn Kozla, and wanted to post about some of the things that they’ve done. They don’t advertise themselves as a community theatre group, but yet I found reading their CVs very inspiring. Here are some of the highlights: Actor Alexander Rogaczewski has, since the …
The ‘value’ of a production
February 13, 2007
Some things that provoked thought today about ‘Richard III: An Arab Tragedy’. The audience was tiny, the smallest I’ve ever seen for a full-scale production in the Swan. If we were a third full, I’d be surprised. This could be for several reasons. I’d imagine many people were put off by the foreign language and …
Cymbeline (Kneehigh) @ Birmingham Repertory Theatre……
February 8, 2007
….. was cancelled, as there was a bomb scare in Birmingham right next to the theatre. But I’m sure it would have been good. Oh well.
An anecdote
January 24, 2007
Seeing the small crowd waiting outside Stage Door after ‘Merry Wives: The Musical’ at the weekend, hoping that Judi Dench or Simon Callow would stop and sign autographs, I was reminded of a night back in August. I was sitting in the front row in Holy Trinity Church, waiting for AandBC’s ‘Henry VIII’ to start. …
2007
December 24, 2006
Just been reading through the RSC’s press releases, and was very happy to see early details of what’s coming up once the Complete Works is over! Here’s the very slimmed down version: The continuation of the Histories cycle in the Courtyard- ‘Richard II’ in July, ‘Henry IV Parts 1 and 2’ shortly after, and ‘Henry …
Victory
November 10, 2006
I’m a bit too tired to fullly express my excitement and relief, but today I got into Stratford nice and early and booked my ticket for this afternoon’s reading of ‘One Of These Days’. This means – yes it does – I have now either seen or booked for EVERY SINGLE ONE of the fifty-four …
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