To Will (Freshfest) @ The Dirty Duck, University of Warwick
February 27, 2011
A quick note about a short production I saw a couple of days ago. To Will was performed as part of a week-long new writing festival organised by Freshblood Theatre, one of Warwick’s many student drama societies. I didn’t see any programmes, unfortunately, so can’t recount the names of the actors, writer or director. To …
Richard II (SAATF) @ The Tobacco Factory
February 18, 2011
Even though Richard II stands alone as a wonderful, lyrical play, there’s something about a good production that leaves you wanting more, in the form of Henry IV. Certainly the play seems to aim at that. Some of the most exciting moments in Andrew Hilton’s new production, opening this year’s season at the Tobacco Factory, …
Richard III (Propeller) @ The Belgrade, Coventry
February 10, 2011
In stark contrast to last night’s interval concert, audience serenades and jovial banter, Propeller last night erected a stony wall between the audience and the stage. As Richard Clothier’s Richard delivered his "Was ever woman in this humour wooed?" speech, he limped about the stage and then paused. A woman in the front row was …
The Comedy of Errors (Propeller) @ The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
A roar of dissent rose in the foyer of the Belgrade Theatre during the interval of last night’s Comedy of Errors, as the tannoy politely requested that audience members resume their seats for the second half. The roar came, however, not from reluctant audiences, but from the theatre company themselves. The men of Propeller had …
King Lear (Donmar/NT Live) @ Warwick Arts Centre Cinema
February 4, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/pl114.html Poor Paul Jesson. As Gloucester in Michael Grandage’s award-winning production of King Lear, last night he delivered one of the most powerful renditions of the Dover cliffs scene that I’ve ever been privileged to see. Accompanied by Gwilym Lee as Edgar, he shuffled across the bare bleached boards of the …
Double Falsehod (MokitaGrit) @ The Union Theatre, Southwark
February 1, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.doublefalsehood.org/ Comparisons may be odious, but at the Union Theatre’s new production of Double Falsehood, they are positively unavoidable. In August, KDC performed what it called the "21st century premiere" of Theobald’s disputed play in the space. Five months later, the same theatre played host to another Double Falsehood by MokitaGrit …
Discords (After Shakespeare) (Fail Better) @ Warwick Arts Centre Studio
January 24, 2011
It’s the tenth anniversary of Fail Better Productions, a company who I’ve been working alongside on and off for the last few years. Specialising in Becket, devised work and revivals (witness the excellent Play Without a Title), they’ve more recently been working with a student ensemble at Warwick on a devised piece, which received its …
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 …
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