Measure for Measure @ The Almeida Theatre
April 2, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.almeida.co.uk/production_details/production_details.aspx?code=90 I’ve been waiting for quite some time to see a good Measure for Measure. It’s a play I love on the page, but which I’ve always been bored by in the theatre. Happily, Michael Attenborough’s Almeida production finally met that wish, with strong performances and a simple, persuasive interpretation bringing …
Romeo and Juliet (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
March 26, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/8956.aspx From its very opening, Rupert Goold’s new Romeo and Juliet was intent on forcing its audience to view a familiar play afresh. Sam Troughton’s Romeo, in jeans and hoodie, wandered onto the stage with a camera, taking photographs as if a tourist (though this amateur stalker had a different kind …
King Lear (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
March 5, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/8954.aspx The last time the RSC produced King Lear at the Courtyard Theatre, it was one of the most high-profile theatrical events of the decade. Directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Ian McKellen, it was the climax of the Complete Works Festival as well as going on to generate an international …
Three Sisters (Filter) @ Warwick Arts Centre
February 27, 2010
While I’m not going to give a review of this excellent production (go see it), as it’s outside the remit of this blog, I do just have to flag up an in-joke that had me in hysterics. As the travelling players arrived at the sisters’ house, only to be turned away, they could be heard …
Romeo and Juliet (Tiny Ninja Theater) @ Tara Studio
Writing about web page http://www.tinyninjatheater.com/romeoandjuliet/ Dov Weinstein’s classical theatre troupe, the Tiny Ninja Theater, returned to the UK for two performances only with this, Romeo and Juliet, performed as part of the Tara Arts “Shakespeare Remixed” season. As ever, the defining characteristics of the company shone through – powerful performances, elaborate sets and an accessible …
Arden of Faversham @ The Emlyn Williams Theatre, Theatr Clwyd
February 20, 2010
This production marked a long overdue return to Theatr Clwyd for me, a theatre I haven’t visited since it was my local as a schoolboy. It’s perhaps a shame that it took a rare production of an apocryphal play to drag me back, but hopefully I’ll be able to remedy this with future visits. Terry …
A Yorkshire Tragedy (Tough Theatre) @ The White Bear Theatre
January 11, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk/productions/ As regular readers will know, I’m currently writing a PhD thesis on the Shakespeare Apocrypha, and it’s therefore extremely exciting to be starting the year with a very rare performance of one of the apocryphal plays, A Yorkshire Tragedy. The venue was the White Bear Theatre pub in London, a tiny …
Two Gentlemen of Verona; or, Vakomana Vaviri ve Zimbabwe (Two Gents Productions) @ North Wall Oxford
December 13, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.twogentsproductions.com/wordpress/ Two Gents Productions are a three-man company made up of performers Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu, and director Arne Pohlmeier. As their name suggests, the company was founded as a result of the trio’s work on their devised production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, retitled Vakomana Vaviri ve Zimbabwe. While …
Roman Tragedies (Toneelgroep Amsterdam) @ The Barbican
November 21, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.barbican.org.uk/theatre/event-detail.asp?ID=9488 A six hour version of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra stitched together. With no interval. In promenade. In Dutch with surtitles. It’s been a while since I’ve subjected myself to a Shakespearean endurance test (The Histories), and this was the kind of hardcore event which doesn’t come …
Twelfth Night (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
November 11, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/8209.aspx Here’s an interesting question. If one is updating the setting of a Shakespeare play, but needs to incorporate a vast amount of explanatory material in the production’s programme and on its website, are the resonances of the updated setting not then too obscure to hold any meaning for its audience? …
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