Macbeth @ The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
March 12, 2009
Matthew Dunster’s new production of Macbeth for the Royal Exchange fits neatly into recent fashions regarding the staging of this play. It emphasises the Weird Sisters, bringing them onstage throughout the action, contemporises events and has a particular concern with children, some or all of which were exemplified by the most recent RSC and Chichester …
A Mad World, My Masters (King Edward VI School) @ The CAPITAL Centre
A Mad World, My Masters, the second production from King Edward VI School this year is a very different affair to Endymion. For a start, it’s a relatively full text, compared to the extracts that made up the earlier play. For another, it’s the turn of the older boys, who I’d guess are about 16-18 …
The Convict’s Opera (Out of Joint/Sydney Theatre Company) @ Warwick Arts Centre
March 8, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.outofjoint.co.uk/prods/convictsopera.html Out of Joint’s new production The Convict’s Opera is a bit of an oddity. A group of convicts on board a ship decide to put on a production of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, complete with songs drawn from folk traditions and, occasionally, classic rock n’ roll numbers. The play …
As You Like It (Leicester Theatre Trust/Dash Arts) @ Curve, Leicester
March 5, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.curveonline.co.uk/curve.php?pgid=25 Curve, located in the centre of Leicester, is an enormous and hugely expensive new theatre venue that opened late last year. Already it’s been doing some exciting work, not least a revival of The Pillowman, and it’s landed a coup as the producing house for Tim Supple’s new production of As You Like It, …
Endymion Extracts (King Edward VI School) @ The CAPITAL Centre
March 1, 2009
One of the CAPITAL Centre’s current Fellows of Creativity is Perry Mills, teacher at King Edward VI School in Stratford, who is running a fascinating project based on 16th-17th century boys’ companies. These companies, the relatively ‘private’ rivals to the adult companies of the period, were hugely popular in their heyday. Their plays, often scandalous, …
The Tempest (Baxter Theatre Centre) @ The Courtyard Theatre
February 24, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/6941.aspx When the Complete Works Festival finished, we were promised that it would be an "engine of change" at the RSC, ushering in home and international collaborations and more new work. However, after a couple of months, the RSC was taken over by the Histories and then the last summer season …
Julius Caesar (SATTF) @ The Tobacco Factory
February 19, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.sattf.org.uk/ A bizarre clash of three Shakespearean press nights will hopefully not have left the new Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory production of Julius Caesar out in the cold. While the RSC’s Tempest and Northern Broadsides’ Othello drew the bulk of media interest, I took the road less travelled to Bristol …
Twelfth Night (Donmar) @ The Wyndham’s Theatre
February 13, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.donmarwestend.com/twelfth_night/ Michael Grandage’s first Shakespeare for the Donmar’s current West End residency opened, quite literally, with a bang, a mighty crash of thunder and lightning. This call to attention opened an efficient and excellently-performed Twelfth Night that was unashamedly traditional in its desire to please and entertain. An unfussy set saw the …
Othello (RSC) @ Warwick Arts Centre
February 7, 2009
The RSC’s new touring production of Othello feels surprisingly marginalised. Opening in Coventry, with no Stratford performances and a British press who seem more interested in the upcoming Northern Broadsides production (featuring, as it does, comedian Lenny Henry in the title role), this Othello has a lot to do to avoid slipping under the radar …
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Propeller) @ Liverpool Playhouse
February 1, 2009
It makes a pleasing change to see a Dream during a hugely cold spell at the end of January, as opposed to in sweltering heat – which suggests to me a production that actually has something interesting to do with the play, rather than rolling it out to fill a quiet summer slot. This, the second half …
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