The Tragedy of Hoffman @ Magdalen College, Oxford
September 26, 2010
Writing about Hoffman Symposium, Magdalen College, Oxford from The Shakespeare apocrypha Seeing a rehearsed reading mounted by an academic society for an academic conference allows for some bizarre moments. One image from Elisabeth Dutton’s The Tragedy of Hoffman will stay with me for a long time, as it featured some of the academics whose work …
The Spanish Tragedy (Planet Theatre Productions) @ The Rose, Bankside
September 11, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.planettheatreproductions.co.uk/ Or perhaps that should be The Spanish Comedy; for Adrian Brown’s new production of Kyd’s epochal play understood the play primarily through burlesque. To render Elizabethan revenge tragedies disproportionately comic is, of course, a standard modern strategy, often used to great effect in productions of Titus Andronicus and even Hamlet, …
Hamlet (RSC Young People’s Shakespeare) @ The Courtyard Theatre
August 27, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/hamlet-yps/ In many ways, this was my ideal Hamlet. Performed on the RSC’s main stage by the current ensemble, yet only costing a tenner and lasting an hour and ten minutes flat, there’s something wonderful about seeing a Hamlet after lunch and still being able to get home in time for …
Upcoming non–Shakespeare
August 23, 2010
I’m feeling a little bit swamped by the embarrassment of productions of non-Shakespearean early modern drama coming up in September. Here are just a few (thanks to Duncan for most of these): Jonson’s The Magnetic Lady at the White Bear. Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy at the Rose Bankside. Jonson’s Alchemist at Hoxton Hall Ford’s ‘Tis Pity …
As You Like It (Bridge Project) @ The Old Vic
August 18, 2010
The Bridge Project, the transatlantic theatre tour directed by Sam Mendes, is now in its second year, and this year’s pairing brought As You Like It and The Tempest to the Old Vic. Unlike last year’s Winter’s Tale, where accents were used to distinguish between the characters of Sicily and Bohemia, here the English and …
Double Falsehood (KDC) @ The Union Theatre
While the claims of KDC to be presenting the 21st century premiere of Double Falsehood are at best questionable (a more accurate claim would be "the 21st century premiere of a play calling itself Double Falsehood"), the long-established London amateur company certainly offered a significant event in the public performance of this long-neglected play. Riding …
The Shoemaker’s Holiday (Black Sun) @ The Dell, Stratford–upon–Avon
August 9, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.blacksuntheatre.com/ Since its institution during the Complete Works Festival, the Stratford open air festival at the Dell has become an annual event, offering free theatre to Stratford passers-by. While it’s now relocated slightly further along the river, the spirit of the outdoor performances has remained the same: accessible, entertaining and pleasantly …
The Comedy of Errors @ Shakespeare’s Globe
July 28, 2010
That’ll teach me to let the weather affect my theatre-going. I was booked in to see the Globe’s touring production of Comedy of Errors at Coventry Cathedral on Monday night, but after a very poor work day and with the weather looking extremely gloomy, I decided to pass on my tickets. The plan was, instead, …
Song of the Goat’s Macbeth
July 14, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.barbican.org.uk/theatre/event-detail.asp?ID=11061&utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CCSBIT140710A&utm_content=101%20weekly%20artform%20email Very exciting this. Coming to the Barbican in November is the long-awaited Macbeth by Song of the Goat Theatre. This is the production that was premiered as a work-in-progress during the RSC’s Complete Works Festival, and even back then it was a breathtakingly physical and visceral collection of scenes. Don’t …
Double Falsehood (Warwick Shakespeare Society) @ Warwick Arts Centre
June 27, 2010
Today was the Warwick Shakespeare Society’s rehearsed reading of Double Falsehood, which I’ve been involved in as a sort of dramaturg. I’ve already covered the rehearsal process in detail here, here and here, so this is just a quick note on the final performance, which I was finally able to sit down and enjoy. I …
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