Press night cancellation
July 9, 2009
Disappointingly, the press night for the Globe’s revival of Dominic Dromgoole’s Love’s Labour’s Lost has been cancelled, due apparently to the fact that it’s a very brief run and, obviously, a revival. I say disappointingly, because I had a press ticket for it and apparently the Globe offer complimentary pies, which I was quite looking …
Curtain calls or credits? Phedre (NT Live) @ Warwick Arts Centre
June 25, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/id/4118 I caught the National’s Phedre last night – or, at least, an aspect of it. For this was the launch of the National’s NT Live Project, which saw a live performance screened simultaneously on over 200 screens around the world. I caught it at Warwick Arts Centre, which added a further …
Comparisons
June 17, 2009
We’re nearing the halfway point of 2009, and by my reckoning I’ve seen about 18 Shakespeare productions so far this year. Interestingly, though, among those eighteen there has been quite a lot of repetition: three As You Like Its, two Othellos, two Caesars and two Winter’s Tales, for example. I’ve been trying to review the …
The Winter’s Tale (The Bridge Project) @ The Old Vic
Writing about web page http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=47 The Bridge Project is a major new collaboration between London’s Old Vic and New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music. Bringing together the best of English and American talent, the Project will be offering three seasons of Shakespeare and Chekov, with plays paired thematically. For this opening season, directed by Sam …
Catching up
June 16, 2009
Just a note for regulars that there will be a few backdated reviews appearing over the next few days, so do keep an eye out for reviews of the National’s All’s Well, The Old Vic’s Winter’s Tale, the Globe’s As You Like It and the RSC’s Caesar appearing retrospectively. Very busy week for theatregoing and …
Julius Caesar (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
June 12, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/7295.aspx I’ve seen a wide variety of techniques used to conjure up the crowd who act as onstage witnesses to the orations that form the climactic set piece of Julius Caesar. Sometimes actors have moved among the audience, implicitly bolstering their numbers with the seated masses. At other times, offstage shouting …
All’s Well That Ends Well @ The National Theatre (Olivier)
June 10, 2009
The label of “problem play” has long been regarded as an unhelpful and negatively loaded description for those plays of Shakespeare’s which fit uncomfortably into neat genres, yet in the case of All’s Well That Ends Well, the label has stuck. Marianne Elliott’s new production for the National Theatre, however, made a virtue of the …
As You Like It @ Shakespeare’s Globe
Writing about web page http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/annualtheatreseason/asyoulikeit/ Only a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that As You Like It is one of my least favourite Shakespeare plays. In no small part, this is due simply to the fact that I’ve seen the play several times, but been distinctly underwhelmed on every occasion. I’m extremely pleased, therefore, …
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (WUDS) @ Warwick Arts Centre Studio
June 5, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.wuds.co.uk/ June has only just begun, and already I’ve seen my second Dream of the year. I admit, I’m always a little bit sceptic when entering an auditorium for another production of this play; it’s so over-familiar and over-produced, matched probably only by Romeo for the amount of workaday productions trotted …
As You Like It (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
May 29, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/7293.aspx Long time readers will know that As You Like It is one of my least favourite Shakespeare plays. In fact, as much as this goes against the grain of my general Shakesepearean outlook, it’s one that I personally find works better on the page than the stage. Once in the Forest …
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