Romeo and Juliet (American Shakespeare Center) @ The Blackfriars Playhouse
February 27, 2022
This review is of a preview production, and may not reflect the production as of press night. In January 2022, Brandon Carter became the third artistic director of the American Shakespeare Center, and the first to be a core part of the acting company. As such, while he has already carried several major roles (including a …
Women Beware Women (American Shakespeare Center) @ The Blackfriars, Staunton, VA
February 28, 2016
After the previous day’s sprint-to-the-finish The Sea Voyage, it was pleasing to see the ASC ensemble shift the pace for Middleton’s Women Beware Women. This perfectly cast production drew on the established relationships and good humour that have characterised all the shows I’ve seen at the Blackfriars, but also lingered on soliloquies and set-pieces to …
The Sea Voyage (American Shakespeare Center) @ The Blackfriars, Staunton, VA
February 26, 2016
I think I may be the first person to see two separate productions of Fletcher and Massinger’s The Sea Voyage within a couple of months of one another, and I was delighted to see that the play continues to hold up in performance. The American Shakespeare Center’s production was part of the annual Actors’ Renaissance …
Shakespeare’s Joan of Arc (Henry VI, Part 1) (American Shakespeare Center) @ the Blackfriars, Staunton VA
September 13, 2015
NB this review is of a preview performance, and does not reflect the play as of press night The resident company at the Blackfriars works exceptionally hard. Twelve actors are currently performing four Shakespeare plays in repertory six days of the week; not only that, but the whole company perform for fifteen minutes before the …
Antony and Cleopatra (American Shakespeare Center) @ The Blackfriars, Staunton VA
Although Staunton’s Blackfriars was constructed first, my experience of it comes through having seen several shows previously in the Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Virginia’s theatre feels very like the Wanamaker, if the Wanamaker breathed out substantially and took itself a lot less seriously. The resident company (most of the current acting company have been in …