As You Like It (Sheffield Theatres) @ The Swan Theatre
March 9, 2007
‘As You Like It’ is my least favourite Shakespeare play to watch. It’s interesting enough to read, and funny, but every production I’ve seen of it – the BBC film, the recent RSC production, the Christine Edzard film, even the half hour animated version – has left me bored. Having seen some negative reviews of …
Twelfth Night (Cheek by Jowl) @ The Swan Theatre
March 3, 2007
Has it really been nine months since I last saw this production? When the Russian ensemble from the Chekov International Theatre Festival visited Warwick Arts Centre back in May 2006, I was only a few plays into the Complete Works Festival, and at the time it was one of the best things I’d ever seen. …
Coriolanus (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
February 28, 2007
This is the final play in Shakespeare’s canon that I had never seen a production of (well, unless you count ‘Edward III’- and I’ve still only seen ‘The Merchant Of Venice’ on film), meaning that it’s the final chance I had to come to a production completely fresh, knowing little more than the basic outline …
Actors and the community
February 22, 2007
I’ve just been reading the biographies of the actors in Teatr Piesn Kozla, and wanted to post about some of the things that they’ve done. They don’t advertise themselves as a community theatre group, but yet I found reading their CVs very inspiring. Here are some of the highlights: Actor Alexander Rogaczewski has, since the …
Macbeth (Work–In–Progress) (Song of the Goat Theatre) @ The Swan Theatre
You’ll note that I’ve included the fact this production was a work-in-progress in the title to this entry. I feel (along with the RSC, who’ve made this prominent from the start) that it’s important to highlight this, as anyone expecting a full production of ‘Macbeth’ this evening would have been sorely disappointed. Tonight’s presentation was …
Antony & Cleopatra (RSC) @ The Novello Theatre
February 18, 2007
Friday night was the chance to revisit, for one final time, the excellent ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, bookending my Complete Works marathon quite nicely with the same production, seen for a third time almost a year after I first saw it in the Swan. It was very good, but I was disappointed at how much its …
Richard III: An Arab Tragedy (Al-Bassam Theatre) @ The Swan Theatre
February 13, 2007
The final ‘response’ play saw the hugely-respected Sulayman Al-Bassam theatre company coming to the Swan, presenting a reworked ‘Richard III’ that relocated the action to the contemporary Middle East, a world of oilfields, bickering clans, foreign policies and constant surveillance. It’s been hugely built up over the year, as a new RSC commission, and promised …
Henry VI Part 1 (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
February 10, 2007
Last night’s trip was a jolly really- a third viewing of the first part of Michael Boyd’s ‘Henry VI’ trilogy, just for fun! I’d really wanted to see all three ‘Henries’ and ‘Richard III’ in sequence, but timing hasn’t allowed, and I’m sure I’ll get the chance in 2008 when the company play eight history …
Henry V (Compagnia Pippo Delbono) @ The Swan Theatre
February 4, 2007
The thinking about this play began way back in November, when Pippo Delbono, an Italian theatre practitioner who has won awards for his experimental community style, came to Stratford-upon-Avon to audition young actors to take part in ‘Henry V’, and also to give a talk. Entitled ‘Tales Of June’, it’s probably the biggest event I …
Richard III (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
January 28, 2007
It’s impossible not to notice that, throughout all the publicity material, posters, press shots, reviews and everything else surrounding the fourth installment in Michael Boyd’s history cycle, there is only one face leering out. Despite the emphasis that this company has placed on ensemble playing, despite the universal praise for the all-round excellence of the …
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