Midsummer Mischief (Royal Shakespeare Company) @ The Other Place at the Courtyard Theatre
June 29, 2014
At one point during a day of events forming the RSC’s Midsummer Mischief festival of new writing and vocal women, festival coordinator and RSC Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman expressed her frustration that professional critics have so far focused almost entirely on the wonderful strangeness – even the victory – of having a whole season …
Much Ado about Nothing (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
August 12, 2012
If the RSC’s recent production of Julius Caesar was the company’s attempt to “do” a version of Africa with an all-Black British cast, then Iqbal Khan’s new production of Much Ado About Nothing attempts to do the same for India. Both offer problems to my mind in terms of their relation to the rest of …
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 …
Antony and Cleopatra (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
May 18, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/antony-and-cleopatra/ Michael Boyd’s Antony and Cleopatra follows interestingly from Lucy Bailey’s Julius Caesar, the resident ensemble’s last foray into the Roman histories. While the retention of Darrell D’Silva as Mark Antony may have initially suggested a continuity between the two productions, Boyd’s Antony was in many ways the polar opposite of …
Romeo and Juliet (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
March 26, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/8956.aspx From its very opening, Rupert Goold’s new Romeo and Juliet was intent on forcing its audience to view a familiar play afresh. Sam Troughton’s Romeo, in jeans and hoodie, wandered onto the stage with a camera, taking photographs as if a tourist (though this amateur stalker had a different kind …
King Lear (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
March 5, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/8954.aspx The last time the RSC produced King Lear at the Courtyard Theatre, it was one of the most high-profile theatrical events of the decade. Directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Ian McKellen, it was the climax of the Complete Works Festival as well as going on to generate an international …
Twelfth Night (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
November 11, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/8209.aspx Here’s an interesting question. If one is updating the setting of a Shakespeare play, but needs to incorporate a vast amount of explanatory material in the production’s programme and on its website, are the resonances of the updated setting not then too obscure to hold any meaning for its audience? …
The Comedy of Errors (RSC Young People’s Shakespeare) @ The Courtyard Theatre
July 12, 2009
Since the launch of the "Stand Up For Shakespeare" manifesto a couple of years ago, the RSC has been remarkably tenacious in promoting its educational work alongside its core productions. While always an important part of the company’s remit, the Education Department has recently stepped confidently into the limelight, with events such as the Regional …
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 …
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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