Henry VI Part II (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre: Highlights
March 3, 2008
With a quick note that the excitement really started as soon as I sat down and remembered that this was my absolute favourite part of the Histories Cycle, I’ll leap straight into my highlights: The entire sequence from the death of Geoffrey Freshwater’s Winchester to that of Geoffrey Streatfeild’s Suffolk was a theatrical coup. In …
Henry VI Part 1 (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre: Highlights
Arrived back in Leamington Spa at 12.30am after Henry V, stayed at a friend’s house (got a few hours sleep) before running for the 9am train to get back to the Courtyard for 10.30am. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, I wasn’t feeling my freshest. I mention this because the Henry VI trilogy are so amazing that they jerked …
Henry V (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre: Highlights
It’s now Monday morning and I’ve seen all eight. I’m knackered, but happy- it’s been a very good week! So now catching up on some blogging….. Henry V is an excellent centrepiece when seeing the productions in chronological order. It’s an enormous production that embraces the epic, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Here are my …
Henry IV Part II (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre: Highlights
February 29, 2008
Contrary to the pleasant surprise of Part I, Henry IV Part II was actually less good than I remembered. I think this was mostly down to the long day – it’s a lot of Falstaff for one day. I also think the excellent meal and beer of the Dirty Duck probably didn’t help hugely. But …
Henry IV Part I (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre: Highlights
Before all else, a hugely pleasant surprise – it was good! Not just good, but great! My main problems with this production that last time I saw it were that it was slow and boring, and that the relationship between Geoffrey Streatfeild’s Hal and David Warner’s Falstaff was static. Happily, both issues have been resolved. …
Richard II (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre: Highlights
It’s Friday morning, I’m nine hours into the cycle, haven’t been to bed before 1.30am for two nights and so far I’m having a great time! In the spirit of my tiredness, though, I think I’ll take a far more informal approach to the blog than usual… Richard II was a fabulous start to the …
Noughts and Crosses (RSC) @ Stratford–upon–Avon Civic Hall
January 19, 2008
Creating theatre for teenagers is, I imagine, a very difficult thing. The audience for Noughts and Crosses, the RSC’s second play at the Civic Hall this winter, was made up at least 90% of school groups- talking, whispering, drawing attention to themselves, eating, texting, laughing. Within this kind of audience there is a great deal …
King Lear (RSC) @ The New London Theatre
December 17, 2007
Trevor Nunn’s King Lear has been a thorn in my side for several months now. I saw it very early on in its initial run in Stratford and loved it, as my review clearly showed. Since then, however, the production has had a very strange reception. Frances Barber suffered an accident, causing the press night …
Henry V (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
November 1, 2007
The final hurdle! The RSC Histories project is finally trundling to an end with the opening of Henry V, the eighth and final production in the sequence. It’s hard not to have high expectations. Despite a couple of blips (particularly 1 Henry IV) the project has been a resounding success, the ensemble producing some wonderful …
Twelfth Night (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
September 5, 2007
I’m of the opinion that Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s greatest pieces of work. It’s funny, deep, very clever and features some of the greatest characters in the canon. Its immediate appeal is apparent from the number of productions of the play put on every year. The last twelve months alone have seen Filter, …
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