All’s Well that Ends Well (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
September 14, 2013
The last production in the RSC’s 2012 summer season, a rare main-stage outing for All’s Well that Ends Well, followed a recent series of successful London revivals of the play, including the Globe’s own, the visiting production by Arpana Theatre (which I’ve reviewed in the recently released CUP book Shakespeare Beyond English), and the National Theatre’s sublime …
As You Like It (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
May 5, 2013
Playing in repertory with Hamlet, Maria Aberg’s new production of As You Like It shared more than just a company that reunited the leading players from her spectacular King John last year. The same foundational level of muddy soil that was exposed throughout Hamlet to finish that play in an upturned graveyard emerged again here, but as the end result of the gradual unpacking …
Hamlet (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
May 4, 2013
Creating smallness on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is no easy feat, but David Farr’s new production of Hamlet shrunk Stratford’s flagship theatre down to an almost nostalgic depiction of a community hall. School benches and gym bars flanked the thrust stage; fencing foils lined the walls, and a small proscenium stage marked the upstage focus. …
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (As You Like It) (Dmitry Krymov’s Laboratory) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
August 12, 2012
The programme for Dmitry Krymov’s production, a special commission for the World Shakespeare Festival, depicts an acrobatic Jack Russell Terrier balancing on one paw on top of Shakespeare’s head. It is an image that says everything and nothing about the production that “turns Shakespeare on his head”, speaking to the conscious irreverence of the company’s …
Twelfth Night (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
March 11, 2012
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/twelfth-night/ The RSC’s first salvo in the 2012 World Shakespeare Festival is a major new trilogy of plays on the theme of shipwrecks, all performed by one company of actors. The absence of Pericles is a mystery (actually, it’s not a mystery at all – it’s not a play that sells …
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
August 20, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/dream/ It is traditional to frame the main action of A Midsummer Night’s Dream within a particularly threatening Athens, allowing the comedy to stand in contrast to the formality and danger of the court. Nancy Meckler’s new production for the RSC was no exception. Theseus (Jo Stone-Fewings) was a London mob …
The Merchant of Venice (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
May 27, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/merchant/ Rupert Goold’s new production of The Merchant of Venice for the RSC has already caused something of a stir in the press, dividing critics and audiences alike. Despite the presence of a star name in Patrick Stewart in the cast, this was not the traditional Merchant that many may have …
Macbeth (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
April 29, 2011
The first new production in the re-opened and redesigned RST is also the opening salvo of the RSC’s fiftieth birthday celebration season. Artistic Director Michael Boyd christens the new space with a production very much in keeping with his principles – no celebrity names but a lead actor, Jonathan Slinger, who made his name coming …
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 …
Merry Wives: The Musical (RSC) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
December 21, 2006
Yes boys and girls, it’s that time of year- it’s the Big Christmas Musical! While part of me was really looking forward to this evening- a Gregory Doran production, the star power of Simon Callow, Judi Dench and Alistair McGowan and the promise of a new take on what is probably my least favourite comedy- …
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