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? …
A Tempest (Krazy Kat Theatre) @ Warwick Arts Centre Studio
November 2, 2009
There’s a bit of a gap in Shakespearean performance criticism. Despite the quality and inventiveness of theatre for children all around the country, it falls beneath the notice of most reviewers, with the implication that it is considered not to be of substantial intellectual or creative merit. This is an enormous shame, as a viewing …
All’s Well that Ends Well (NT Live) @ Warwick Arts Centre Cinema
October 2, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=52899 Nicholas Hytner, in an interview with Alex Jennings that preceded the National Theatre’s second NT Live broadcast, qualified the expectations for this experimental programme in a way which chimed more with my own expectations. The broadcast of Phedre back in June was preceded by rather hyperbolic and over-ambitious suggestions that …
Troilus and Cressida @ Shakespeare’s Globe
August 21, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/annualtheatreseason/troiluscressida/ For a play that, on first publication, was described as "never stal’d with the Stage, never clapper-clawd with the palmes of the vulger", Troilus and Cressida worked astonishingly well at the Globe in Matthew Dunster’s new production. Funny, moving, disquieting and exciting by turns, this consistently interesting production made the …
Hamlet (Donmar West End) @ Wyndham’s Theatre
July 19, 2009
I booked to see the Donmar’s major new Hamlet some eighteen months ago, taking an unusual step for me by paying top whack to get front row stalls seats. The idea was that this would be an end of year treat, a production I was going to purely for fun. That was back when Kenneth …
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 …
The Winter’s Tale (The Bridge Project) @ The Old Vic
June 17, 2009
Writing about web page http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=47 The Bridge Project is a major new collaboration between London’s Old Vic and New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music. Bringing together the best of English and American talent, the Project will be offering three seasons of Shakespeare and Chekov, with plays paired thematically. For this opening season, directed by Sam …
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 …
All’s Well That Ends Well @ The National Theatre (Olivier)
June 10, 2009
The label of “problem play” has long been regarded as an unhelpful and negatively loaded description for those plays of Shakespeare’s which fit uncomfortably into neat genres, yet in the case of All’s Well That Ends Well, the label has stuck. Marianne Elliott’s new production for the National Theatre, however, made a virtue of the …
As You Like It @ Shakespeare’s Globe
Writing about web page http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/annualtheatreseason/asyoulikeit/ Only a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that As You Like It is one of my least favourite Shakespeare plays. In no small part, this is due simply to the fact that I’ve seen the play several times, but been distinctly underwhelmed on every occasion. I’m extremely pleased, therefore, …
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