King Lear (RSC) @ The Courtyard Theatre
March 31, 2007
I don’t wish to come across as unprofessional, but this is going to be a very difficult review to write. Last night I sat in the front row for Trevor Nunn’s ‘King Lear’, and I still don’t feel as if I’ve entirely recovered. It was theatre as I’ve rarely experienced it- theatre that reaches inside …
The Merchant Of Venice (Theatre for a New Audience) @ The Swan Theatre
March 29, 2007
The ‘lasts’ are coming thick and fast. Gregory Doran, according to reports from his creative team talk, was frustrated at the focus on the ‘lastness’ of his production, it being the final play to be performed in the RST before its closure. Tonight, there were three more lasts. The last visiting (and international) company, the …
Before the Bardathon
March 25, 2007
As we enter the final week of my year-long project, I’m going to be posting a few retrospective entries in addition to the final couple of reviews. First up, I thought for interest I’d mention my PREVIOUS Shakespeare theatre-going. I haven’t been attending the theatre as long as many people think. Being a Northerner born-and-bred, …
The Tempest (RSC) @ The Novello Theatre
March 20, 2007
I’ve been very unfair to this production of ‘The Tempest’. I’ve seen it twice before, but the first time I was distracted for personal reasons, and the second we were severely late, so I’ve never been in a position to sit down and simply enjoy it. Last night remedied that, in an evening that made …
Venus & Adonis: A Masque For Puppets (Little Angel) @ The Swan Theatre
March 16, 2007
One of the problems with revivals is that the press aren’t particularly concerned second time around. ‘Venus and Adonis’ doesn’t have a press night during its week-long stay at the Swan, and all professional reviews of it are buried deep in internet archives. A large proportion of the Stratford audience saw it in 2004, when …
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 …
Nothing Like The Sun (RSC/Opera North) @ The Courtyard Theatre
February 25, 2007
Considering this is the ‘Complete Works’ Festival, it seems an appropriate time to point out that that doesn’t mean every word Shakespeare ever wrote. None of his commendatory poems or prefixes are being performed, for example. His famous epitaph (‘Cursed be he that moves these bones’, chilling) stays on his grave. More prominently, neither ‘A …
Macbeth (Work–In–Progress) (Song of the Goat Theatre) @ The Swan Theatre
February 22, 2007
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 …
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