A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Dash Arts) @ The Swan Theatre
May 5, 2007
I’ve raved about this production before, the greatest, or 2nd greatest (depending on my mood) production of the Complete Works Festival. It’s back for three sold-out weeks in Stratford-upon-Avon, and the production has gone from strength to strength since it was last here, playing to packed audience around the globe. This is, of course, Tim …
Macbeth (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre
April 17, 2007
‘Macbeth’ is a play that has been done time and time again. Most importantly, it’s been done well. Trevor Nunn’s production starring Ian McKellen and Judi Dench is often held up as the greatest filmed Shakespeare, and films by Roman Polanski and Orson Welles have also had major impacts. Even the BBC version was uncommonly …
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 …
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. …
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 …
Richard III: An Arab Tragedy (Al-Bassam Theatre) @ The Swan Theatre
February 13, 2007
The final ‘response’ play saw the hugely-respected Sulayman Al-Bassam theatre company coming to the Swan, presenting a reworked ‘Richard III’ that relocated the action to the contemporary Middle East, a world of oilfields, bickering clans, foreign policies and constant surveillance. It’s been hugely built up over the year, as a new RSC commission, and promised …
Henry V (Compagnia Pippo Delbono) @ The Swan Theatre
February 4, 2007
The thinking about this play began way back in November, when Pippo Delbono, an Italian theatre practitioner who has won awards for his experimental community style, came to Stratford-upon-Avon to audition young actors to take part in ‘Henry V’, and also to give a talk. Entitled ‘Tales Of June’, it’s probably the biggest event I …
Days of Significance (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre
January 21, 2007
Welcome to 2007! We’re in the final stretch of the Complete Works now, down to the last twelve productions, plus a few repeat viewings. Still a little way to go before I break out the champagne though….. Yesterday’s production was the fourth of the main response plays, a major new commission by Roy Williams called …
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