The Winter’s Tale (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre
December 14, 2006
It was a mistake on my part to see ‘Pericles’ and ‘The Winter’s Tale’ on consecutive nights, when I had a full day of work in between the two. By this evening I was very tired, and not looking forward to spending another three hours standing up. It says something then, that this production kept …
Pericles (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre
I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who’s seen ‘Pericles’. It’s debatable, to be honest, whether I know anyone who’s even read it, it only surviving in severely corrupt or conjecturally reconstructed texts. It’s not a play which people seem to know much about (“It’s a Roman one, innit?”) and the theatre tonight, while bustling …
Antony and Cleopatra (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre
October 15, 2006
Last night’s play was the wonderful, universally lauded ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ starring Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter, which I reviewed way back when I first started this blog. Then, though, I was standing in the top gallery of the Swan. Tonight, I was on the front row, at times mere inches from the actors. And …
Regime Change (RSC/BBC Radio 3) @ The Swan Theatre
October 10, 2006
The first excitement of today was getting the free programme and seeing the cast list. Not only were several of the best actors of the ‘Julius Caesar’/’Tempest’ company (including Julian Bleach, Mariah Gale, John Hopkins, Joseph Alessi, David Rubin and Golda Rosheuvel) involved, but for this event only the fantastic actor Henry Goodman had come …
Cymbeline (Kneehigh) @ The Swan Theatre
September 21, 2006
Without beating around the bush, this production was simply breathtaking, one of the most complete pieces of theatre I’ve seen in a long time, and the perfect antidote to the sober and dull ‘Measure For Measure’ of last week. I’ve seen a lot of Kneehigh Theatre’s work in the past, but this was without the …
Practising Theatre with John Barton @ The Swan Theatre
September 16, 2006
This morning’s special event was a two hour workshop with advisory director John Barton and about 15 members of the current RSC ensemble. A packed out ground floor of the Swan Theatre watched the co-founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company take the actors through two speeches from ‘Henry V’- the Chorus at the start of …
The Comedy of Errors (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama) @ The Swan Theatre
September 14, 2006
The last of the youth productions, and the only appearance of ‘Errors’ at the Festival, this was an excellent end to the mini-festival of Young Person’s Shakespeare, with a funny and fast production that truly captured the spirit of what is – I personally think – the funniest of Shakespeare’s comedies. This production was by …
The Tempest (Guildhall) @ The Swan Theatre
September 11, 2006
Firstly, it was really nice to see quite a few of the cast of the current RSC production of ‘The Tempest’ at this school’s performance by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama- it must be interesting to go and see a different take on the play you’re doing, and it’s nice to see actors …
The Rape Of Lucrece (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre
September 10, 2006
It’s a bit hard to know whether to call this an event or a production- it IS one of the fifty-four Complete Works productions, but as it was an hour and fifteen minute workshopped reading, it felt more like an event, a curio, than a full production. ‘The Rape Of Lucrece’, for anyone who doesn’t …
Richard III (RADA) @ The Swan Theatre
September 8, 2006
The third Youth production, and the most ambitious so far- today saw RADA take on Shakespeare’s second-longest play with a cast of eleven and a 1 hr 45 minute running time, along with projections, recorded sound effects and lighting cues. There was one major reason why this wasn’t very good- the editing of the text …
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