Romeo and Juliet in Harlem (dir. Aleta Chapelle) @ Warwick Arts Centre Cinema
April 25, 2015
The second of the two films in Warwick’s annual Shakespeare Film Day was a very special occasion – the first screening in the UK (probably) of the first Shakespeare film made by an African-American woman. Aleta Chappelle’s most significant feature as director to date, which used a crowd-funded trailer to attract funding, is a low budget …
Haider (dir. Vishal Bhardwaj) @ Warwick Arts Centre Cinema
The third of Vishal Bhardwaj’s trilogy of Indian Shakespeare adaptations, following Maqbool and the excellent Omkara, is his most ambitious yet, and possibly the most aggressively political Shakespeare film I have ever seen. The film, set at the height of troubles in Kashmir in 1995, has been the subject of a huge amount of controversy, …
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Cheek by Jowl) @ Warwick Arts Centre
February 5, 2012
Writing about web page http://www.cheekbyjowl.com/tis_pity_shes_a_whore.php Cheek by Jowl have revolutionised my understanding of early modern dramatists time and again – Shakespeare with its Twelfth Night, Middleton with its The Changeling, and now John Ford with a stunning new ‘Tis Pity. This was my third production of the play following an excellent student version at Warwick …
The Tempest @ Warwick Arts Centre Cinema
April 30, 2011
Julie Taymor has had a rough year. She’s a favourite director of mine – I love her Titus and Across the Universe, and she’s borne herself pretty well through the fiasco that has been (and continues to be) Spider-Man: The Musical. It’s true, too, that we need a good film of The Tempest. Derek Jarman’s …
Hamlet The Clown Prince (The Company Theatre) @ Warwick Arts Centre Theatre
March 17, 2011
Writing about web page http://warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/theatre/hamlet-the-clown-prince This was my third Hamlet in a year with a running time under two hours, which is a trend I’m hugely appreciative of. This time it was a rare UK performance for Mumbai’s Company Theatre, with its brilliant and hugely entertaining take on the play through the medium of clowning. …
The Tempest (Cheek by Jowl/Chekhov International Drama Festival) @ Warwick Arts Centre
March 3, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.cheekbyjowl.com/the_tempest.php The Russians are back. Cheek by Jowl’s Russian wing have previously brought us wonderful versions of Twelfth Night, Three Sisters and Boris Gudonov, and a return to Shakespeare was extremely welcome. It’s a pleasure to report that the ensemble once again proved that there’s plenty of fresh insight to be …
King Lear (Donmar/NT Live) @ Warwick Arts Centre Cinema
February 4, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/pl114.html Poor Paul Jesson. As Gloucester in Michael Grandage’s award-winning production of King Lear, last night he delivered one of the most powerful renditions of the Dover cliffs scene that I’ve ever been privileged to see. Accompanied by Gwilym Lee as Edgar, he shuffled across the bare bleached boards of the …
Discords (After Shakespeare) (Fail Better) @ Warwick Arts Centre Studio
January 24, 2011
It’s the tenth anniversary of Fail Better Productions, a company who I’ve been working alongside on and off for the last few years. Specialising in Becket, devised work and revivals (witness the excellent Play Without a Title), they’ve more recently been working with a student ensemble at Warwick on a devised piece, which received its …
Double Falsehood (Warwick Shakespeare Society) @ Warwick Arts Centre
June 27, 2010
Today was the Warwick Shakespeare Society’s rehearsed reading of Double Falsehood, which I’ve been involved in as a sort of dramaturg. I’ve already covered the rehearsal process in detail here, here and here, so this is just a quick note on the final performance, which I was finally able to sit down and enjoy. I …
Twelfth Night (National Theatre Primary Classics) @ Warwick Arts Centre
May 5, 2010
Writing about web page http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/39017/primary-classics/primary-classics.html The Primary Classics series is an important part of the National Theatre’s youth work. You can argue till you’re blue in the face about the politics of canon, the centrality of Shakespeare as a "necessary" component of primary education, and whether there aren’t a great many more worthwhile theatrical projects …
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