I found The Miser at the Manchester Royal Exchange theatre very funny. The audience became very involved throughout and there was a very humerous moment of audience interaction when Dame Claude, the maid servant, starts to polish the audience members. Derek Griffith’s played the Miser with wonderful timing and lots of energy. The plot was straight forward and…
Read more The Miser (Manchester Royal Exchange, 26th September 2009)
This was an excellent production. It is a two hander which is lyrical and wonderfully played by Louis Emerick and Sean Shorte. There wasn’t an interval and this was a really good decision, because the narrative is brilliantly structured and takes you through the events starting with the life of the photographer Styles and ending up…
Read more Sizwe Banzi is Dead (Stephen Joseph Theatre, 24th September 2009)
The Takeover Festival at York Theatre Royal is a breath a of fresh air. The programme is really interesting and inviting. However, I was wondering after seeing The Factory’s experimental Hamlet and Seagull Project that the regular audience at York Theatre Royal had the impression that the festival is not only run by young people but…
Read more The Factory's Hamlet and Seagull Project (York Theatre Royal, 23rd, 24th Sept)
The image of the DVD cover for the production of The RSC’s Hamlet has now been released. I’m sure that this will provoke lots of conversations about what the film will be like. When I first saw the cover, I must admit I was a little disappointed I had thought that the image would have…
What a contrast the Futurism Exhibition at Tate Modern was to the Richard Long Heaven and Earth Exhibition at Tate Britain? I’ve already discussed the Richard Long Heaven and Earth Exhibition with its engagement with the natural world and its focus on circles and natural imagery. I felt that, The Futurism Exhibition was about everything the Richard Long…
I was thankful that on this visit to the National Theatre, I saw the whole play. As it was the night after seeing half of Mother Courage and Her Children, that experience was still fresh in my mind. It was certainly worth the visit as well. The play was humorous and extremely well acted. I…
Read more The Pitman Painters (National Theatre, 11th September 2009)
The small Donmar auditorium was hot and felt steamy reflecting really well the atmosphere of the Tennessee Williams play, I’d come to see. This was an excellent production. I must admit, I was gripped all the way through and I agree with my of the critics that Rachel Weisz was a stellar performance. I also…
Read more A Streetcar Named Desire (Donmar Warehouse, 12th September 2009)
I thought I would have a go at tweeting when I attended the BSA (British Shakespeare Association) conference at King’s College London and the Globe Theatre in September. I found it an interesting experience which raised some issues for me, particularly about the usefulness of Twitter. Twitter is a micro blogging social network which presents…
Yes – I was there that night. That’s my feeling looking back at my experience at the Preview of the National Theatre’s Mother Courage and Her Children. The pre-show was a busy chaotic affair and it felt like the lines between setting up the show and the show itself were blurred. The sound of an explosion every…
Read more Mother Courage and Her Children (National Theatre, 10th September 2009)
Julie Raby 