Hi, I’m Julie.
I am a retired Principal Lecturer. I continue to research contemporary Shakespeare performances. In retirement, I no longer teach Shakespeare but I now get to visit new places. I love theatre, outdoor swimming and writing about those experiences in my blogs.
I decided to go to the three new plays at the Hampstead Theatre, as part of the RSC long ensemble project. To do this required some complex travel arrangements and a hit on my budget. I’d been watching this long ensemble for three years, and really wanted to see their final performances together on British…
Read more Little Eagles, Silence, and American Trade (Hampstead Theatre)
I really enjoyed Kathryn Hunter’s performance as the Fool in the RSC’s King Lear and was intrigued by her performance as Cleopatra, but I thought Hunter’s performance as Red Peter the Ape was amazing. It’s one of those performances that just stuns because what happens in the performance is so unexpected. I’d never been to the…
I have decided to blog about the first night of the Tate/Tennant Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndhams) experience and in doing so this blog post will include SPOILERS. I don’t normally blog about a production early in the run, but I felt there was something rather fascinating about being at a first night in the same way there…
Read more Much Ado About Nothing – First Night at Wyndham’s (May 16th 2011)
When I came out of the NT Live screening of the National Theatre’s Hamlet last December, my first response was that the director Nicholas Hytner wanted to create a production that was very different from Greg Doran’s 2008 production. Whereas in Doran’s production, David Tennant played up the comedy, I felt that Kinnear’s performance was…
I am writing this blog as part of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Happy Shakespeare blog project www.happybirthdayshakespeare.com I decided to join the project, because as a blogger I am often writing about going to see Shakespeare’s plays performed, and felt it appropriate to write about why I enjoy seeing Shakespeare in performance so much. Charles…
Read more Happy Birthday Shakespeare – On going to see Shakespeare’s plays and why I do.
Yesterday, there was a standing ovation at the National Theatre for Hamlet. There was something very satisfying about being part of an audience that can show its appreciation for the production they’ve just seen. The standing ovation started as a coy gesture by a few people, but grew to nearly the whole audience. I felt…
The vision behind the RSC Long Ensemble was for a group of actors to work together for a sustained period of time to produce work. It seemed fitting then, at the end of the Stratford run and two and half years together the long ensemble got together and put on a Gala in the newly…
My comment on Professor Stanley Wells’ post RSC at fifty. http://bloggingshakespeare.com/the-r-s-c-at-fifty
Read more Comment on RSC at fifty – blog post by Professor Stanley Wells
When going to a Belt Up production I wouldn’t expect something in a specific genre or tradition. For example, when buying tickets for their Beggar’s Opera, I didn’t expect a twee musical set firmly in the eighteenth century with lovely eighteenth century costumes and sets. As some members of the audience near me considered whether…
Read more Beggar’s Opera (York Theatre Royal, 23rd March 2011)
This was my first visit to the Royal Court and it felt very exciting walking into a theatre where history has been made. I really enjoyed The Heretic. I thought that it mixed comedy and sadness to great effect. The first half was much better than the second half and it felt a little bit…
Read more Short Review: The Heretic (Royal Court, 19th March 2011)
Julie Raby: A Dyslexic Writer 