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.
King Lear at York Theatre Royal with a cast of stars. This was a read through and it was much more interesting and engaging than I thought it would be. It was like listening to a radio play, I had to really focus on listening to the language without action, and character interaction to convey…
I’m not normally negative about productions, because I really enjoy the excitement of just being in a theatre whatever I’m seeing, but Danton’s Death was very unsatisfying. I was glad that this production was short. I also think if there had been an interval, many members of the audience might not have come back after a break. There was…
I’ve added my thoughts on the RSC ensemble to the @ShakespeareBT – Shakespeare Birthplace Trust blog, Blogging Shakespeare. They’ve started an interesting debate about the current RSC ensemble. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/bcXLeR
Just to say that I have had a couple of important deadlines recently and the blog has been slightly neglected because of this. I’ve seen a lot of theatre recently, and would like to catch up with writing up my thoughts in the next few weeks.
Marianne Elliott is a really thoughtful director who considers very carefully the aesthetic of a production. I felt that she has done a really good job with Middleton’s macabre Women Beware Women, and her choice of twentieth-century Italian costumes works very well. Central to the play is the game of chess between Leantio’s mother and Livia. The game becomes a metaphor…
Read more Women Beware Women (National Theatre, 5th June 2010)
In the final episode of the television series ‘Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes’, we learnt that everyone was dead after all. Sam Tyler and Alex Drake had been catapulted back in time into a kind of purgatory which resembled an old-fashioned cop drama. Gene Hunt had been shot dead as a young policeman on the beat on coronation day. He couldn’t…
Read more Romeo and Juliet (The Courtyard Theatre, w/c 17th May 2010)
On entering the Globe auditorium there are notices which state: ‘Please note that this is a gruesome production of a brutal play.’ The notices set the tone for the production, which is comic and gruesome at the same time. Hovering above the stage is a metal circle. Could this symbolise the crown (the golden round) that Macbeth…
I liked The Habit of Art because I am normally interested in plays which explore the process of putting on a play. When the audience enters the auditorium they are faced with a very cluttered set. What becomes clear is that this is a set within a set. In the middle is a desk with piles of books around…
Read more The Habit of Art (The National Theatre, 1st May 2010)
Michael Portillo being interviewed on College Green before the coalition government was formed (7th May 2010) In the theatre, audience participation is often encouraged. During the election campaign, the live leaders TV debates was a new element, and clearly had an impact in the way that a television audience viewed the election. However, It was so strange…
I’ll just say that this is the review that doesn’t review – review. The reason is that as we queue for unreserved seating for the Peter Kay warm up gig at The Lowry, we are faced with notices making it clear we shouldn’t record anything. We would be monitored to make sure that we don’t take photographs…
Julie Raby: A Dyslexic Writer 