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 think that the Bridge Project has been extremely interesting. I saw The Winter’s Tale at the start of the summer and The Cherry Orchard at the end. The two productions kind of top and tailed my London season. I had thought that the RSC might have made more connections between their productions…
Earlier this summer, I saw the Globe’s touring production of The Comedy of Errors and Sprite’s The Tempest. Watching the Globe’s touring production at Newby Hall near Ripon in North Yorkshire was very enjoyable. We were lucky to get there about three quarters of an hour before it started to set up camp. I…
Read more A Midsummer Night's Dream (Newby Hall, 19th August 2009)
When the audience enters the auditorium at the Courtyard Theatre, they are faced with Romulus and Remus savagely attacking and fighting with each other. The young men, who were brought up by wolves, are wearing loin clothes covered in mud and blood, snarl, hiss and growl at each other clamouring across the whole of the trust stage space. There is a statue of…
Read more Julius Caesar (The Courtyard Theatre, 11th August 2009)
What is it like seeing a production as it has started to bed down and well into its run. I’ve seen the RSC’s As You Like It five times now. Once very early in its run in May and then in July when Mariah Gale was playing Rosalind. I think the production has matured, just as I…
Read more Katy Stephens' hair: As You Like It (The Courtyard Theatre, 12th August 2009)
I said that I would write about the live experience of seeing Phedre at the National Theatre in contrast to seeing it at the cinema. I did enjoy the cinema experience, but I enjoyed seeing the live production much more. I felt that it was much more physical live and the story was more powerful. I…
It took me some time to get into Troilus and Cressida at the Globe Theatre. I haven’t seen a production for about 23 years and so it was nice to see a play that was fresh and where I needed to be reminded of the plot. Laura Pyper does a good job at playing the…
Read more Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, 23rd July 2009)
The Early Doors DVD box set includes both series 1 and 2 with 6 episodes each. The episodes invite the viewer to take their time to get to know the characters and when they do the rewards are great. Written by Craig Cash, of The Royle Family fame, like The Royle Family, the pace is…
Andrew Tift’s portrait of Neil and Glenys Kinnock, exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery, is clearly within the tradition of portrait painting going back to the eighteenth century. In the background are objects that tell us about the sitter. The bust of Bevin leaning towards us, and the bust of Nelson Mandela next to the…
Read more Thoughts on Neil and Glenys Kinnock (National Portrait Gallery)
Read more One & Other, 11am Man, 12 noon woman (Trafalger Square, 18th July)
Going to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert is more than going to see a show it is about taking part in an experience. You can take in your champagne and pop the cork, order an interval cocktail or buy a fake pink feather boa to display through the show. As you enter the auditorium…
Read more Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Palace Theatre, 18th July 2009)
Julie Raby: A Dyslexic Writer 