There was a strangeness about this production, and it reminded me of the television programme Tales of the Unexpected. There was a conjuring Duke (Raymond Coulthard) who did slight of hand tricks, but the biggest trick of them all would be the bed trick. The Duke attempted to connect with the audience, but there was also a…
Written on the Heart is a fantastic glimpse at an interesting period of history. There are some really engaging performances particularly from Oliver Ford Davies as Lancelot Andrews and Stephen Boxer as William Tyndale. The play explores the creation of the King James Bible and focuses on a group set up to compile it. Alongside…
The Heart of Robin Hood took a different twist on the traditional story, but this approach isn’t new and so having a strong Marian and wayward Robin was not a surprise. There were some good things. For example, I really liked the way the actors presented animals using musical instruments. The problem I had with…
Read more Heart of Robin Hood (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 6th January 2012)
In 2011, the sublime was a popular topic of discussion. At the National Theatre there was Frankenstein and in the John Martin exhibition at the Tate, the sublime was on show in a spectacular way. The John Martin exhibition was my favourite exhibition of the year. The epic was presented on grand canvases, but what…
Here is my best of.. lists. The following post discusses what I thought about the year. Shakespeare in the Theatre 1. Romeo and Juliet (RSC at the RST) 2. Much Ado About Nothing (Globe) 3. Hamlet (The National Theatre) 4. Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndham’s) 5.The Comedy of Errors (Propeller at Sheffield) 6. Antony and Cleopatra with Katy Stephens and Darrell D’Silva (RSC…
Looking back on the 2011 RSC Macbeth.. Susannah Clapp writing in The Observer noted that there was a little bit of the Turn of the Screw about the RSC production of Macbeth and this was one of my thoughts when I first saw it for the first time back in May. Indeed, when I first…
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)
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…
When anyone says that they were at that last night of Wigan Casino, I always wanted to know what it was like, because being there on such a momentous occasion seemed really special. For example, I was fascinated to know how did it feel when the three before eight played for the last time? I…
Read more Being there when…Was I at the opening of the RST this time?
23rd February 2011. The RSC are coming home. There is no fanfare or long speeches, but there is an energetic buzz moving across the audience for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s first night in the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre. This was what they called a soft opening. Nearly 7:15 pm Edgar (Charles Aitken) is already on stage. I…
Julie Raby 