I thought that the RSC’s idea to pair Love’s Labour’s Lost with Much Ado About Nothing was an interesting one, and provided an opportunity to explore the two plays together. The rationale behind this decision was that Much Ado About Nothing must be the lost play, Love’s Labour’s Won, and so the RSC called it’s production of Much…
Read more Much Ado about Love’s Labour’s Lost and Won (RST, September 2014 to March 12th 2015)
The post contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen this production yet and don’t want to know about some of the production’s surprises, then it is best not to read this post. Having seen this production again in Stratford after the Previews had taken place and then at the Barbican, I have had more time…
Read more ‘…all hail!’ to me? So Judas did to Christ..’ (Revisiting Richard II, RST and Barbican, October 27th to Wednesday 8th January 2014).
The Summer RST Company have left, and the barriers have appeared around the stage door. Tweeters twitter about how wonderful David Tennant’s performance is. It’s an ‘enthralling performance’, ‘just extraordinary’ and ‘mesmerising’ they say. Richard II enters the stage and is at the centre of his court with his flatters whispering in his ear. The casting of David Tennant…
Read more Richard II (RST, Preview performances 10th, 11th, 12th October 2013)
All’s Well That Ends Well isn’t performed very often, so it is always really a refreshing change from the normal schedule when a production comes along. After seeing Marianne Elliot’s stunning fairy tale version at the national a few years ago, it is hard to envisage how the play might be staged without the fairy…
Read more All’s Well That End’s Well (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 25th July 2013)
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 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…
Read more Standing Ovations & And Furthermore – Judi Dench
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…
Read more RSC Revealed (The Swan, 27th March 2011)
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…
Read more The RSC comes home
On the 15th October matinée, Katy Stephens (text in hand) took on the role of Cleopatra in the RSC Antony and Cleopatra when Kathryn Hunter ‘was indisposed’. Though for most of the scenes Katy Stephens held the book in her hand, she only looked at the script now and again to remind herself of odd lines. I felt…
Read more Antony and Cleopatra. Part 2 (Theatre Royal Newcastle, 15th October 2010)
Julie Raby 