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Bard in the Yard, Outdoors
In these unusual times companies find themselves performing in more unusual spaces. Many flocked online but with the permission to now perform outside Bard in the Yard has brought this new, original 40 minute production to the great outdoors. Written and directed by Victoria Baumgartner our Bard was Miztli Rose, one of 15 actors taking…
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Twelfth Night, Brockley Jack Theatre
Yard Players, following on from 2019’s King Lear, production is a fresh adaptation of this classic, emboldened by its talented cast. When Viola washes up on the shores of Illyria, she witnesses the festivities first hand and is drawn into the schemes of the lovestruck Duke Orsino, and subjected to the antics of the anarchic…
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Julius Caesar, Lion and Unicorn Theatre
This is a very abridged version of the Shakespeare Play and as such it fair zips by. The pace is frenetic and even when there is stillness it still infects the drama with a sense of urgency. This works largely in the play’s favour, most of the time. Seventy-five minutes being a much more comfortable…
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Julius Caesar, Bridge Theatre
Nicholas Hytner’s first Shakespearean production at the Bridge Theatre, which he founded with Nick Starr, has been overshadowed by email blunders but it is an exciting production, embracing the rise of immersive theatre and the rallies that have dominated modern politics. I was, in hindsight, fortunate to have a view from the pit (possibly a new name…
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Otelo, Southwark Playhouse
Nicole Espinoza and Jaime Lorca aided by puppetry put on this abridged, Spanish language version of Othello. It focuses on Act 4 onwards where Iago plot his demise of Cassio. I am not the biggest fan of long plays and Shakespeare is king of long plays so I actively encourage amended versions, just go on…
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Hamlet, Park Theatre
Another day, another Hamlet. Despite my initial cynicism, I dare anyone not to be cynical about a version of Hamlet starring a former Tory MP, his barrister son and his American actress Daughter in Law. It sounds like a Christmas family production forced on paying audiences. It isn’t half as indulgent as it sounds,…
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Emma Rice to step down as Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe.
Shakespeare’s Globe artistic director Emma Rice is to leave the theatre in 2018 after its board decided her methods are not authentic enough. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37761530 As someone who was introduced to the Globe by my friend Jill, it soon became one of my favourite theatres. The standing yard was cheap (only £5) and had the best…
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The Shakespeare Revue 7 -12 November, Richmond Theatre
As 2016 comes to an end the tributes to Shakespeare do not! For one week in November The Shakespeare Revue, a comic concoction of hilarious sketches and show-stopping numbers written by comedy icons Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett, Maureen Lipman, Monty Python, Noël Coward, Cole Porter, Fry & Laurie and musical theatre favourites, Stephen Sondheim, Stiles…
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The Tempest, Donmar at King’s Cross
Philydia Lloyd’s production of The Tempest concludes the all-female trilogy, which will see Julius Caesar and Henry V return to Donmar’s temporary venue at King’s Cross Theatre. The productions have been set in a women’s prison and whilst I have no issue with gender casting, unlike Ronald Harwood, this feels like a gimmick that doesn’t…
View from the Cheap Seat 