Showing posts with label shakespeare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shakespeare. Show all posts

Monday, 16 July 2012

6 Week Theatre Challenge: 11-15

11. What was the fist thing you saw at the theatre?

Besides from pantomimes and the occasional trip to an Agatha Christie play, I'd have to say the first thing I saw at the theatre was Sean Mathias' production of Waiting for Godot - I'd also have to say that it was this production which really inspired me to see more theatre and go more regularly.

12. What is the worst production you have seen?

I am lucky in the respect that I haven't seen many terrible productions, however, there have been one or two which just haven't clicked with me. The Late Middle Classes at the Donmar, although well acted, was a big disappointment and from the start did not grip me. The fact I left at the interval says it all. More recently Zach Braff's All New People left me feeling cold, completely failing to lift one smile from my face.

13. What is the production you're most looking forward to?

I am very excited to see The Globe's Richard III and Twelfth Night later this year (I am seeing them very late in their runs). Mark Rylance, in my opinion, is the best actor you can possibly see on stage and so hopefully these two productions are just as good as everything else he has been in. The rest of the cast also looks intriguing - Johnny Flynn as Lady Anne and Stephen Fry as Malvolio.

14. Who is your favourite theatre director?

Katie Mitchell hands down is my favourite theatre director. The sheer originality of her work really excites me and you never quite know what she will do with a text, classic or modern.

15. Which play would you most like to see?

Although not specific, I would like to see more of Shakespeare's obscure work (Pericles, Titus Andronicus).  If I had to be specific and pick a non-Shakespeare I would like to see Beckett's A Piece of Monologue performed.

Friday, 18 May 2012

The year of Shakespeare

Photograph: Keith Pattison
Shakespeare seems to be the name on every body's lips in the world of theatre this year. With the The Globe's hugely impressive GlobeToGlobe taking place right now and the RSC putting on their 'What Country Friends Is This' trilogy, Shakespeare seems to be everywhere up and down the country (just this morning it was announced that the Sheffield Crucible will be putting on a new production of Macbeth directed by Daniel Evans). With huge amounts of plays to choose from, I thought I would compile a list of the Shakespeare must sees of the year:

Ninagawa Company's Cymbeline at the Barbican, 29th May - 2nd June.
Otello at the Royal Opera House, 12th July - 24th July.
Troilus and Cressida at the RSC, 3rd August - 18th August.
Timon of Athens at the National Theatre, 10th July - 9th September (as of yet, more dates are yet to be announced).
King Lear at the Almeida Theatre, 31st August - 3rd November.

What is impressive about the amount of Shakespeare being put on this year is that it allows for the more obscure plays to be performed which might not normally get a look in when up against Macbeth or Hamlet. I think, this year, the most exciting productions will be of the more obscure of Shakespeare's plays such as King John at the RSC has been put into an innovative and original production by Maria Aberg.


p.s. I haven't abandoned this blog, I have just been very busy as of late and therefore my theatre-going duties will resume in a couple of weeks.