Category Archives: Shakespeare on Stage

Roger Rees: good night, sweet prince

On Saturday 11 July 2015 it was announced that the actor and director Roger Rees had died aged 71. Better known for his more recent TV and film work in the USA, he spent many years in his early career with the … Continue reading

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Hugh Quarshie looking for the Moor

I wrote last October about the news that the distinguished actor Hugh Quarshie was to take on the role of Othello, with another black actor, Lucian Msamati, playing Iago. The story is that in an essay Quarshie wrote some years … Continue reading

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The Wars of the Roses at the Rose, Kingston

In an interview published in February 2014 Trevor Nunn explained that it was his aim to direct all of Shakespeare’s plays “before I hang up my boots”, with only seven left to go. “I’m very keen to do a particular … Continue reading

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All for your delight: Shakespearian summer treats

Now July has arrived, and some summer weather, it’s time for a round-up. Already well under way is the Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare project being run by  Forced Entertainment, a theatre company based in Sheffield, UK. Over 9 days at … Continue reading

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Is King John Shakespeare’s most unloved play?

This weekend the Globe’s production of King John (co-produced with Royal & Derngate, Northampton, directed by James Dacre), closes. It’s the very last play in the canon to be produced by the Globe (though it has been staged there).  This … Continue reading

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Julie Taymor’s phantasmagoric film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Julie Taymor’s film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was released in the UK, perhaps predictably, on Sunday 21 June 2015. And from the trailer, it looks amazing (see the end of this post). As a director she’s worked around the world … Continue reading

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Rosalinds in Arden

Michelle Terry is blasting her way through Shakespeare’s forthright heroines. Having spent the winter playing Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, both for the RSC in Stratford, she is now taking on Shakespeare’s most … Continue reading

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Antony Sher playing Shakespeare’s fat knight

The Radio 4 Book of the Week beginning on 4 May 2015 was Antony Sher’s  Year of the Fat Knight: the Falstaff Diaries, his account of  the process of preparing for and performing Falstaff in Henry IV parts 1 and … Continue reading

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Peter Brook at the V&A

On Saturday I was lucky to be able to attend a symposium at the Victoria and Albert Museum entitled Peter Brook: Place, Process, Performance, Politics. It was part of the Museum’s Performance Festival and this investigation of Brook’s impact on … Continue reading

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Cheek by Jowl’s Measure for Measure coming to your laptop!

Cheek by Jowl’s Russian-language production of Measure for Measure, currently at the Barbican Theatre in London until 25 April, has received fantastic reviews. It’s been sold out for over a month, astonishing considering it’s being performed in Russian with surtitles. … Continue reading

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