What air’s from home. Haply this life is best

What: Cymbeline by William Shakespeare

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon (RST)

When: 22nd April-27 May, 2023

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

An excellent production!!

But that does need some explanation and clarification.

What do we have here?

Continue reading

For Thou Mayest See a Sunshine and a Hail in me at once

What: All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), Stratford-upon-Avon

When: August 22-28 2022 (runs until late October 2022)

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

William Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well” is, they say, a problem play. Having read all the main literature on that subject, I’m still not convinced on that subject, but this I do know – the RSC’s current production of it makes it more of a problem than it needs to be.

Continue reading

The King’s Name is a Tower of Strength

What: Richard III by William Shakespeare

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

When: Late June to early July 2022

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

This is a very good RSC production. It fades a little in the final third but on the whole, it has much to offer. And frankly, if you look through my recent reviews of the Stratford-Upon-Avon-based theatre, it hasn’t been too often I have been able to say that in the last 5 years.

Of course, the shutdown because of the pandemic has affected the percentages, but some productions have been a real struggle.

The recent Much Ado Nothing had some good sections. Measure for Measure and the Comedy of Errors were absolutely excellent, and far, far beyond my expectations. But, most often the RSC seems to have been embroiled in experimentation, tricky notions and slightly bizarre shapes for their own shape.

Continue reading

“Nobility enforce a freedom out of Bondage, making misery their Mirth”

What: The Two Noble Kinsmen by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company

When: October 2016

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) performances are oh-so-relevant. Or at least they think they are.

But are they trying a little too hard?

Continue reading