Tag Archives: kev waterman

More Than Cool Reason Ever Comprehends – The Lunatic, the Lover, The Poet

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What: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

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

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

When: February – March 2024

So, when I come to assess a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I am considering a play that I have acted in, directed and produced on a professional level. Whatever else this means, it means that I am coming to view a play that I have strong opinions about. I consider that I have a firm understanding of the play’s strengths.

This I think is important to establish in the critique I offer – not least because I think that Eleanor Rhodes’ direction of the play is remarkably uneven.

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Macbeth – Double, double toil and trouble;

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O, full of scorpions is my mind

What: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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

Who: Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

When: August-September 2023

Could things get any worse?

An old record by the Who echoed with the words:

“Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss”

Here at the RSC, the same problems that have haunted recent productions look like they are going to be around in the new era. Gregory Doran’s time at the helm was rather mixed. Now as we come out of an interim period, with Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey as co-artistic directors, things have really not changed. This production of Macbeth is diabolical, and I don’t mean devilish.

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