Category: Theatre

Coriolanus (1605/8): William Shakespeare

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Coriolanus: Donmar Warehouse

★★★★

(Donmar Warehouse, 2013, directed by Josie Rourke)

During the Donmar Warehouse’s run of Coriolanus, tickets were so scarce that people camped outside in sleeping bags in the hope of getting a day ticket for the show. Interviewing the director Josie Rourke, just before a live broadcast of the play, Emma Freud asked what could account for this surge of popular interest. Somewhat disingenuously, Rourke enthused about the modern parallels to be found in this story. It’s a tale about the power of public opinion, in which a great soldier is brought down by his failure to transition to the hand-pressing, baby-kissing world of popular politics. She suggested that the play spoke to modern sensibilities. It’s about an era of austerity, about class divisions between the people and those who rule them, and about the fact that the people notionally have a voice but realistically don’t feel they have any power to change their government.

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Cirque du Soleil: Quidam (1996)

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Zoe: Cirque du Soleil: Quidam

Zoe: Cirque du Soleil: Quidam

★★★★

(Royal Albert Hall, London, 1 February 2014)

Something a little different today; and this is going to be a largely image-based post, for which I make no apology. Words only go so far with the Cirque du Soleil: it is first and foremost a dazzling spectacle, a delicious selection-box of acts celebrating the grace, strength and power of the human body. We’d never been to any of their performances before, but for this year’s birthday treat  I was whisked off to see Quidam at the Royal Albert Hall. What a magnificent setting that is for a circus! – where else in London do you have quite the same feeling of being inside a luxurious big-top? And, over the course of the next two hours, a whole new world opened up before us: a gorgeously stylised magical other-where.

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Much Ado About Nothing (1598/99): William Shakespeare

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Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

★★★½

(Shakespeare’s Globe, 2011)

This is the third production of Much Ado that I’ve seen in the last four months (note to self: be more adventurous). After the creative but unsuccessful version at the Old Vic, with its elderly Beatrice and Benedick, and the excellent modern adaptation by Joss Whedon, it was interesting to compare them to this more traditional interpretation. Jeremy Herrin’s 2011 production is one of the few performances filmed for the Globe’s DVD series, which I’ve mentioned before: like the two parts of Henry IV, which I watched recently, it was a real pleasure.

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Othello (c1603): William Shakespeare

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Othello: Shakespeare

★★★

(directed by Rebekah Fortune, Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, until 8 February 2014)

Othello: because one dose of Jacobean treachery and murder per week just isn’t enough. In the aftermath of the Globe’s stunning Duchess of Malfi, I headed off to sample a spot of Shakespeare on the other side of town. Although I’ve lived in the area for more than three years, this was the first time I’d been to Riverside Studios and I feel suitably ashamed. But, when I spotted this new production of Othello advertised in the local paper, I just couldn’t resist. The 1940s film noir setting was a stroke of genius: the themes of ambition, corruption and sexual jealousy fit perfectly into that mould and it was such an ideal match that I’m surprised it hasn’t been done more frequently.

The Duchess of Malfi (1612-13): John Webster

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The Duchess of Malfi: Webster

★★★★★

(Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, until 16 February 2014)

I studied this at school and it has stuck in my mind ever since: indeed, it’s the kind of thing that’s hard to forget. The Duchess of Malfi was the historical Giovanna d’Aragona, traditionally – though no longer – thought to be the sitter in the gorgeous portrait by Giulio Romano in the Louvre. Widowed young, she falls in love with her overseer, the urbane but lowborn Antonio and marries him secretly. As the years pass, she has three children with him and savours the bliss of her married life, but their match remains a secret.

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Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2 (c1597): William Shakespeare

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Henry IV: Part 1: William Shakespeare

(Shakespeare’s Globe, 2010)

My first encounter with Henry IV was via the BBC’s The Hollow Crown last year, when I was unexpectedly captivated by this story of a disappointed father and his wayward son. Afterwards I wished I’d had the sense to see Dominic Dromgoole’s 2010 production at the Globe (especially since I did see their 2012 Henry V, in which Jamie Parker reprised the role of an older, wiser Hal). However, my uncle very kindly bought me the DVDs of Henry IV for Christmas and I curled up with them this week, with ever-increasing pleasure.

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Much Ado About Nothing (1598/99): William Shakespeare

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Much Ado About Nothing: William Shakespeare

★★★

(directed by Mark Rylance, The Old Vic, London, until 30 November)

Much Ado About Nothing is the closest that Shakespeare came to writing a screwball comedy and I love it dearly, mainly for the barbed word-play. I’ve seen several versions (my favourite is still the sun-drenched Kenneth Branagh film) and I was very interested by the idea behind Mark Rylance’s new adaptation at the Old Vic. Here Beatrice and Benedick are played respectively by Vanessa Redgrave (76) and James Earl Jones (82): two older people who, after watching their young friends fall in love, are finally persuaded to end their age-old skirmishing and embrace their affection for one another before it’s too late. I thought it was a marvellous take on the play – but unfortunately the production doesn’t live up to the brilliance of this concept. It was rather disappointing because, with such a director and such actors, it should have been a cast-iron success.

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Henry V (c1599): William Shakespeare

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Henry V: William Shakespeare

★★★★

Last night I finally settled down to watch the BBC’s adaptation of Henry V, screened last year, as part of The Hollow Crown series. I should have watched the two parts of Henry IV first, it’s true; but I was discussing Tom Hiddleston with Heloise yesterday (re. his being a fan-favourite to play Lymond, if that ever comes to the screen) and was curious to see how he’d fare in this lead role.

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Fallen in Love: The Secret Heart of Anne Boleyn (2011): Joanna Carrick

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Fallen in Love: The Secret Heart of Anne Boleyn: Joanna Carrick

(Red Rose Chain at the Tower of London and Gippeswyk Hall, Suffolk, until 16 June 2013)

This was something I heard about at the very last minute: having missed any mention of it in the press, I came across an entry on Laura Winningham’s indispensable London culture blog, The Winning Review. The prospect of seeing a play about the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, in Tudor costume, at the Tower of London, was simply too good to resist.

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