Tag: Shakespeare

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

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Henry IV: Part 1

In the wake of Henry V, I ventured back to the two instalments of The Hollow Crown which I should have watched before: Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. These were entirely new to me: I had never seen them before, either on the stage or on screen, and never read them either. I’ve always felt a little daunted by the history plays in general, and I steered particularly clear of anything with multiple parts (Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3 remain to be tackled on a future occasion). As the two plays form two halves of the same story and have the same cast, I wanted to deal with them together – and yet to consider each separately.

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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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Coriolanus (1605/8): William Shakespeare

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Coriolanus: William Shakespeare

(directed by Ralph Fiennes, 2011)

This was one of the many films I missed in the cinema, but I remember the critical acclaim that greeted its release in the UK last year. Last night I finally settled down to watch it; and what a treat it was. Fiennes’s directorial debut brings the action right up to date, telling the story with handheld cameras and news reports alongside more traditional techniques (the British newsreader Jon Snow has a cameo as the Fidelis TV presenter). Almost without exception, the excellent cast handle Shakespeare’s language with such ease that it feels almost like normal speech, and the story is presented with such clarity that (not knowing this play at all), I was completely gripped.

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Looking for Richard (1996)

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Looking for Richard

★★★

(directed by Al Pacino, 1996)

This documentary has been on my wishlist for some years, but I only bought it a couple of weeks ago. Little did I know at the time that Richard III was about to become national news. As we all know by now, the University of Leicester announced on Tuesday that the bones found in September beneath a car park, on the site of the city’s medieval Grey Friars church, were almost certainly those of Richard, buried hastily and irreverently after the Battle of Bosworth.

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Twelfth Night (1601-2): William Shakespeare

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Twelfth Night: William Shakespeare

★★★★½

(Apollo Theatre, London, playing in rep with Richard III until 9 February 2013)

I should, of course, have seen these plays the other way round: Twelfth Night in early January and then Richard III last night, spiced with the news that the skeleton found beneath a car park in Leicester is (almost certainly) that of the king. Anyway, it was a joy to return to the Apollo for my second encounter with the Globe company in their winter quarters. Once again I hung over the balcony watching the actors milling around as they were dressed, watching doublets and hose tugged on, bodices laced up, lead-white paint and rouge applied to faces. Even without their wigs, the actors gained a feminine elegance as soon as they were into their skirts; and I watched Mark Rylance’s hands fluttering convulsively as he was laced up, as if trying physically to shake himself into his role.

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Richard III (1592/94): William Shakespeare

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Richard III: William Shakespeare

★★★½

(Apollo Theatre, London, playing in rep with Twelfth Night until 10 February 2013)

After garnering rave reviews at the Globe over the summer, this company has moved to winter quarters at the Apollo. A beautiful wooden set recalls the Globe’s stage while also suggesting the feel of an indoor Jacobean theatre: two arched doorways at the back of the stage are surmounted by a musicians’ balcony and on either side are two tiers of wooden seating. It’s a taste of what the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is going to look like.

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The Taming of the Shrew (1590-2): William Shakespeare

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The Taming of the Shrew: William Shakespeare

★★★★½

(directed by Toby Frow; Globe Theatre, until 13 October 2012)

Another splendid evening at the Globe last night, although very different in character from Henry V a few weeks ago. Raucous, bawdy and lively, Toby Frow’s Shrew is rich with physical comedy and slapstick. It’s fantastic to watch something like this at the Globe, because more than ever you come to understand the vibrancy of theatre in Shakespeare’s day. The audience feeds off the exuberance of the actors, who in turn draw it back from them: to see a successful comedy in this theatre is to feel symbiosis in action.

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Henry V (c1599): William Shakespeare

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Henry V: William Shakespeare

★★★★

(directed by Dominic Dromgoole; Globe Theatre, until 26 August 2012)

A visit to the Globe is always a treat. No matter what you go to see, the setting is an experience in itself. You will know it by now, from pictures if not from your own visits: the stage with its golden columns and painted ceiling, embraced by the galleries with their stout posts and hard wooden benches; the pit open to the skies. The play opens with trumpeters and music – there is no curtain – and always closes with a rousing country dance. My seat last night in the second row of the Lower Galleries was particularly splendid, giving me just gave me enough height to see over the heads of the intervening groundlings.  I even treated myself to the hire of a cushion (£1).

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As You Like It (1599): William Shakespeare

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As You Like It: William Shakespeare

★★★★

(Iris Theatre, St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, until 4 August 2012)

Once again, in the grounds of St Paul’s Church in the heart of Covent Garden, Iris Theatre have created a little pocket of Arcadia. Last year it was the woods of Athens, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream; this year their unique brand of magic transforms the garden into the Forest of Arden, for As You Like It. As today was one of those rare summer days when London enjoyed glorious sunshine and Mediterranean temperatures, I decided to seize the moment and went off for some immersive Shakespeare.

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