Are you fed up with not being able to go out to the theatre? Don’t be. There’s a wealth of stuff to watch online. Here’s a handy list of current opportunities. OK, so it’s not quite the same as sharing the communal experience with others, but beggars, as they say…
It’s been a summer of Shakespeare Dreams
“What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?” A plethora of productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, that’s what.
‘Carnival reaches Southwark’: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★
Carnival reaches Southwark in this vibrant new A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with a lively cast &and colourful designs – and don’t get comfortable if you’re a groundling.
‘A fresh perspective’: HENRY V – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★★
A fresh perspective on the classic Henry V, concluding Hal’s journey from errant prince to conquering king – an action-packed end to the trilogy.
Text of the Day: Binkie offers an actor a lift
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
Are we in the middle of a golden age of Shakespeare productions?
So what can be done to make Shakespeare less boring, or prove that Shakespeare isn’t boring (depending on how you look at it)? It does feel to me that we’re in the middle of a golden age of Shakespeare productions.
‘One of the best productions at the Globe this year’: EYAM – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★
Eyam is a celebration of the strength of human spirit in the face of seemingly impossible odds, highlighting the power and comfort of community – a stirring watch.
‘Real & definitive progress could be made’: Here’s to all the women’s stories we’ve yet to hear
Apparently, 2018 is the ‘Year of the Woman’, and it has definitely felt like the world of theatre has stepped up for the occasion.
What’s Debbie looking forward to in September 2018?
On the broader theatrical landscape, there are plenty of things opening this month! In London Eugenius! returns to The Other Palace, Milly Thomas’ Dust transfers to Trafalgar Studios 2, and Foxfinder opens at the Ambassadors.
What’s Debbie looking forward to in August 2018?
Though at the moment it looks quiet, I have finally got a draft schedule together for my time in Edinburgh, and it seems as if my plan to ease myself in has just gone out of the window… It’s going to be a hectic week for me up there, but it has to be done!
‘Exactly the kind of show needed to kickstart the new season’: AS YOU LIKE IT – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★
As You Like It is exactly the kind of show that was needed to help kickstart the new season at the recently rebranded Globe; bright & joyful and a real celebration of Shakespeare’s work (without being overly reverential).
Emma Rice at Shakespeare’s Globe: Top 10
I thought it would be great to celebrate some of my favourite things about Emma Rice’s time as the artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe.
Are theatre programmes ‘the great publishing rip-off of our times’?
However, a couple of interesting tweets popped up from Channel 4’s political correspondent, Michael Crick, that seemed to get people’s juices flowing – one of which makes a rather pertinent point. What do we buy programmes for? What is the point of them?
Does programming Shakespeare have to be quite so repetitive?
You might be forgiven for thinking that only certain Shakespeare plays are allowed to be produced in any given 12-month period – for example, last year I saw five different Twelfth Nights, and this year there are at least three Macbeths already on my radar.
“Who’s there?” Thoughts on The Globe’s new vision & programming
What is personally the most galling is the programming of Twelfth Night. Emma Rice’s production was my favourite show of 2017. It almost feels like they’re trying to brush it under the carpet by putting it on again so soon.
Mind the Blog’s best shows of 2017
Any number of shows could have been included in this post; frankly it’s ludicrous that I decided to stick with my whole top 12 idea… As I’ve seen about 90 more individual shows than last year.
Mind the Blog’s 2017 review
Despite a slow, measured start, I upped the pace after a while and (after today) will have somehow managed to see 212 different shows (my P.B.) – and 291 shows in total, equalling 2016.
ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS – Shakespeare’s Globe
Frankly, you can’t ignore the fact that every time you see it you get a free piece of chocolate. As long as you have the patience to wait for “le moment de magique” before you eat it.
INTERVIEW: Director Nick Bagnall on The Two Gentlemen of Verona
“People who want ‘traditional’ Shakespeare – I don’t know what that is,” laughs Nick Bagnall. “I like to think if Shakespeare was here today he’d be using all he possibly could to be telling stories. When he was around, there was music, song, dance, audience interaction, all of it, he was always playing with theatre.”
Mark Rylance: ‘What’s wrong with being a theatre actor?’
On this Sunday’s Andrew Marr Show on BBC One, in amongst an interview with David Cameron and other reports from this year’s Conservative Party conference in Manchester, I was delighted to see Marr, perched in the circle at the West End’s Duke of York’s Theatre, chatting with actor Mark Rylance. Theatregoers know, of course, that Rylance has just opened in the West End in Farinelli and the King, written by his wife Claire van Kampen and transferred after a sell-out season earlier this year at the Globe’s indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. But Rylance is also in the news, starring opposite Tom Hanks in Hollywood spy thriller Bridge of Spies, in which he was cast after causing an onscreen stir in Wolf Hall.