Hot on the heels of my post-show Q&A for Doctor Faustus, I’m pleased to announce I’ll return to Southwark Playhouse in January to continue my long-time association with Lazarus Theatre Company, discussing their brand-new production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
‘A confused approach manifests itself in a very uneven set of performances’: HAMLET – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Sean Holmes’ new production of Hamlet in the Globe’s indoor space opens with a snatch of “Oh mother I can feel the soil falling over my head”, from The Smiths’ song ‘I Know It’s Over’.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Hamlet at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
On LoveLondonLoveCulture, Emma Clarendon rounds up the reviews for Hamlet, the first indoor production of Shakespeare’s play at Shakespeare’s Globe, now running in the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse until 9 April 2022.
‘There is quite a bit going on but it balances perfectly’: HAMLET – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
As soon as Hamlet was announced as part of the 2021-22 winter season my eyes rolled so hard I nearly saw the inside of my eye sockets. I was desperately disappointed. But then something magical happened: a Hamlet unlike any other.
NEWS: National Theatre announces new productions including Nicola Walker in The Corn is Green
The National Theatre has published on-sale dates and further details of its next new tranche of productions, opening from now until May 2022 with tickets on sale to the public from 2 December 2021.
‘It’s hard to take your eyes off Cush Jumbo’: HAMLET – Young Vic Theatre
Cush Jumbo’s Hamlet has been a long time in the making. In fact, what with the pandemic and the Young Vic’s long lead times for shows (which allow for some serious forward planning), I booked my tickets around three years ago.
‘Didn’t I want to see it unfiltered by the opinions of others?’: Mark Shenton explores critical opinion and its influence on perception
One of the pleasures — but also the risks — of being a theatre critic is that you come first to a new production, ready to form your own opinions on what you’ve seen, before you’ve already encountered or digested the opinions of others.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Hamlet at Theatre Royal Windsor
Love London Love Culture round up the reviews for this eagerly-anticipated production of Shakespeare’s tragedy starring Ian McKellen.
‘Ian McKellen scales new heights’: HAMLET – Theatre Royal, Windsor
Ian McKellen has never been an actor to shirk a challenge — or do things by halves. Having first played the title role of Hamlet fully 50 years ago, aged 31 — the age that Hamlet is at the end of the play — he has now returned to it, aged 82.
NEWS: New plays by Ben Okri & James Graham feature in the Young Vic’s new season
Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah has announced a new season of work, Welcome Back and Welcome Home, welcoming theatre-makers and audiences back through the doors for the first time since the venues’s 50th Birthday celebrations in October 2020.
‘It felt like we were all creating something very special together’: A fond farewell to The Show Must Go Online series
I may be woefully behind on my show write-ups, but I couldn’t not mark The Show Must Go Online coming to an end – at least until further notice.
‘My favourite part of working in casting is meeting fresh, exciting talent’: Sydney Aldridge on the casting process for The Show Must Go Online
I’ve really admired the work of Sydney Aldridge throughout the course of The Show Must Go Online, so who better to talk to about casting and her experiences with this innovative Zoom theatre project?
‘Adds some dynamism’: THE SECRET LOVE LIFE OF OPHELIA – Greenwich Theatre (Online review)
The Greenwich Theatre production of The Secret Love Life of Ophelia showcases a selection of excellent young performers that inadvertently asks some big questions about how we cast Hamlet in the 21st century.
NEWS: ‘Age-blind’ Hamlet starring Ian McKellen begins rehearsals for eventual run
A new production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, directed by Sean Mathias with Ian McKellen in an age-blind interpretation of the young Prince, will go into rehearsals on Monday 29 June 2020.
‘The tragedy’s shades of light are teased out & played with, much of this owes itself to Michelle Terry’: HAMLET – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★ (Online review)
The tragedy’s shades of light are teased out and played with, and much of this owes itself to Michelle Terry’s Hamlet.
Mind the Blog reflects on a theatre wish list for 2020
Mind the Blog has a fairly wide-ranging wish list of things I hope to see, including major shows such as Sunday in the Park with George, Evita, Magic Goes Wrong, Uncle Vanya and the Jamie Lloyd Company residency at the Playhouse Theatre.
Decade Round-Up: The Plays
This isn’t a ‘best of’ list it’s my best-of list, these are the plays that shaped me this decade and will stay with me well into the next.
10 plays from the past 10 years that stand out
Here is a snapshot of my favourite theatre from the past 10 years, the plays that stand out most in my memory, the ones I talk about if people ask.
NEWS: Sean Mathias named artistic director of Theatre Royal Windsor for new annual season
Sean Mathias has been appointed as the first artistic director of Theatre Royal Windsor where, starting in 2020, he will programme and annual summer season of new stage productions.
NEWS: National Theatre’s 2020 programme includes new production of Romeo & Juliet starring Josh O’Connor & Jessie Buckley
The National Theatre has announced its programme of productions between December 2019 and June 2020, including Simon Godwin directing Romeo & Juliet with Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley.