The play All’s Well That Ends Well at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon provides a lot of food for thought, but under McIntyre’s eye it remains a humorous piece. This excellent adaptation is mesmerising from start to finish and is one of the best RSC productions I’ve seen.
‘Hopeful & joyful without being sickly sweet’: THE MAGICIAN’S ELEPHANT – Stratford-upon-Avon (RSC) ★★★★
My first time back in Stratford-upon-Avon since February 2019, and roughly three years since I’d last stepped foot in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre – and after seeing some rehearsal footage of this new show, I was excited to see what this had turned into.
Puppetry, top casting & other reasons you should see The Magician’s Elephant
The RSC’s brand-new musical, an adaptation of The Magician’s Elephant, started performances this week at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Earlier this month, the company opened its rehearsal room doors for a sneak peek. Why should you add this show to your list of autumn treats?
NEWS: RSC reopens Royal Shakespeare Theatre with new productions in spring 2022
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has released details of its Spring 2022 activity including Shakespeare returning to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage and the announcement of a ground-breaking national new writing project.
Mark Shenton picks out his favourite regional theatres for the latest ShenTens podcast
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The post ShenTens: My Top 10 Favourite Regional Theatre Venues first appeared on Shenton Stage.
‘Perfect for the season’: THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA – RSC (Online review)
A rom com with a dark edge makes for good Valentine’s Day entertainment
‘Richly rewarding’: THE WHIP – RSC (Online review)
The legacy of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade is fascinatingly examined in the audio version of The Whip from the RSC.
NEWS: RSC will focus its 2021 Stratford-upon-Avon programme in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Company will focus its programming in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford-upon-Avon over the coming year, with the Swan Theatre and The Other Place remaining closed until 2022
‘I never thought, oh, one day The Boy in the Dress will be a musical with the RSC’: Interview with author David Walliams
After several years’ development, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s highly anticipated new musical – an adaptation of best-selling children’s author David Walliams‘ 2008 debut novel The Boy in the Dress with a book by Mark Ravenhill and music and lyrics by chart-topping songwriters Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers – is gearing up for its world premiere. Ahead of […]
‘Timely & riveting adaptation’: MEASURE FOR MEASURE – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★★
Gregory Doran’s timely and riveting adaptation of Measure for Measure is filled with laugh-out-loud humour, but there is also a bleaker side to it that makes it very much a play for today.
‘It’s a right royal carry on’: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★
The estuary accents, Dolce & Gabbana leggings, bling and selfies are a bit of a giveaway that Fiona Laird’s production of cheeky Shakespearean comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor is geographically dubious.
‘Visually enticing’: MACBETH – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★
Polly Findlay pulls out all the stops for her visually enticing production of Macbeth for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
‘Double, double, toil & – yes – trouble’: MACBETH – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★
Directors stop being scared of the Scottish Play and return to more reflective and respectful renderings. Meanwhile, the unfortunate A level set-book class of 2018 are at risk of associating it only with concrete, gaffer-tape, plastic dollies and carpet-sweepers.
‘Politics is a dirty business’: IMPERIUM – Stratford-upon-Avon (RSC) ★★★★★
Murder, ambition, back-stabbing and sex. Politics is a dirty business but never less than thrilling in Mike Poulton’s Imperium, his terrific adaptation of Robert Harris’s Cicero Trilogy.
TWELFTH NIGHT – Stratford-upon-Avon (RSC) ★★★★
Following in the footsteps of Emma Rice’s production of the same play in her final summer season at the Globe, director Christopher Luscombe moves from Nell Gwynn’s 17th century setting to a Belle Époque version of Twelfth Night.
NEWS: The RSC Announce Full Casting For Henry V
It won’t shock any of our readers to hear we’re very excited about The RSC presenting Henry V as part of their winter season. Their Henry IV was a highlight of 2014 and both productions, alongside the acclaimed Richard II from a few years back, head to London for an exciting run of the “Henries” cycle!
Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director, continues his exploration through Shakespeare’s History plays as he directs Henry V, opening in Stratford-upon-Avon, before being broadcast to cinemas and transferring to the Barbican in London.
Alex Hassell, who played Prince Hal in both productions of Henry IV and recently played Biff Loman in Doran’s production ofDeath of a Salesman, plays the title role of King Henry.
Doran’s History tetralogy culminates in January 2016 at the Barbican in London, with a major theatrical event marking the start of the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare’s death, King & Country, a complete 4-play season cycle of Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V playing in repertoire. Following the Barbican season, Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V tour to China and are then re-joined by Richard II in Spring 2016 for an exclusive season in the US, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
The RSC is delighted to announce J.P. Morgan as the Global Tour Premier Partner for all four productions. J.P. Morgan will be supporting the upcoming tour in the UK, US and China where the RSC will perform Shakespeare’s History Plays.
October 2015, also marks the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt whilst Henry V performs in Stratford-upon-Avon, bringing added resonance to the play which uses the battle as the famous centrepiece of Henry V’s reign.
With the start of rehearsals for Henry V, the RSC begins the first pilot in the initiative to produce new, theatrically viable, Chinese translations of all Shakespeare’s 36 plays, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the First Folio in 2023. The RSC will create the translations in collaboration with Chinese writers and translators, who will be embedded into the RSC’s rehearsal process. Professor Zhang Chong, from Shanghai’s Fudan University will be the translator for Henry V working alongside playwright and Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Nick Yu.
The full cast for Henry V includes: Daniel Abbott (Gloucester/Monsieur le Fer); Martin Bassindale (Boy); Antony Byrne(Pistol); Sean Chapman (Exeter); Oliver Ford Davies (Chorus), Nicholas Gerard-Martin (Orleans/Bishop of Ely); Robert Gilbert (Dauphin); Alex Hassell (Henry V); Jim Hooper (Canterbury/Erpingham); Jennifer Kirby (Katherine); Jane Lapotaire(Queen Isobel); Sam Marks (Constable of France); Dale Mathurin (Bates/Bedford); Chris Middleton (Nym/Warwick/Governor of Harfleur); Evelyn Miller (Rambures/Lady-in-Waiting); Keith Osborn (Montjoy/Scroop); Sarah Parks (Mistress Quickly);Leigh Quinn (Alice); Joshua Richards (Bardolph/Fluellen); Simon Thorp (King of France); Obioma Ugoala (Grey/Gower);Andrew Westfield (Westmoreland/MacMorris) and Simon Yadoo (Cambridge/Williams/Jamy).
The Henry V Company will perform across all four plays of the King & Country cycle and are joined by David Tennant (Richard II); Julian Glover (John of Gaunt); Jasper Britton (Bolingbroke/Henry IV); Matthew Needham (Harry Percy/Hotspur/Mowbray) and Emma King (Lady-in-Waiting/Lady Mortimer/Doll Tearsheet).
The productions are designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis with lighting by Tim Mitchell. The music is composed by Paul Englishby with sound by Martin Slavin. The Movement director is Mike Ashcroft and the Fight director is Terry King.
Henry V will be broadcast ‘Live from Stratford-upon-Avon’ to cinemas in collaboration with Picturehouse Entertainment on 21 October 2015
To book tickets call 01789 403493 or online at www.rsc.org.uk
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon
What an odd, stark, angry, intelligent Merchant this is! Wholly unlike the last RSC production, Rupert Goold’s spectacular Merchant-of-Vegas gameshow. Polly Findlay sets it modern dress, on a bare stage whose floor and backdrop are gold bars, mirroring the auditorium and making us visible witnesses to the case of Antonio, the shipowning speculator, and his deal with Shylock the Jew. A gilded pendulum swings constantly at stage level; the three caskets descend too, 65 feet from the grid on wires, bald as geometry diagrams – cube, cone, cylinder.