Director Kimberley Sykes embraces the playful text of As You Like It with a diverse and tuneful cast so at ease with the text that off-the-cuff moments and audience interaction are plentiful.
WATCH: After #MeToo, should we stop staging The Taming of the Shrew?
As the RSC’s latest staging of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, here’s a throwback to when Mate Terri Paddock chaired a fascinating panel discussion in Stratford-upon-Avon around the themes in the play and production.
‘Feels repetitive & frustrating’: A MUSEUM IN BAGHDAD – Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★
There is nothing wrong with having two periods onstage at once, and the fine cast does its best with the infuriatingly threadbare drawing of relationships, but The RSC’s A Museum in Baghdad feel like a bit of a mess.
‘Adeptly traverses the conflicting genres of the original problem play’: MEASURE FOR MEASURE – Touring ★★★★
Intertwining ribald comedy with a morality tale is no easy feat, yet an outstanding cast and creative team reinforce this thought-provoking and immersive experience of Measure for Measure for all to enjoy.
NEWS: RSC’s summer season 2020 features Miles Jupp debut & programme of European texts
The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced its schedule for summer 2020, a season of Shakespeare plays exploring separation, loss and deep bonds of family.
NEWS: RSC concludes its partnership with BP
The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced its decision to conclude its partnership with BP at the end of this year. BP have supported the RSC’s £5 ticket scheme for 16 to 25 year olds since 2013. Talking about the decision, RSC artistic director Gregory Doran and executive director Catherine Mallyon said: “Over many months we have listened to a wide and varied range of voices …
‘Desperate determination to be fun makes it less than gripping’: KING JOHN – Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★
The RSC’s King John could work, and in the shorter, darker, more medieval part after the interval it begins to, with the actors at last allowed to stop yelling and clowning.
‘I suppose Harry Potter And The Cursed Child was a ripple’: 10 questions for 10 years – Noma Dumezweni
So pleased to have one of my favourite actresses take on the 10 questions for 10 years challenge – all hail Noma Dumezweni!
Best of the Blogs: The Mates give their verdicts on Joseph, Jesus, Kylie Jenner, Peter Gynt & more
It’s all in a name this week as our editor Lisa Martland picks out her Top Picks from the last week’s theatre in the West End, London Fringe or beyond.
Best of the Blogs: Death of a Salesman, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Orpheus Descending & more
As part of a new series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out seven of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (29 April-6 May 2019). Amidst her choices are two more West End productions of classic American drama: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic (Emily Garside) and Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending at the Menier Chocolate Factory (Libby Purves).
‘A furious sex-comedy wrapped around real tragedy’: THE PROVOKED WIFE – Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★★
Few other writers other than Vanbrugh simultaneously evoke quite the savage cynicism, torrential verbal wit and real anger of The Provoked Wife, this slightly alarming and ceaselessly entertaining piece about men, women, and social hypocrisies.
NEWS: RSC returns to the Barbican with three new Shakespeare productions
Later this year, the three Shakespeare productions from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) summer 2019 Stratford season transfer to the Barbican from 26 October 2019.
‘A small play that radiates with a wider resonance’: OUT OF WATER – Orange Tree Theatre
Out of Water, a new play about gender, regional and professional identity, rides the crest of the feelgood factor.
New event: Join Terri at the RSC to discuss The Taming of the Shrew in the age of #MeToo
Two days after Shakespeare’s birthday (23 April), I’ll still be celebrating the bard myself as I make my Royal Shakespeare Company ‘debut’ chairing a panel discussion in Stratford-upon-Avon connected with their new production of The Taming of the Shrew.
‘What stands out is the sheer power of storytelling’: MATILDA THE MUSICAL – Touring ★★★★
Stories rule in the RSC’s brilliant production of Matilda The Musical in an adaptation which feels properly true to the spirit of its Roald Dahl original – complete with dangerous spikes and revolting children.
‘An excellent production with a seriously watchable cast’: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR – Barbican Theatre
The Merry Wives of Windsor is often looked-down-upon as a casual piece of throwaway entertainment lacking substance or serious intent, with little for scholars to get their teeth into. However, this is a play whose time is surely coming again.
‘Revel in the eccentric ridiculousness of it all’: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR – Barbican Theatre ★★★★
Returning to the RSC and the Barbican for The Merry Wives of Windsor after his triumph in Titus Andronicus last year is David Troughton as the drunken and self-proclaimed womaniser, Falstaff, his caricaturesque performance mirroring the cartoony nature of the plot, characters, script and direction.
‘A great production of a chilling play’: MACBETH – Barbican Theatre
This is a Macbeth that emphasises the psychological horror of the story. It is a brutal and murderous play, but priority is given to the effects of the violence rather than the violence itself.
‘Dickens, 175 years on, has done it again’: A CHRISTMAS CAROL – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★★
David Edgar’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol, directed as last year by Rachel Kavanaugh, gives the old story of ghosts and redemption deft additions and expanded scenes
‘Timeless & matchless’: DON QUIXOTE – West End ★★★★
As a parable of the apparent inadequacy of legend in a real world, the RSC’s Don Quixote it is timeless and matchless.