Joe Hill-Gibbins’ of The Tragedy of King Richard the Second is inherently divisive, and the critics have obliged but, only three days into the year, it is very hard to imagine a more exciting or compelling Shakespeare coming along in 2019.
‘Shows us what Shakespeare can be’: THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND – Almeida Theatre
Simon Russell Beale and Leo Bill shine in Joe Hill-Gibbins’ perfectly reimagined The Tragedy of King Richard the Second at the Almeida Theatre.
Curtains post-show Q&A: Could you help someone you loved to die if they asked you?
If an elderly relative in enormous physical pain begged you to help them to die, would you? Would you ever ask the same of someone else? What is a ‘decent death’? Should we all have the right to one? Or, put another way, should euthanasia be legalised in the UK?
‘Achieves a measure of success’: CURTAINS – Kingston
Curtains has a play-of-the-day feel to it as it seeks to deal with its big issue – euthanasia – and, in some ways, achieves a measure of success.
KING LEAR – Shakespeare’s Globe
Characterisation from each member of the cast felt natural, beautifully synchronised and there’s a strong sense of unity amongst the ensemble – even when characters’ paths are divided.
KING LEAR – Shakespeare’s Globe
It’s somehow fitting that the last Shakespeare of Emma Rice’s final (summer) season is King Lear. A play that shows us how the established world can change based on one rash decision will certainly have some resonance at a venue who made the decision to terminate Rice’s employment as Artistic Director so early on.
Saskia Reeves’ two contrasting roles: The Mistress Contract and A Disappearing Number
Two things kept coming to mind as I watched The Mistress Contract at the Royal Court. The two-hander, starring Saskia Reeves and Danny Webb, is based on a memoir, authored by the anonymous She and He and published last year. The book, and subsequent play by Abi Morgan, details the couple’s three-decade consensual and contractual […]