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2021
Posted 09.02.2021: Royal Shakespeare Company to stage virtual reality show: Playhouses may be dark, but the Royal Shakespeare Company is to bring immersive theatre to audiences wherever they are in the world by combining revolutionary virtual reality and video games technologies with traditional live performances.
Real-time animation will be created by actors interacting with a live audience, who will in turn influence a story inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-55969712 ; inews.co.uk/news/entertainment/royal-shakespeare-company-stage-vr-performance-midsummer-nights-dream-virtual-forest-861593; www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/07/is-this-an-avatar-i-see-before-me-audience-takes-to-stage-in-virtual-shakespeare-play .
Real-time animation will be created by actors interacting with a live audience, who will in turn influence a story inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-55969712 ; inews.co.uk/news/entertainment/royal-shakespeare-company-stage-vr-performance-midsummer-nights-dream-virtual-forest-861593; www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/07/is-this-an-avatar-i-see-before-me-audience-takes-to-stage-in-virtual-shakespeare-play .
Posted 28.01.2021: Armada maps saved for the nation (From The Times, 27.01.2021):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-55812565 ; https://www.standard.cwww.standard.co.uk/news/uk/spanish-armada-maps-saved-national-museum-royal-navy-b901295.htmlo.uk/news/uk/spanish-armada-maps-saved-national-museum-royal-navy-b901295.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-55812565 ; https://www.standard.cwww.standard.co.uk/news/uk/spanish-armada-maps-saved-national-museum-royal-navy-b901295.htmlo.uk/news/uk/spanish-armada-maps-saved-national-museum-royal-navy-b901295.html
Posted 28.01.2021: From the Sunday Times 'Culture' Magazine, January 24, 2021.
Posted 11.01.2021: New Place Garden (Above).
Posted 11.01.2021: Howard Jacobson ('My Name Is Shylock') examines the decision of Michael Morpurgo to omit The Merchant of Venice from his new edition of Tales From Shakespeare aimed at introducing children to Shakespeare.
2020
Posted 29.12.2020: Below is the link to the Upstart Crow Lockdown Christmas Special - 1603: Shakespeare in a time of plague.
Just a two-hander on this occasion (WS & Kate): Lots of fairly obvious but amusing parallels with our current situation.
BBC iPlayer - Upstart Crow - Lockdown Christmas 1603 .
Just a two-hander on this occasion (WS & Kate): Lots of fairly obvious but amusing parallels with our current situation.
BBC iPlayer - Upstart Crow - Lockdown Christmas 1603 .
Posted 26.12.2020: The first performance of King Lear took place on this day ('S[t] Stephans night in Christmas Hollidayes') 1608 - recorded on the Title Page of Q1: www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/kinglear.html .
Posted 22.12.2020:
Covid: The night London's theatres went dark:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55274219 .
Covid: The night London's theatres went dark:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55274219 .
Posted 11.11.2020: Rugby School to sell 'rare' Shakespeare and Dickens books: A "rare" Shakespeare book being sold by Rugby School is estimated to fetch up to £50,000 at auction.
William Shakespeare's Fourth Folio, from 1685, is one of about 300 books from the school's library going under the hammer.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-54895279 .
William Shakespeare's Fourth Folio, from 1685, is one of about 300 books from the school's library going under the hammer.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-54895279 .
Posted 16.10.2020 : Shakespeare First Folio fetches a record $10m at auction: The edition sold on Wednesday was the first complete copy to go under the hammer since 2001, when one fetched $6.1m (£4.9m) - the previous record : www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54544737 .
Posted 10.09.2020: Diana Rigg (obituary) : She was Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew, Lady Macduff in Macbeth, Adriana in The Comedy of Errors and, most notably, Cordelia in Peter Brook’s famous production of King Lear, with Paul Scofield as the king. She repeated Cordelia and Adriana for a British Council tour of Europe, the Soviet Union and the US, making her New York debut in 1964: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dame-diana-rigg-obituary-d376s22p5 ; www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27986272 ; www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/sep/10/actor-diana-rigg-dies-aged-82 . Above as Cleopatra (1966).
Posted 10.09.2020 : (Above) The Times, 10.09.2020, p. 17.
Posted 26.08.2020: Times article on Cordor Castle (below):
| times_-_25.08.2020_cordor_castle.docx |
Posted 25.07.2020: 'When will theatres reopen and what will have changed?' - an important article from today's Times Review (Below)
| times_review_25.07.2020.docx |
| john_peter_-_st_culture_mag..docx |
| obituary_-_john_peter.docx |
Posted 11.07.2020: Obituary: John Peter, Theatre Critic of the Sunday Times: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-life-and-legacy-of-theatre-critic-john-peter-v8jg7fz7f ; www.wikiwand.com/en/John_Peter_(critic) .
Posted 06.07.2020: Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces new £1.57billion support package for the Arts: www.lbc.co.uk/news/chancellor-rishi-sunak-announces-new-157billion-support-package-for-the-arts/ ; www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/government-1bn-package-arts_51906.html ; www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/rishi-sunak-chancellor-coronavirus-jobs-a4389471.html .
Posted 06.07.2020: Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces new £1.57billion support package for the Arts: www.lbc.co.uk/news/chancellor-rishi-sunak-announces-new-157billion-support-package-for-the-arts/ ; www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/government-1bn-package-arts_51906.html ; www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/rishi-sunak-chancellor-coronavirus-jobs-a4389471.html .
[Above photo is of Holm as Richard III for the RSC in 1966]
Posted 19.06.2020: Sir Ian Holm dies, aged 88: 'In the theater he ran the gamut of Shakespeare, from the high-spirited Prince Hal to the tormented King Lear': https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53110391 ; www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/19/sir-ian-holm-obituary ; www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/obituaries/ian-holm-dead.html; www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ian-holm-obituary-death-bilbo-baggins-lord-of-the-rings-a9575566.html ; www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/21/ian-holm-invented-shakespeare-acting-in-the-modern-age-of-film ; www.theguardian.com/film/ian-holm ; www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/leisure/national/18531395.peter-jackson-says-working-sir-ian-holm-taught-so-much/ ; www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/22/ian-holm-remembered-richard-eyre-anne-marie-duff-ken-stott-hugh-hudson .
Posted 19.06.2020: Sir Ian Holm dies, aged 88: 'In the theater he ran the gamut of Shakespeare, from the high-spirited Prince Hal to the tormented King Lear': https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53110391 ; www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/19/sir-ian-holm-obituary ; www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/obituaries/ian-holm-dead.html; www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ian-holm-obituary-death-bilbo-baggins-lord-of-the-rings-a9575566.html ; www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/21/ian-holm-invented-shakespeare-acting-in-the-modern-age-of-film ; www.theguardian.com/film/ian-holm ; www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/leisure/national/18531395.peter-jackson-says-working-sir-ian-holm-taught-so-much/ ; www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/22/ian-holm-remembered-richard-eyre-anne-marie-duff-ken-stott-hugh-hudson .
| sir_ian_holm_obituary.docx |
Posted 10.06.2020: Archaeologists discover first Elizabethan theatre - the Red Lion: See The Times article below and - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-52983008 .
| unearthed_playhouse_that_ushered_in_the_era_of_shakespeare.docx |
Posted 03.06.2020: Britain excels in performing arts, but the coronavirus crisis has taken the industry to the brink of disaster, says the playwright James Graham (Below):
| theatre_-_the_final_curtain....docx |
Posted 27.05.2020: Writer repents for making the Bard's father most foul: See Times article below:
| times_26.05.2020_-_ofarrell.docx |
Posted 19.05.2020: Michael Morpurgo gallops into battle to modernise Shakespeare’s plays by Sian Griffiths (below):
| times_-_17.05.2020_-_morpurgo_s_shakespeare_.docx |
Posted 23. 03.2020: Above review by Quentin Letts from Sunday Times Culture Magazine (22.03.2020).
Posted 23. 03.2020: Above review by Claire Allfree from the Telegraph 18.03.2020.
Posted 14.03.2020: Review of James Shapiro's Shakespeare in a Divided America:
"... you could go through the entire history of colonised America and discover examples of how Shakespeare has played a prominent role in significant political and social shifts in a country he never visited and knew precious little about.You could write a very good book about it. Which is exactly what the Professor of English at Columbia University has done.
James Shapiro is an academic who not only teaches Shakespeare, but has also learnt a thing or two himself from the Sweet Swan of Avon about the art of storytelling.
His book, Shakespeare in a Divided America, is an unpretentious, fact-filled, lightly-written, meticulously-researched history of seven politically-defining moments that occurred in the US over the past 200 years: www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51827357 . Review by Will Gompertz.
Posted 27.02.2020 : Timothy West interview: ‘Taking a wrecking ball to Shakespeare is senseless’ : www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/timothy-west-interview-taking-wrecking-ball-shakespeare-senseless/ .
"... you could go through the entire history of colonised America and discover examples of how Shakespeare has played a prominent role in significant political and social shifts in a country he never visited and knew precious little about.You could write a very good book about it. Which is exactly what the Professor of English at Columbia University has done.
James Shapiro is an academic who not only teaches Shakespeare, but has also learnt a thing or two himself from the Sweet Swan of Avon about the art of storytelling.
His book, Shakespeare in a Divided America, is an unpretentious, fact-filled, lightly-written, meticulously-researched history of seven politically-defining moments that occurred in the US over the past 200 years: www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51827357 . Review by Will Gompertz.
Posted 27.02.2020 : Timothy West interview: ‘Taking a wrecking ball to Shakespeare is senseless’ : www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/timothy-west-interview-taking-wrecking-ball-shakespeare-senseless/ .
Posted 19.02.2020 : The 'Upstart Crow' review at Gielgud Theatre, London – ‘a fantastic comedy cast’ : https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2020/upstart-crow-ben-elton-david-mitchell-review-at-gielgud-theatre-london/ ; https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/feb/17/the-upstart-crow-review-gielgud-theatre-london .
Posted 13.02.20202 (above).
Posted 30.01.2020 : Shakespeare sacks ITV Newsreader: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jan/29/alastair-stewart-quits-as-itv-presenter-over-errors-of-judgment ; https://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/national/18196726.alastair-stewart-leaves-itv-news-role-errors-judgment/ ; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/29/alastair-stewart-stepping-itv-news-following-errors-judgment/ .
Posted 02.01.2020 : The article above was published in the Stratford Herald (02.01.2020).
2019
Posted 23.12.2019 : The Curtain theatre where Romeo and Juliet was probably first performed is granted protected status (above):
Posted 23.12.2019: Tony Britton obituary:
"Britton resumed his stage career after the end of the war and in 1953-54 he appeared in a number of Shakespearean roles as part of the company at the Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. They included Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, Cassio in Othello, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As recently as 2013, he appeared as the Earl of Gloucester in a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear at the Old Vic in London, directed by Sir Jonathan Miller, who died last month" : www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/dec/22/tony-britton-british-actor-dies-aged-95 ; www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50885272 ; www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/12/22/tony-britton-actor-stage-film-became-best-known-suave-comedy/ ; www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7818941/Actor-Tony-Britton-dies-age-95.html .
"Britton resumed his stage career after the end of the war and in 1953-54 he appeared in a number of Shakespearean roles as part of the company at the Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. They included Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, Cassio in Othello, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As recently as 2013, he appeared as the Earl of Gloucester in a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear at the Old Vic in London, directed by Sir Jonathan Miller, who died last month" : www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/dec/22/tony-britton-british-actor-dies-aged-95 ; www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50885272 ; www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/12/22/tony-britton-actor-stage-film-became-best-known-suave-comedy/ ; www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7818941/Actor-Tony-Britton-dies-age-95.html .
Posted 29.11.2019 : Elizabeth I revealed as secret scribe of historic manuscript : The work is a translation of a book in which the Roman historian Tacitus wrote of the benefits of monarchical rule. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50588168 ; https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/29/handwriting-identifies-elizabeth-i-tacitus-translation ; www.aedaily.net/en-gb/posts/elizabeth-i-revealed-as-secret-scribe-of-historic-manuscript/ .
Posted 29.11.2019 : Sir Jonathan Miller, outspoken polymath, public intellectual and champion feuder whose career ranged from ‘Beyond the Fringe’ to opera and theatre directing – obituary : www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/nov/27/theatre-director-and-writer-sir-jonathan-miller-a-life-in-pictures ; www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/11/27/sir-jonathan-miller-outspoken-polymath-public-intellectual-champion/ ; www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21144364 .
Posted 19.11.2019 : Times review of RSC's Measure for Measure at the Barbican (above).
Posted 25.11.2019 : Richard Lutz reviews King John at The Swan: : http://thebirminghampress.com/2019/11/rsc-review-shakespeare-play-swaps-genders-and-plants-itself-in-the-swinging-sixties/ .
Posted 17.10.2019: “Criticism,” observed the literary critic Harold Bloom, who has died aged 89, “starts (it has to start) with a real passion for reading... He forgot nothing, and retained his passionate love for literature and belief in its supreme value through dark decades in which “literary theory” – a term he scorned – threatened to displace the study of literature in US higher education" : www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/15/harold-bloom-obituary ; www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/books/harold-bloom-dead.html ; www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/10/15/harold-bloom-colossus-american-letters-defended-primacy-traditional/ ; www.thetimes.co.uk/article/harold-bloom-obituary-99qvz5mfq .
Posted 15.10.2019 : [Above] Times Review (12.10.2019) of The King - based on Shakespeare's H41, H42 & H5.
Posted 05.10.2019 : Shakespeare and Quentin Tarantino : bloggingshakespeare.com/shakespeare-quentin-tarantino?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BloggingShakespeare+%28Blogging+Shakespeare%29 .
Posted 03.10.2019 : INTERVIEW- Stratford Herald: Rosie Sheehy on playing King John at the RSC : www.stratford-herald.com/102378-interview-rosie-sheehy-playing-king-john-rsc.html .
Posted 03.10.2019 : MEASURE FOR MEASURE, TRANS. AND DIR. JACK NIEBORG, SHAKESPEARE THEATER DIEVER, THE NETHERLANDS, SEPTEMBER 2019 : bloggingshakespeare.com/reviewing-shakespeare/measure-measure-trans-dir-jack-nieborg-shakespeare-theater-diever-netherlands-september-2019/?utm_source=Blogging+Shakespeare+RSS-Email&utm_campaign=c2d707c167-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9b7c91aee0-c2d707c167-274586381 .
Posted 02.10.2019 : Royal Shakespeare Company ends BP partnership after student protest : www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-49906754 ; www.thestage.co.uk/news/2019/rsc-to-end-bp-sponsorship-amid-intensifying-pressure-from-climate-protesters/ ; www.stratford-herald.com/102535-breaking-rsc-end-sponsorship-partnership-bp.html .
Posted 03.10.2019: [Above] Reviews of the current RSC production of King John at the Swan, Stratford.
Posted 03.10.2019 : Michael Billington on King John at the Swan: : "... while I welcome its cynical, modern take on power politics ... I feel there are times when Aberg's hunger for innovation dwindles into idiocy." : www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/apr/20/king-john-review .
Posted 30.09.2019 : Macbeth, Chichester Festival Theatre, review: a muted John Simm and Dervla Kirwan are outshone by the scenery : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/macbeth-chichester-festival-theatre-review-muted-john-simm-dervla/ ; www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/sep/29/macbeth-review-chichester-festival-theatre-john-simm .
Saturday night’s performance of Macbeth on Chichester Festival Theatre’s main-house stage had to be abandoned after the glass stage became damaged [Below]: https://www.chichester.co.uk/news/people/damaged-glass-stage-halts-macbeth-performance-at-chichester-festival-theatre-1-9089343 .
Saturday night’s performance of Macbeth on Chichester Festival Theatre’s main-house stage had to be abandoned after the glass stage became damaged [Below]: https://www.chichester.co.uk/news/people/damaged-glass-stage-halts-macbeth-performance-at-chichester-festival-theatre-1-9089343 .
Posted 28.09.2019: Elizabeth I's lost dress to go on display at Hampton Court Palace : www.theguardian.com/education/2019/sep/27/elizabeth-first-lost-dress-to-go-on-display-at-hampton-court-palace .
[Posted 26.09.2019 : Michael Billington: Standard of Shakespeare productions is in decline Theatre critic Michael Billington has criticised the standard of Shakespearean acting and directing in British theatre, claiming current practitioners do not exhibit the same appetite for the genre as in previous decades: www.thestage.co.uk/news/2019/michael-billington-standard-shakespeare-productions-decline/ . [Above: Billington and Judi Dench]
Posted 17.09.2019: 'When Milton met Shakespeare: poet's notes on Bard appear to have been found' : Hailed as one of the most significant archival discoveries of modern times, text seems to show the Paradise Lost poet making careful annotations on his First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s plays: www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/16/when-milton-met-shakespeare-poets-notes-on-bard-appear-to-have-been-found .
Posted 17.09.2019: A woman who overcame breast cancer has defied the predictions of medical experts by becoming the first person to swim the Channel four consecutive times.Setting off just after midnight on Sunday, Sarah Thomas, 37, swam night and day for more than 54 hours, battling exhaustion and the currents for 84 miles. The strong tide meant her journey was equivalent to swimming 130 miles.
She arrived on Shakespeare Beach in Dover at 6.30 this morning with her support crew consisting of her husband, mother and three friends.
There are numerous references to Dover in King Lear and in one famous episode the disguised Edgar has led his blind father, Gloucester, and deceives him that he is at the top of a high cliff in a remarkable piece of perspectival description that creates a mental picture of the beach at a great distance below them. [See Act 4 Scene 6].
Posted 09.09.2019 : "Grandmother May Have Found a Ring Owned by Shakespeare" - err - maybe... : www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/posy-ring-0012534 .
Posted 06.09.2019 : Venice Film Festival 2019: The King review – Shakespeare’s game of thrones : www.standard.co.uk/go/london/film/the-king-review-venice-film-festival-2019-netflix-a4227601.html ; www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a28565350/the-king-timothee-chalamet-netflix/ .
Posted 06.09.2019 : Othello, Shakespeare Company of Japan and Pirikap, dir. Kazumi Shimodate and Debo Akibe. Tara Arts, London. 7 August 2019 : bloggingshakespeare.com/reviewing-shakespeare/othello-shakespeare-company-japan-pirikap-dir-kazumi-shimodate-debo-akibe-tara-arts-london-2019/?utm_source=Blogging+Shakespeare+RSS-Email&utm_campaign=cf0bc9e367-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9b7c91aee0-cf0bc9e367-274586381 .
Posted 17.09.2019: A woman who overcame breast cancer has defied the predictions of medical experts by becoming the first person to swim the Channel four consecutive times.Setting off just after midnight on Sunday, Sarah Thomas, 37, swam night and day for more than 54 hours, battling exhaustion and the currents for 84 miles. The strong tide meant her journey was equivalent to swimming 130 miles.
She arrived on Shakespeare Beach in Dover at 6.30 this morning with her support crew consisting of her husband, mother and three friends.
There are numerous references to Dover in King Lear and in one famous episode the disguised Edgar has led his blind father, Gloucester, and deceives him that he is at the top of a high cliff in a remarkable piece of perspectival description that creates a mental picture of the beach at a great distance below them. [See Act 4 Scene 6].
Posted 09.09.2019 : "Grandmother May Have Found a Ring Owned by Shakespeare" - err - maybe... : www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/posy-ring-0012534 .
Posted 06.09.2019 : Venice Film Festival 2019: The King review – Shakespeare’s game of thrones : www.standard.co.uk/go/london/film/the-king-review-venice-film-festival-2019-netflix-a4227601.html ; www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a28565350/the-king-timothee-chalamet-netflix/ .
Posted 06.09.2019 : Othello, Shakespeare Company of Japan and Pirikap, dir. Kazumi Shimodate and Debo Akibe. Tara Arts, London. 7 August 2019 : bloggingshakespeare.com/reviewing-shakespeare/othello-shakespeare-company-japan-pirikap-dir-kazumi-shimodate-debo-akibe-tara-arts-london-2019/?utm_source=Blogging+Shakespeare+RSS-Email&utm_campaign=cf0bc9e367-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9b7c91aee0-cf0bc9e367-274586381 .
Posted 30.08.2019: French to 're-write' Shakespeare's history of Agincourt : www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47427608 .
Posted 30.08.2019 : Eric Cantana baffles audience by (mis-)quoting from King Lear, before concluding: ‘I love football’ : www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/30/eric-cantona-eternal-war-crime-king-lear ; www.euronews.com/2019/08/29/eric-cantona-steals-show-with-shakespeare-at-champions-league-draw ; www.indy100.com/article/eric-cantona-speech-king-lear-shakespeare-uefa-presidents-award-9084866.
Posted 22.08.2019 : A centuries-old altar cloth from a rural English church part of the ‘lost dress’ of Elizabeth I : www.countrylife.co.uk/news/altar-cloth-lay-unnoticed-centuries-actually-lost-dress-elizabeth-set-go-public-display-201351 ; www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/11/elizabeth-lost-dress-go-display-athampton-court-thousand-hours/ .
Posted 09.08.2019 : Angela Merkel's holiday reading includes Stephen Greenblatt's Tyrant: www.archynewsy.com/the-tyrant-angela-merkel-reads-stephen-greenblatts-power-customer/ ; www.thetimes.co.uk/article/angela-merkel-seeks-tyranny-tips-in-macbeth-r66cvdm7s .
Posted 07.08.2019 : Clive Anderson: Me, Macbeth and I, review: a masterful strut upon the stage : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/clive-anderson-macbeth-review-masterful-strut-upon-stage/ .
Posted 07.08.2019 : Clive Anderson: Me, Macbeth and I, review: a masterful strut upon the stage : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/clive-anderson-macbeth-review-masterful-strut-upon-stage/ .
Posted 02.08.2019 : King Lear, dir. & libretto by Joke Hoolboom. Holland Opera, Jong Nederlands Blazers Ensemble and “155” dance group. Utrecht, Fort Rijnauwen, 12 July 2019 : bloggingshakespeare.com/reviewing-shakespeare/king-lear-dir-libretto-joke-hoolboom-utrecht-fort-rijnauwen-july-2019/?utm_source=Blogging+Shakespeare+RSS-Email&utm_campaign=5e455ad467-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9b7c91aee0-5e455ad467-274586381 .
Posted 21.07.2019 : 'Rejection didn’t hurt my pride – I had none left': confessions of a failed actor : Profile of Rhik Samadder - author of I Never Said I Loved You: www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jul/20/rhik-samadder-confessions-of-a-failed-actor .
Posted 20.07.2019 : Romeo and Juliet review, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Blenheim Palace: Emilio Iannucci shines in a zesty, rough-and-tumble production : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/romeo-juliet-review-shakespeares-rose-theatre-blenheim-palace/ . YouTube Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7z8FzNhF5Q .
Posted 20.07.2019 : Romeo and Juliet review, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Blenheim Palace: Emilio Iannucci shines in a zesty, rough-and-tumble production : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/romeo-juliet-review-shakespeares-rose-theatre-blenheim-palace/ . YouTube Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7z8FzNhF5Q .
Posted 17.07.2019 : Measure for Measure review – the best RSC show of the summer : www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jul/08/measure-for-measure-review-royal-shakespeare-theatre-gregory-dorant ; www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2019/measure-for-measure-review-at-royal-shakespeare-theatre-stratford-upon-avon-oppressively-bleak/ .
Posted 17.07.2019 : Wildest dreams: two midsummer nights with Shakespeare's fairies: The sun shines on the revels at Shakespeare’s Globe, while cruelty and creepiness rule at Regent’s Park Open Air theatre : www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jul/08/a-midsummer-nights-dream-review-shakespeares-globe-london-regents-park-open-air-theatre .
Posted 17.07.2019 : Theatre ushers now wear body-cameras to record growing number of aggressive incidents : www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/16/theatre-ushers-now-wear-body-cameras-record-growing-number-aggressive/ .
Posted 17.07.2019 : Theatre ushers now wear body-cameras to record growing number of aggressive incidents : www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/16/theatre-ushers-now-wear-body-cameras-record-growing-number-aggressive/ .
Obituary: Freddie Jones - "one of Britain’s most treasured character actors".
"Jones joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych, playing Cucurucu in Peter Brook’s production of Marat/Sade, reprising the part on Broadway and in the film version of 1967. But he did not relish his time at the RSC – “I was marked down, along with people like Tim West and John Nettleton, as a BCM – a bad company member” – and turned down an offer to rejoin them in 1980": www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/07/10/freddie-jones-one-britains-treasured-character-actors-played/ ; www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/10/freddie-jones-obituary .
"Jones joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych, playing Cucurucu in Peter Brook’s production of Marat/Sade, reprising the part on Broadway and in the film version of 1967. But he did not relish his time at the RSC – “I was marked down, along with people like Tim West and John Nettleton, as a BCM – a bad company member” – and turned down an offer to rejoin them in 1980": www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/07/10/freddie-jones-one-britains-treasured-character-actors-played/ ; www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/10/freddie-jones-obituary .
Posted 25.06.2019 : Following its highly acclaimed inaugural season in York, Europe’s first-ever pop up Shakespearean theatre arrives at Blenheim Palace for summer 2019 [8th July - 7th September] :
Four of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays - Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III and Romeo & Juliet will transport audiences to the intimate atmosphere of an Elizabethan playhouse, with plenty of breath-taking, spine-tingling and heart-stopping moments : www.blenheimpalace.com/whats-on/events/shakespearesrt/ .
Posted 25.06.2019 : Mark Rylance - "With its links to BP, I can’t stay in the Royal Shakespeare Company" : www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/21/royal-shakespeare-company-rsc-bp-sponsorship-climate-crisis ; www.thestage.co.uk/news/2019/mark-rylance-resigns-as-rsc-associate-artist-over-bp-sponsorship/ .
Posted 20.06.2019 : Intermission: the theatre troupe changing young lives with 'remixed' Shakespeare : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/intermission-theatre-troupe-changing-young-lives-remixed-shakespeare/ - young prisoners 'saved'by Shakespeare.
Four of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays - Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III and Romeo & Juliet will transport audiences to the intimate atmosphere of an Elizabethan playhouse, with plenty of breath-taking, spine-tingling and heart-stopping moments : www.blenheimpalace.com/whats-on/events/shakespearesrt/ .
Posted 25.06.2019 : Mark Rylance - "With its links to BP, I can’t stay in the Royal Shakespeare Company" : www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/21/royal-shakespeare-company-rsc-bp-sponsorship-climate-crisis ; www.thestage.co.uk/news/2019/mark-rylance-resigns-as-rsc-associate-artist-over-bp-sponsorship/ .
Posted 20.06.2019 : Intermission: the theatre troupe changing young lives with 'remixed' Shakespeare : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/intermission-theatre-troupe-changing-young-lives-remixed-shakespeare/ - young prisoners 'saved'by Shakespeare.
Posted 12.06.2019 : Review of A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Bridge Theatre, London: www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/midsummer-nights-dream-review-bridge-theatre-erotic-enchanting/ ; www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jun/11/a-midsummer-nights-dream-review-bridge-theatre-london-gwendoline-christie-nicholas-hytner ; www.londontown.com/LondonEvents/A-Midsummer-Nights-Dream/262e9/ .
Posted 12,06.2019 : Reviews of Venice Preserved by John Otway at the Swan, Stratford : www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/01/venice-preservd-spectators-guild-review ; www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2019/venice-preserved-review-at-swan-theatre-stratford-upon-avon-bold-stylish-production/?login_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestage.co.uk%2Faccounts%2Fusers%2Fsign_up.popup ; www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/venice-preserved-rsc-swan-review-less-tragedy-pity-actors/
Posted 12,06.2019 : Reviews of Venice Preserved by John Otway at the Swan, Stratford : www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/01/venice-preservd-spectators-guild-review ; www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2019/venice-preserved-review-at-swan-theatre-stratford-upon-avon-bold-stylish-production/?login_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestage.co.uk%2Faccounts%2Fusers%2Fsign_up.popup ; www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/venice-preserved-rsc-swan-review-less-tragedy-pity-actors/
Posted 24.04.2019 : The Taming of the Shrew review, RST: an interesting but underpowered exercise in gender-swapping : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/taming-shrew-review-royal-shakespeare-theatre-stratford-upon/ .
Posted 24.04.2019 : Deaf actor steps in for hearing one at Royal Shakespeare Company production in theatrical first : www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/21/deaf-actor-steps-hearing-one-royal-shakespeare-company-production/ .
Posted 13.04.2019 : May as Polonius, Gove as Cassius: is Brexit a Shakespearean tragedy? : www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/12/brexit-tragedy-worthy-of-shakespeare-emma-smith .
Posted 13.04.2019 : William Shakespeare's London home 'identified by historian' : www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47907984 .
Posted 09.04.2019 : Below is the link to Richard Lutz's review of the current production of As You Like It at the RST for the 'Birmingham Press'. See below (posted 27.02.2019) for other reviews: thebirminghampress.com/2019/04/as-you-like-it-bells-whistles-but-all-too-tricksy/ .
Posted 15.03.2019 : Sir Jonathan Bate : Oxford provost at centre of 'poison pen' campaign is to step down : www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2019/03/14/oxford-provost-centre-poison-pen-campaign-step/ ; www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6806055/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Oxford-University-head-Sir-Jonathan-Bate-quits-abusive-letters.html .
Posted 11.03.2019 : Richard II, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, review: the Globe makes history with this first ever all-female, all-BAME Shakespeare : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/richard-ii-review-sam-wanamaker-playhouse-globe-makes-history/ ; www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/richard-ii-review-sam-wanamaker-playhouse-shakespeares-globe-a4085026.html ; www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/10/richard-ii-sam-wanamaker-globe-adjoa-andoh-alys-always-bridge-inside-bitch-royal-court-review .
Posted 27.02.1019 : In the RSC's As You Like It, Pippa Nixon gives one of the most entrancing Rosalinds Charles Spencer has ever seen : www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10015483/As-You-Like-It-RSC-Stratford-upon-Avon-review.html ; www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/feb/21/as-you-like-it-review-royal-shakespeare-theatre-stratford-upon-avon .
Posted 09.02.2019 : All Is True review – Kenneth Branagh and Ben Elton's poignant Bard biopic : www.theguardian.com/film/2018/dec/21/all-is-true-review-ben-elton-kenneth-branagh-shakespeare .
Posted 09.02.2019 : Albert Finney obituary : www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/08/albert-finney-obituary .
Posted 24.12.2018: Obituary Ralph Koltai - stage designer who designed sets for the RSC and the National Theatre : www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/dec/18/ralph-koltai-obituary; www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2018/obituary-ralph-koltai-the-most-influential-stage-designer-in-british-theatre-in-the-latter-half-of-the-20th-century/. [Above: Set design for As You Like It, The Old Vic, 1967]
Posted 22.12.2018 : NT LIVE: THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND with Simon Russell Beal direct from the Almeida Theatre to a cinema near you...! www.everymancinema.com/stratford-upon-avon/film-info/nt-live-the-tragedy-of-king-richard-the-second#scroll .
Posted 24.04.2019 : Deaf actor steps in for hearing one at Royal Shakespeare Company production in theatrical first : www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/21/deaf-actor-steps-hearing-one-royal-shakespeare-company-production/ .
Posted 13.04.2019 : May as Polonius, Gove as Cassius: is Brexit a Shakespearean tragedy? : www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/12/brexit-tragedy-worthy-of-shakespeare-emma-smith .
Posted 13.04.2019 : William Shakespeare's London home 'identified by historian' : www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47907984 .
Posted 09.04.2019 : Below is the link to Richard Lutz's review of the current production of As You Like It at the RST for the 'Birmingham Press'. See below (posted 27.02.2019) for other reviews: thebirminghampress.com/2019/04/as-you-like-it-bells-whistles-but-all-too-tricksy/ .
Posted 15.03.2019 : Sir Jonathan Bate : Oxford provost at centre of 'poison pen' campaign is to step down : www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2019/03/14/oxford-provost-centre-poison-pen-campaign-step/ ; www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6806055/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Oxford-University-head-Sir-Jonathan-Bate-quits-abusive-letters.html .
Posted 11.03.2019 : Richard II, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, review: the Globe makes history with this first ever all-female, all-BAME Shakespeare : www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/richard-ii-review-sam-wanamaker-playhouse-globe-makes-history/ ; www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/richard-ii-review-sam-wanamaker-playhouse-shakespeares-globe-a4085026.html ; www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/10/richard-ii-sam-wanamaker-globe-adjoa-andoh-alys-always-bridge-inside-bitch-royal-court-review .
Posted 27.02.1019 : In the RSC's As You Like It, Pippa Nixon gives one of the most entrancing Rosalinds Charles Spencer has ever seen : www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10015483/As-You-Like-It-RSC-Stratford-upon-Avon-review.html ; www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/feb/21/as-you-like-it-review-royal-shakespeare-theatre-stratford-upon-avon .
Posted 09.02.2019 : All Is True review – Kenneth Branagh and Ben Elton's poignant Bard biopic : www.theguardian.com/film/2018/dec/21/all-is-true-review-ben-elton-kenneth-branagh-shakespeare .
Posted 09.02.2019 : Albert Finney obituary : www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/08/albert-finney-obituary .
Posted 24.12.2018: Obituary Ralph Koltai - stage designer who designed sets for the RSC and the National Theatre : www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/dec/18/ralph-koltai-obituary; www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/2018/obituary-ralph-koltai-the-most-influential-stage-designer-in-british-theatre-in-the-latter-half-of-the-20th-century/. [Above: Set design for As You Like It, The Old Vic, 1967]
Posted 22.12.2018 : NT LIVE: THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND with Simon Russell Beal direct from the Almeida Theatre to a cinema near you...! www.everymancinema.com/stratford-upon-avon/film-info/nt-live-the-tragedy-of-king-richard-the-second#scroll .