Tag Archives: Royal Shakespeare Company

Writer: Robin French Director: Elizabeth Freestone Reviewer: James Garrington It is generally recognised that music can transport you away from the mundane and towards somewhere more mysterious. Listening to certain music – in the right setting, in the right frame of mind and surrounded by the right atmosphere – can provide an experience that is almost spiritual. Is it possible ...

Writer: Thomas Otway Director: Prasanna Puwanarajah Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Political unrest, anarchy, rebellion and corruption meet futuristic ‘80’s cyberpunk in this dystopian re-imagining of Thomas Otway’s restoration thriller. First staged in 1682, this tragedy of disillusionment,unfulfilled expectations and distrust of the establishment yields eerie parallels with today’s political climate and the appetite for a change to the status quo. Set ...

Writer: John Vanbrugh Director: Phillip Breen Reviewer: James Garrington Lady Brute is bored. She married in haste and her husband has turned out to be a tedious drunk who’d rather spend time with his friends than with her. So, helped by her niece Bellinda, she decides to spice up her love life by having a dalliance with a younger man ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Fiona Laird Reviewer: Gus Mitchell The Merry Wives of Windsor is a definite odd duck in Shakespearian universe. Perhaps the least critically regarded and studied of all his works, the play on paper, is a pretty insubstantial romp through the backwaters of provincial Elizabethan England. Trading on the triumphantly charismatic figure of Sir John Falstaff from his ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Erica Whyman Reviewer: Stephen Bates In an age of polarised views and deep social divisions, most of us will have little problem in relating to the premise that underpins William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. However, the divide that director Erica Whyman most strives to bridge in this Royal Shakespeare Company production, first seen in Stratford upon ...

Writer: Roald Dahl Adaptor: Dennis Kelly Music/Lyrics: Tim Minchin Director Matthew Warchus The success of Matilda: The Musical, like its titular hero, should not be underestimated. Having premiered eight years ago at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly’s musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s touching tale of an unlikely friendship champions the underdog despite the harshest of ...

 Writer: Robert Harris Adaptor: Mike Poulton Director: Gregory Doran Reviewer: Maryam Philpott “How do you conquer Rome with no weapon other than your voice?” Cicero wonders in Robert Harris’ novels about his life, the interplay between politics and war dominated the Roman state in the years surrounding the assassination of Julius Caesar. With a rapidly expanding Empire hard won by ...

Writer: Robert Harris Adaptor: Mike Poulton Director: Gregory Doran Reviewer: Maryam Philpott Imperium – “the power of life and death as vested by the state in an individual.” Robert Harris’ trilogy of novels about the life of Cicero is nothing short of a masterpiece, encapsulating over 30 years of Roman politics into the historical thriller format. They are carefully researched, cinematic ...