Macbeth (Again)

The NT production of Macbeth which I saw back in May was touring and came to Bath, and  I's booked a ticket for it before I saw it the first time. I was in 2 minds as to whether or not to go, as I wasn't overly impressed with the production, but in the end, I did, and I was glad I had.

The production seems to have been tightened up considerably, and worked much better on the smaller stage in Bath than it had in the National Theatre, the smaller stage created a slightly claustrophobic feel, which worked well with the post-apocalyptic setting. 

The cast also differed from the London production - Michael Nardone as Macbeth, and Kirsty Besterman as Lady Macbeth., and at the performance I saw, Banquo was played by Reuben Johnson, the understudy.

I enjoyed it more than I expected to. 

Troilus and Cressida at the RSC

Troilus and Cressida is not a play I've seen before, and I deliberately went in not having read anything about it, either the play generally, or this production, at the RSC, other than that I knew that percussionist Evelyn Glennie has  composed and arranged the music for the production.

For those who, like me, are unfamiliar with the plot, Troilus and Cressida is set during the Trojan Wars, with the love story of Troilus and Cressida (nicked from Chaucer ) tacked on. So we meet (on the Greek side) Agamemnon, Menelaus, Achilles, and Ajax, and (on the Trojan side) Priam, Hector, Helen, Cassandra, Aeneas  and Paris. No horse, though. Troilus and Cressida are both in Troy, but, inevitably, find themselves separated and unhappy.

The RSC's flyer

The production has a post-apocalyptic, 'Mad Max' style - the 'tents'  of the Greeks are repurposed shipping containers (Achilles' has his name on it, in Greek, which is a nice geeky touch). Achilles' myrmidons wear black fatigues and gas masks with horned helmets, plus there are a couple of sightings of a motorcycle with a horse's skull. .

It's an interesting play, or maybe 2 plays, a rather insipid love story (with the original creepy uncle, Pandarus, who is desperate to get his niece, Cressida, together with Troilus, to the extent of getting them into bed together)   and the politics and war of the 'history' element of the play.

Stage and set

The Trojan War has been going on for 7 years, at the time of the play, and any high ideals anyone may have had seem long gone. Achilles, (Andy Apollo) looking far too much like Chris Hemsworth's Thor for it to be coincidental, is more interested in lounging around in his tent with his young and handsome lover, Patroclus (James Cooney) (and who shall blame him) than in fights to the death, Ajax (Theo Ogundipe) is equally strong and beautiful, but not terribly bright, and is jealous of Achilles' reputation, and open to exploitation by the more politically savvy of his comrades! Ulysses (Adjoa Andoh) is particularly astute, and seems like a consummate politician.

On the Trojan side,  Cassandra (Charlotte Arrowsmith) was portrayed as deaf and mute, giving her prophecies via sign language interpreted by her sisters, unheard as well as unbelieved.

I enjoyed the production, although I enjoyed lots of elements of it more than the play as a whole, if that makes sense. I particularly liked the music and sound of the production.

(Plus, I got to hang out with a good friend and have a rather nice meal in the RSC's rooftop restaurant, so that was a bonus!)

Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre

I enjoyed my first visit to the new Bridge Theatre, to see their opening production, Young Marx, in November, so was looking forward to going back for their first Shakespearean production, Julius Caesar, which features David Calder as Caesar, Ben Whishaw as Brutus, David Morrissey as Mark Antony, Adjoa Andoh as Casca and Michelle Fairley as Cassius. 

Which is quite an impressive cast, I think you'll agree!

For this production, the seating in the stalls has been removed, and the galleries extended to the 4th side of the theatre, creating an arena-style central area, where the audience members who had bought 'promenade' tickets were allowed to stand.

As we waited for the play to start, the promenaders were given the chance to buy nuts, and drinks, and badges and red baseball hats supporting caesar...

And in keeping with that, the production is in modern dress, and there's something worrying familiar about Mark Antony, particularly once he starts to make speeches...

I was curious about how the 'promenade' style would work, and how easy it would be to see the action, but it turned out that there were various 'blocks' which came up and down as and when needed, with the audience moving around them, which worked well both to keep the actors visible and also to take the place of scene changes.

Ben Whishaw's Brutus is presented as a liberal, intellectual man  - when we first see him at home he is seated at  desk with lots of books - I admit I was a little distracted trying to read the titles of his books (they included books about Franco and Hitler, that I could see),vehemently opposed to tyrants and nepotism, but unfortunately a bit short-sighted in dealing with others. 

Michelle Fairley makes an excellent Cassius, passionate and much more astute than Brutus -  shes' not an actor I am particularly familiar with but hers here is a stand out performance.

The promenade audience are showered with political flyers, with balloons, and follow the actors around the stage. It's very dramatic, and it must be amazing to be part of that (I'm considering going back to see it from that angle!) 

It's a superb and very timely production - well worth seeing. It's on at the Bridge until 15th April, and is being shown in cinemas via NTLive on 22nd March. (and presumably other dates internationally) I'm sure the filmed version won't be as stunning as being there in person, but it will be a lot better than not seeing it at all. Go if you can!

Coriolanus at the RSC

I've only seen one previous production of Coriolanus, three years ago,  at the Donmar (review here), so I was interested when I saw the RSC were including it in this season.

I did enjoy this production, but I didn't find the interpretation of the text as interesting, or Coriolanus's character, as compelling as in the last production I saw.

In particular, Coriolanus seemed to have little agency in his own life, and his final choice, to stop the assault on Rome in response to the pleas of his wife, mother and son, lost much of it's force, as he seemed not to realise the implications, seeming almost surprised that the Volscian's didn't accept his terms. I preferred a Coriolanus who recognised and accepted that his choice would have a terrible personal consequence.

However, I think this was a choice by the director rather than a reflection on the actors involved, all of whim I felt did solid work.


I do find it interesting to see different versions of the same play, and to see how the same text can be interpreted, but in this case, despite strong performances from Sope Dirisu (Coriolanus) and Haydn Gwynne (Volumnia) in particular, I found this one  little bit disappointing.

I fairness, though we did a preview, it may be that the production will find itself as the run continues.

Richard III (Murder in the Cathedral)

I was intrigued when I saw that theatre company 'Antic Disposition' were performing Richard III, in a variety of Cathedrals across England, one of which was Bristol. (Another was Leicester, which created some minor controversy as of course Richard III was reburied there, and some of his supporters felt it was disrespectful to perform the play there. Personally I feel that after being dead for more than 530 years, Richard is probably over it all!)

So, I booked a ticket.

The performance took place in the Nave,  with the performance taking place in the centre, and we the audience down both sides, so it was a very intimate setting, and of course being in the Cathedral there was nothing in the way of sets, very little in the way of props, and minimal extra lighting.

It was very well done. Its a modern dress production. When we first met  the dastardly Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Toby Manley) he was in black tie, respectable, but of course already scheming, and as the setting was so intimate, his soliloquies and asides were made to the audience, bringing us into collusion with him.

The production makes the most of the black humour in the play. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Richard is 'entreated' to take the crown. The line  "See where his Grace stands, ’tween two clergymen" contained a long and significant pause before the word 'clergymen', due to the rather threatening appearance of the two stone-faced, sunglasses wearing henchmen clergymen.

Toby Manley as Richard III, from Antic Disposition's site

Robert Nairne is excellent as Richard's right hand man, Catesby (doubly unnerving for me, as he reminded me in appearance of my brother, who is not (at least as far as I know) in the habit of carrying out assassinations to order.)

Richard, as he does, got darker through the play - chillingly giving his order to "Rumour it abroad. That Anne my wife is very grievous sick" to Catesby in Anne's presence..

It was all very well done. Richard's victims, following their various deaths, moved to the end of the Nave to watch him (except when the actors needed to cover other roles), showing the gradually rising body count, and the Princes in the Tower were such stroppy pre-teens one could almost forgive Richard for their fate.

The production is currently in France, and then at Temple Church in London 22nd August to 9th September. Worth seeing if you can make it.

Cheek by Jowl's 'The Winter's Tale'

Last January, I saw Kenneth Branagh's production of 'A Winter's Tale', featuring Dame Judi Dench and Hadley Fraser, as well as Branagh himself. This week, I saw a very different production of the same play, by the 'Cheek by Jowl company'.

It was interesting - a very different production, with an understated set, and a lot of cuts. particularly in the second half of the play. 

In this production, Leontes (Orlando James) is clearly, from the beginning, unhinged - as his jealousy of his wife, Hermione (Natalie Redmall-Quirke) and friend, Polixenes (Sam Woolf) spill over, he poses them like mannequins, in the image of his fevered imaginings,  and swings between affection and violence in his treatment of his son, too. 

In the later parts of the play, once Perdita (Eleanor McLoughlin)  is grown up, the production seems to start to have a little more fun, and to approach the text more irreverently. The shearing celebration becomes a mini-festival, and when Mopsa and Dorcas fall out over which of them the Shepherd's son has promised gifts to, the scene was presented like a Jeremy Kyle show, with Autolycus (Ryan Donaldson) .

I found myself a little disappointed by the way that Paulina's (Joy Richardson)  character was portrayed - rather than her being a courageous,and tragic figure, she came over as more as a scold, which was a shame. (I am pretty sure this was a directorial decision, not down to the actor - she doubled as Mopsa and was excellent in that role).

Over all, I enjoyed the production, but I think it was uneven, and that the first scenes of Leontes' obsessive delusions, and the comedy in the second half, were the strongest parts.

The production is currently touring (dates and locations on Cheek by Jowl's site)

The Tempest

On Saturday, I went with  some friends  to see the RSC's production of 'The Tempest' in Stratford on Avon.

The production has been created in collaboration with the imaginarium studio,  (Which did the motion capture special effects for films such as the Lord of the Rings) .

Stage, pre-performance

Going in the the theatre, the set is striking, the huge, broken shell of a  ship, and then of course the performance begins - Simon Russell Beale is, at first, not  a striking Prospero,a small figure, in a simple, dark, academic gown, but he grows in strength and power as the play progresses.

Simon Russell Beale as Prospero (Photo (C) RSC)

Ariel, (Mark Quartley) is one of the stars of the show, performing, as he does, with his own avatar - it's fascinating to watch, as mostly he is on stage at the same time as the projected version of him; sometimes in the shadows, sometimes more obviously. The avatar takes all sorts of different forms,  including a huge, winged harpy, and seemed almost synchronized with his movements, but sometimes with a slight lag, and occasionally appearing to be moving a little in advance of him!

Ariel in the cleft tree (C) RSC

It was absolutely stunning.

I was a little concerned that the special effects might overshadow the play itself, but I didn't feel that they did, largely due to Mark Quartley and Simon Russell Beale's performances.

I was slightly underwhelmed by Caliban,who seemed to be defined by grotesque costuming (and a fish) but had little opportunity to let any character show. I don't find the 'comedy' between Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban very funny, but it was well done (particularly Tony Jayawardena as Stephano.)

All in ll, I was very impressed, and enjoyed the play a lot. I know it is due to be broadcast to cinemas on 11th January and I am tempted to go to see it, to have the chance to look more closely at the details.

The live play is at Stratford until 21st January, and then in London at the Barbican from 30th June until 18th August next year.

There is a video about the making of the special events, for those who are interested!