Winter wonderland
Kenneth Branagh opens his West End tenancy with Shakespeare’s inexplicably popular The Winter’s Tale. We start in Sicily where Leontes…
How did this plotless goon-show wind up at the Royal Court?
One of the challenges of art is to know the difference between innovation and error. I wonder sometimes if the…
How did this plotless goon-show wind up at the Royal Court?
One of the challenges of art is to know the difference between innovation and error. I wonder sometimes if the…
Glyndebourne caters to the lower-middle classes not past-it toffs
What is Glyndebourne? A middle-aged Bullingdon. That’s a common view: a luxury bun fight for past-it toffs who glug champagne,…
Glyndebourne caters to the lower-middle classes not past-it toffs
What is Glyndebourne? A middle-aged Bullingdon. That’s a common view: a luxury bun fight for past-it toffs who glug champagne,…
Character assassination
Here are three truths about play-writing. A script without an interval will be structurally flawed. A vague, whimsical title means…
Character assassination
Here are three truths about play-writing. A script without an interval will be structurally flawed. A vague, whimsical title means…
Shakespeare at his freest and most exuberant: The Wars of the Roses reviewed
The RSC’s The Wars of the Roses solves a peculiar literary problem. Shakespeare’s earliest history plays are entitled Henry VI…
Shakespeare at his freest and most exuberant: The Wars of the Roses reviewed
The RSC’s The Wars of the Roses solves a peculiar literary problem. Shakespeare’s earliest history plays are entitled Henry VI…
The characters are barely stereotypes: The Father at the Wyndham’s reviewed
The Father, set in a swish Paris apartment, has a beautifully spare and elegant set. The stage is framed by…
The characters are barely stereotypes: The Father at the Wyndham’s reviewed
The Father, set in a swish Paris apartment, has a beautifully spare and elegant set. The stage is framed by…
It may have a meagre script and no plot but Farinelli and the King is still a major work of art
Philippe V was a Bourbon prince who secured the throne of Spain using his family connections. Claire van Kampen is…
It may have a meagre script and no plot but Farinelli and the King is still a major work of art
Philippe V was a Bourbon prince who secured the throne of Spain using his family connections. Claire van Kampen is…
Foote fault
Samuel Foote (1720–77) was a star of the 18th-century stage who avoided the censors by extemporising his performances. Today we’d…
Foote fault
Samuel Foote (1720–77) was a star of the 18th-century stage who avoided the censors by extemporising his performances. Today we’d…
The big chill
Michael Grandage’s latest show is about an old snap. Geneticists regard the X-ray of the hydrated ‘B’ form of DNA…
The big chill
Michael Grandage’s latest show is about an old snap. Geneticists regard the X-ray of the hydrated ‘B’ form of DNA…
Double tragedy
To examine an ancient text requires an understanding of the ancient imagination. The Oresteia is set in a primitive world…
Double tragedy
To examine an ancient text requires an understanding of the ancient imagination. The Oresteia is set in a primitive world…
Nice work
Listen http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/merkelstragicmistake/media.mp3 You can’t play the part of Hamlet, only parts of Hamlet. And the bits Benedict Cumberbatch offers us…
Nice work
Listen http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/merkelstragicmistake/media.mp3 You can’t play the part of Hamlet, only parts of Hamlet. And the bits Benedict Cumberbatch offers us…
Press night
Sam Mendes once said there is no such thing as the history of British theatre, only the history of British…
Press night
Sam Mendes once said there is no such thing as the history of British theatre, only the history of British…
Art by committee
Australia, 1788. A transport ship arrives in Port Jackson (later Sydney harbour) carrying hundreds of convicts and a detachment of…
Art by committee
Australia, 1788. A transport ship arrives in Port Jackson (later Sydney harbour) carrying hundreds of convicts and a detachment of…
