23/01/2026 by Peter Viney
The National Theatre production of Hamlet from last autumn (FOLLOW LINK TO REVIEW) was streamed yesterday to cinemas. It may be repeated (though it wasn’t full at Poole), but if not it will eventually appear on NT At Home. It’s very different, though it was the FIFTH major Hamlet production of last year and might have had higher ratings in a different year. Read the review. (Plot spiler: most die at the end.)
Below: Hamlet with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Then Laertes, Polonius and Ophelia.
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22/01/2026 by Peter Viney
Deutsche Grammophon (follow link) added to the Philips /Phonogram section at AROUND AND AROUND. The world’s oldest record label. The one that inspired the article below too. Always distinctive, but strangely rarely commanding high prices from collectors of classical.
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22/01/2026 by Peter Viney
A short article which may be of interest to people in ELT, in publishing generally as well as fans of classical music. The true story of how STREAMLINE ENGLISH (link here) might have been published by Deutsche Grammophon instead of OUP.
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19/01/2026 by Peter Viney
New at AROUND & AROUND. Polydor (folow link) added to the Philips / Phonogram section. One of the largest labels of all, from James Last to Jimi Hendrix to James Brown to The Jam. And that’s just the J’s. Add The (early) Beatles, Cream, The Who, Style Council, The Bee Gees and many more. This is heavily illustrated and it has taken far too long to do. Phew!
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17/01/2026 by Peter Viney
We saw this production of The Beaux Stratagem at the National Theatre in 2015 (follow link tro the review). We decided to revisit in 11 years on as it is available for streaming on NT AT Home, which is where you can see it right now. We had missed a lot of it because we had such awful seats right at the side in the theatre and the set was angled away from us. Rewatching was a chance to catch up on the bits we missed. I added a short note at the end of the 2015 review and updated the links. I like linking NT At Home because everyone has a chance to see it.
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09/01/2026 by Peter Viney
Review of THE FORSYTE SAGA PARTS ONE & TWO added (follow link). It’s a stage adaptation by Shaun McKenna and Lin Cochlan, at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Each act, two per play, gets an entire novel in. So how do they do it? Read the review.
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01/01/2026 by Peter Viney
I’d reviewed the other two. I feel obliged to add DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE, the third film (follow link to review). It’s the sort of thing you might choose for comfort viewing on a cold miserable evening. The trouble is, they now have far too many characters to squeeze into two hours. Too mmany pop in without sufficient plot or space. If you have no memory of the TV series and characters, it won’t make much sense.
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30/12/2025 by Peter Viney
My annual round-up. Follow the link to BEST OF 2025. The photos for each give an idea of the breadth of UK theatre. There are links to the reviews on my site, plus extracts from each review. They run in star categories:
Shakespeare and early
Classics 1660 to recent
Contemporary & New
It’s a different year. The RSC at Stratford and Chichester dominate. Best plays in each category? You need to look.
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29/12/2025 by Peter Viney
An angry rant added on the ban on trail hunting, with thoughts on the sheer ignorant urban spite behind it. You may prefer not to read it. LINK TO “For Fox Sake!”
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28/12/2025 by Peter Viney
Review added of Guillermo de Toro’s new film of Frankenstein (follow the link). It’s a hugely elaborate version too, and currently on Netflix. I’m not worried about plot spoilers. I’ve added pictures of other versions too before I get into the review. I thought it a great version.
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