Shakespeare is said to have been born on 23rd April. He was baptised on 26th April, which is the written record, and normal for the era. In his honour, a collection of Shakespeare plays in marvellous versions from the ten years since I started this blog.
Memory fades. You can’t often say the “best” though if I were to think of the best I’d ever seen, five would be A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with three within a two year period (RSC Play For The Nation, Globe Emma Rice, Bridge Nicholas Hytner).
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) get the most entries, which justifies their name. They were aiming to do all the plays without repeating by 2021 but the pandemic wrecked that plan. Only Henry VIII is missing. I’ve never seen it on stage.
So here we go:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Bridge Theatre 2019
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
We saw it twice in the theatre, once on TV.
Richard III
Old Vic 2011
Directed by Sam Mendes
Kevin Spacey as Richard III
Much Ado About Nothing (as Love’s Labours Won)
RSC at Stratford in 2014 then the RSC at Chichester Festival Theatre revival 2016
Directed by Christopher Luscombe
Edward Bennett as Benedick
Michelle Terry as Beatrice (2014) & Lisa Dillon as Beatrice (2016)
Review is 2016 version, and 2014 is linked from it
Twelfth Night
Globe 2017
Directed by Emma Rice
The Merchant of Venice
Almeida Theatre 2015
Directed by Rupert Goold
Set at the Venetian Hotel (or similar) in Las Vegas
Comedy of Errors
National Theatre 2012
Directed by Dominic Crooke
Henry V
Michael Grandage Season, Noel Coward Theatre 2014
Directed by Michael Grandage
Jude Law as Henry V
A rare one costumed for 1415. Jude Law got criticism for looking like a film star but that was Henry V’s charismatic status in his day. Yes, I’ve seen the Olivier several times. Jude Law was way better!
The Winter’s Tale
RSC, Stratford, 2013
Directed by Lucy Bailey
A difficult choice. Kenneth Branagh was probably the best Leontes, but the RSC production has something special. Sicilia is a pre-Raphaelite aristocratic sybaritic idyll sometime in the 1860s, and is set on a tall tower perched way above the sea, as if on a cliff in Sorrento. Bohemia is no longer a pastoral Arcadia, but exists at the bottom of the tower and has become a smoky dirty Blackpool in a late 19thcentury Wakes Week.
Macbeth
RSC, Stratford 2011
Directed by Michael Boyd
This is the one that re-opened the Royal Shakespeare Theatre after its refit, and was highly controversial, Some hated it. However, it brought out the full horror of the story.
Jonathan Slinger as Macbeth
As You Like It
RSC, Stratford, 2013
Directed by Maria Aberg
Music by Laura Marling
I still find As You Like It confusing, but this was a sublime version.
Almeida / West End 2018
Directed by Robert Icke
Andrew Scott as Hamlet
One of the hardest to choose as after A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it’s my next favourite play. Definitely NOT the Benedict Cumberbatch nor the Paapa Essiedu. Karen simply says no one matches David Warner in the 1960s, so it’s always an anti-climax.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
RSC, Stratford 2018
Directed by Fiona Laird
Measure for Measure
Globe, 2015
Directed by Dominic Dromgoole
This had the best pre-show ever at The Globe, with the pit filled with brothels and the audience pulled into them. The Globe at its most raucous and a truly wonderful Vicentio from Dominic Rowan
Othello
National Theatre 2013
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
The Gulf War one.
Romeo & Juliet
Kenneth Branagh Company 2016
Directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh
Lily James as Juliet, Richard Madden as Romeo
It wins on sheer style (plus Derek Jacobi as an older Mercutio and Meera Syal as the nurse)
The Taming of The Shrew
RSC Stratford 2019
Directed by Justin Audibert
The gender reversal one with Claire Price as ‘Petruchia’ and it worked.
Love’s Labour’s Lost
RSC 2014, Chichester 2016
Directed by Christopher Luscombe
Twinned with Love’s Labour’s Won (Much Ado About Nothing). This was 1914, Love’s Labour’s Won was 1919.
Edward Bennett as Berowne
King Lear
Theatre Royal Bath, 2013
Directed by Lucy Bailey
David Haig as King Lear
The East End gangster one. I didn’t rate it highly at the time, but the more I’ve seen since reflected on the outright originality of David Haig’s much younger than normal gang boss Lear. Yes, the RSC (Anthony Sher) and NT (Simon Russell-Beale) ones were probably better versions of the play, but this somehow stuck in the memory.
Anthony & Cleopatra
RSC 2017
Directed by Iqbal Khan
Difficult. This one on the set and on Josette Simon’s Cleopatra.
Titus Andronicus
The Globe 2014
Directed by Lucy Bailey
Another hard one. The RSC 2017 version had the best Titus (David Troughton) and the best Saturninus (Martin Hutson) but they blew it with daft comedy bits that didn’t work. So the splendour of The Globe’s famed version gets it with Indira Varma’s superb Tamara.
Julius Caesar
RSC Stratford 2017
Directed by Angus Jackson
I’ve never liked the play but I have seen three very good productions. This one in the RSC’s Roman year has Martin Hutson as Cassius and Aex Waldmann as Brutus. I’m tempted by their earlier African dictator in a football stadium one for innovation though.
The Tempest
RSC, Stratford, 2012
Directed by David Farr
Jonathan Slinger as Prospero, Sandy Grierson as Ariel
Slinger was younger than the normal grey-bearded Prospero, but work out Miranda’s age, and it fits. The RSC did it again with holographic effects and Simon Russell-Beale, but all the effort was in effects. This earlier one worked better … and brought out the comic characters better too.
King John
RSC 2019
Directed by Eleanor Rhode
Rosie Sheehy as King John
Gender switched lead, but Rosie Sheehy was incredible. This production elevated the play considerably in my mind.
Richard II
RSC 2013
Directed by Gregory Doran
David Tennant as Richard II
Henry IV Parts 1 & II
RSC 2014
Directed by Gregory Doran
Alex Hassell as Prince Hal, Anthony Sher as Falstaff
Henry VI Part I as The Wars of The Roses
The Rose Theatre, Kingston
Directed by Trevor Nunn
Alex Waldmann as Henry VI
Edward IV (Henry VI Parts II and III as The Wars of The Roses)
The Rose Theatre, Kingston
Directed by Trevor Nunn
Robert Sheehan as Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III)
All’s Well That Ends Well
RSC Stratford 2013
Directed by Nancy Meckler
Alex Waldmann as Bertram, Jonathan Singer as Paroles
Cymbeline (as “Imogen … Cymbeline Renamed and Reclaimed)
The Globe 2016
Directed by Matthew Dunster
Maddy Hill as Imogen
The Globe had this advance warning:
This show contains everything you could possibly need to be warned against!
STRONG LANGUAGE including: Loud music and explicit lyrics
DRUGS including: Marijuana smoking and cocaine snorting
VIOLENCE including: Gun fights, blood and torture
NUDITY including: Sexiness and a bit of nudity
SPECIAL EFFECTS including: Strobe lighting, theatrical smoke and the possibility of being splattered
Timon of Athens
National Theatre 2012
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
Simon Russell-Beale as Timon
The businessman Timon.
The Two Noble Kinsmen
RSC, Stratford 2016
Directed by Blanche McIntyre
A lesser play, but a very good production.
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Tobacco Factory on tour 2013
Winchester Theatre Royal
Directed by Andrew Hilton
Not a great play, but better than the other two versions on this blog.
Troilus & Cressida
RSC Stratford 2018
Directed by Gregory Doran
Coriolanus
RSC Stratford 2017
Directed by Angus Jackson
Not a play I like. The film version was the best.
Pericles
Wanamaker Playhouse 2015
Directed by Dominic Dromgoole
James Garnon as Pericles
The Wanamaker Playhouse hasn’t done too well in this list. It is all about the authentic experience, and they do go for ‘minor plays.’ This is the only Pericles on here, but James Garnon was a standout Globe / Wanamaker performer.
Cardenio
Shakespeare’s Lost Play Re-Imagined
RSC Stratford 2011
Directed by Gregory Doran
A fascinating production from the RSC re-opening season. Lucy-Briggs Owen as Luscinda, Alex Hassell as Fernando, Oliver Rix as Cardenio. Great cast.
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