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Dunkirk

Dunkirk

Produced and directed by Christopher Nolan

Odeon BH2, Bournemouth in iSense, 21 July 2017

onesheet

we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
Winston Churchill, 4 June 1940

Here’s the telling thing about this film. That speech comes right near the end, read haltingly from a newspaper on a train by our central, nameless surviving young soldier. No cutaways to the Cabinet Room. No Churchillian rolling rhetoric. Just a young lad stumbling through the newspaper story. They’re all nameless in this film … the only name I picked up was George, the young lad on the rescue boat.

screen-shot-2017-03-29-at-7-06-42-pm

The beaches in the film

Dunkirk plays a major part in British folklore. It was the ‘victory out of defeat’ in rescuing the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches of France, when they were cut off and surrounded by the German invaders. Churchill had hoped that 45,000 could be rescued … in the end 338,000 troops were rescued by over 600 vessels … nearly 500 of them non-naval craft. Many made multiple trips. The British talk about the Dunkirk spirit, and this has been lampooned by politicians from other nations … why do the British celebrate a defeat? After all, they lost 68,000 troops (3500 dead, 13,000 wounded, the rest captured)

Shakespeare has it down …

This fortress built by Nature for herself 
Against infection and the hand of war, 
This happy breed of men, this little world, 
This precious stone set in the silver sea, 
Which serves it in the office of a wall 
Or as a moat defensive to a house, 
Against the envy of less happier lands,– 
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
William Shakespeare “King Richard II” Act 2, Scene 1

We always took any adverse comments as the envy of less happier lands. When I was a boy, we often went to Poole Harbour and took the open ferries over to Brownsea Island. These small boats had brass plaques screwed into the sides, recording their participation in the evacuation at Dunkirk. They were customers of my dad, who was a rep for motor spares. I recall being told to shake hands with a boatman who my dad introduced as a hero of Dunkirk, having sailed all the way from Poole to Ramsgate (a 24 hour trip) before doing multiple crossings. I remember too him saying, ‘Bugger off, Bert. We just did what we had to do.”

This film, is a masterpiece. The immediate comparison will be Steven Speilberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Much as I admire that film about the D-Day beaches, I thought this more powerful. Why?

1494045198_christopher-nolans-dunkirk-movie

The jetty during a dive bomber attack

Everyone is nameless in their individual struggles for survival. There are no sentimental stories about devoting massive resources to saving one surviving brother in a family like Speilberg. There are no side stories, no weeping relatives back home, no cuts to the generals and politicians. No last letters to mums or girlfriends. No dearly held photos. (I have the photos of my mum and sister that my dad carried through WW2). Like the characters, we are in a very narrow focus on individual missions. There aren’t even any Germans … yes, we see plenty of German planes. We hear and see the impact of plenty of German bullets and bombs, but their only physical appearance is a brief second as shadowy figures right at the end. Nolan deliberately avoided even the word Germans … they’re “the enemy.”

The other important point in Dunkirk’s favour is that the film is a 12A here, and I want my 12 year old grandson to see this piece of history too. There is terror, hands gripping the seat, audible gasps from the audience stuff, but there is no lingering on gore or viscera or limbs or other body parts like Saving Private Ryan. The film is remarkably restrained in this while still being terrifying at times.

There are horrible deaths in the film, horrible deaths, but they’re not all bloody and gory, and therefore it’s got a PG-13 rating, which means that the young boys who, if they were like me, are always fascinated by war can come and see just how awful and chaotic any war is. And if, God forbid, they come to a time when they’re going to be drafted or something like that, they’ll be a little more informed about what might be asked of them
Mark Rylance, interviewed by Hollywood Reporter 20 July 2017

It is important history, and at my age I can grumble about inclusive history lessons on the cultures of the 13th century African Gold Coast replacing this World War II history in schools. It’s not “recent” to a new generation, but as a post-war child, it was very much part of my parents’ history.

All of it is propelled by Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack, perhaps his greatest ever. It rolls on relentlessly amid the explosions and gunshots and sinkings and crashes. At times it’s an industrial throb, at others it swells into melodic grandeur. The iSense sound was extraordinary in one of the newest cinemas in Britain.

The other major portrayal of Dunkirk’s beaches was in Atonement also brilliantly done, but very different. While Atonement was crowded chaos, in this the lines of soldiers are orderly, stretching back from the beach with wide separation between then. There is something terrifying about the orderly nature of it all.

p12

Fionn Whitehead as the young soldier (“Tommy” on IMDB, but we never heard his name)

There are three interwoven stories, entitled Land, Sea, Air.

Land centres mainly on a young soldier, his unit all shot dead in the streets. He teams up with another young soldier who he meets stripping boots from a dead soldier in the sand. They don’t speak. No plot spoilers. So they’re both loners. Theirs is a desperate struggle just to get off the beaches, continually thwarted. Kenneth Branagh is in this thread as a senior naval officer both overseeing the operation, and explaining chillingly that Britain can only commit limited resources to the rescue … the planes and ships are needed for the forthcoming bigger battle if Britain is invaded. He channels Kenneth More’s plucky stoicism perfectly.

881

Kenneth Branagh as the senior naval officer

Then we have Sea, starting in Weymouth, Dorset … another 35 miles further from Dunkirk that even Poole is. This centres on a boat owner, played by Mark Rylance, and his son and a younger lad. They set out for Dunkirk. Rylance is a sublime actor as ever, underplayed, totally “real” in his calmness, and compassion. He has telling lines:

Men my age dictate this war — why should we be allowed to send our children to fight it?
Mark Rylance as the boat owner.

It’s very late before we discover his personal tragedy. When the flotilla of tiny boats appears at the beach, I had tears in the eyes patriotic fervour!

First_look_at_Cillian_Murphy__Tom_Hardy_and_Harry_Styles_in_new_Dunkirk_trailer

Rylance plus rescued shell-shocked soldier

Air centres on three Spifires, sent over to protect the beaches. We only see the three, and at the end one pilot is verbally abused “Where were you?” This was a common complaint about the RAF at Dunkirk. (In fact on just one day, the 27th May, the RAF shot down 38 German planes, losing 14 British planes, but the fighting was over the air bases, not over the beaches, so the soldiers didn’t see them.) The Spitfires sequence are the best aerial combat sequence I remember. The pilots are just eyes through goggles, and our view is their view. Tom Hardy is one of them and gets his name on the posters. The issue is range … by the time they have crossed the Channel, flying very low, they have limited air time. Presumably they flew across at a low speed to conserve fuel for action, so as they say ‘we’re sitting ducks.’.

The complexity is the time scale, and it works. The three stories, increasingly rapidly intercut, are working in completely different time scales. The land sequence has a day, an intervening night and another day. (On the blu-ray this has the onscreen title “Land: A week” which I don’t recall from the cinema) The sea sequence has them chugging along for what must be close to two days, but then is mainly happening over around thirty minutes. )On the blu-ray this has the title “Sea: A day”) The air sequence can’t be more than about twenty minutes, much of it focussing on just a couple of crucial minutes, but they all cut together and eventually meet. (On the blu-ray it says “Air: An hour).

LATER NOTE:  I’d take issue with those onscreen titles which I think were additions to the DVD and blu-ray releases. The Land could be a week. The Sea? You can’t sail from Weymouth to Dunkirk in a boat that size easily in a day … especially as the Dunkirk rescue boats all went along hugging the English coast, and assembled around the Kent ports, then made the short Channel crossing. They didn’t do a diagonal run from Weymouth, let alone return to Weymouth as dusk falls. e.g. the Poole Lifeboat did the trip, sailing to Ramsgate as a base, which took over 24 hours. Also, a 1940 Spitfire was capable of 350 mph, and even conserving fuel by flying low and slow, it doesn’t take an hour to fly 30 miles.

Much has been said about the film in terms of Brexit, the leavers focussing on plucky Britain going it alone. The remainers focussing on the glory of seventy-two years of peace in Western Europe, and let’s sustain that. The Sunday Times review pointed out that Britain was not “alone” in that large numbers of Commonwealth troops were also involved. There are a couple of pointers in the film too, as at the end, when Kenneth Branagh is among the last party of four or five due to leave, and he says, ‘No, I’m waiting here for the French.’ Actually, the 100,000 evacuated French troops didn’t have a great time …about half of them were re-landed in Western France later and promptly captured. Looking on-line, apparently many Dutch small vessels that had escaped the German invasion also turned around and helped in the evacuation.

Is it good history? Emotionally, yes. It sets out to show three viewpoints, nameless as they are, of the chaos and urge to survive. No, in this film, we don’t know about the fate of the many taken prisoner-of-war (a seventh of the force) because the British and French had troops defending the enclave for the evacuation, and those defending the perimeter didn’t get out.

dunkirk

cold and wet much of the time!

There are also no stars, a conundrum when it comes to film awards. All of them must have been wet and cold much of the time. Tom Hardy as a pilot deserves an award. Fionn Whitehead is listed as ‘Tommy’ (a generic description, perhaps), Harry Styles is listed as “Alex” helping Mark Rylance (apparently “Mr Dawson”) on the small boat,  and Damien Bonnard as French Soldier, though it takes 90 minutes for him to open his mouth so we know that. I suppose they’re leads. The pilots are barely seen full-face. Rylance has said its the first film he’s ever been in when he was the eldest member of the cast. The youth of the actors is so important to the movie … it was young men who went to fight. Incidentally, Patrick Bishop’s “Fighter Boys” on the pilots of the era is essential reading.

dunkirk_still_14

Mark Rylance

I guess our two great theatrical knights, Sir Mark Rylance and Sir Kenneth Branagh both deserve a shout for Best Supporting Actor. Mark Rylance has the better role, though probably not enough screentime to qualify for a leading actor award.

The soundtrack is a certainty.

*****

DVD RELEASE (December 19 th 2017)

I’ve just watched the 4K Blu-RAy version of the film. It’s even better. I do query whether those onscreen time indicators were in the original at the cinema. Also the 4K soundtrack is stunning, but really annoying. I have a Sony 4K player and matching new Sony AV amp. The loudest explosions cut sound around eight times during the film, for 2 or 3 seconds each, as the amplifier’s protection circuit cut in. That’s the amp … the speakers are powerful enough to handle it. They should have balanced it for domestic use. We had started with “60” on the volume meter, and kept reducing it until “40” but the same happened on the biggest bangs.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN ON THIS BLOG
Inception

MARK RYLANCE ON THIS BLOG:
theatre …
Nice Fish by Mike Rylance & Louis Jenkins, West End, 2016
Farinelli & The King, by Claire Van Kampen, Wanamaker Playhouse, 2015
Richard III – Apollo 2012 Mark Rylance as Richard III
Twelfth Night – Apollo 2012  Mark Rylance as Olivia
Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, West End
La Bête by David Hirson, West End, 2010
film and TV
Wolf Hall, TV Series (as Thomas Cromwell)
Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Speilberg

KENNETH BRANAGH ON THIS BLOG:
theatre …
The Entertainer,  Kenneth Branagh Company
The Winter’s Tale, Kenneth Branagh Company
Harlequinade, Kenneth Branagh Company
The Painkiller, by Francis Veber, adapted Sean Foley, Kenneth Branagh Company
(as director only)
All On Her Own by Terence Rattigan, Kenneth Branagh Company 2015
Romeo and Juliet – Branagh Company, 2016

 

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          • Van Morrison 2007
          • Van Morrison 2012
          • Van Morrison 2013
          • Van Morrison 2019
        • Ward Thomas, Hyde Park
        • Zawinul Syndicate
        • Zoot Money
      • Gigs, venues and prices
      • HMV. His Master’s Voice silenced?
      • Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
      • Music From Big Pink – 50th anniversary
      • Names, Scribble & Numbers
      • Nancy Sinatra
      • Note of Hope (Woody Guthrie)
      • Phil Everly RIP
      • Rock pictures
      • RoseAnn Fino
      • Shadows In The Night
      • Thank You For The Muzac
      • The Band reviews & pictures
      • The Beautiful Old
      • The Village Green Preservation Society
      • The Weight – covers
      • Twelve Songs For Christmas 2013
    • rants
      • 100 Days Plus and Counting …
      • A Fishy Story
      • A Post-Brexit Vision
      • Agatha Christie: Deduction in a dell’arte mask
      • Allergies … and lawyers
      • Baby Boomer v Wokeperson
      • Barcodes
      • Beaujolais Nouveau …
      • Best of 2011
      • Best of 2012
      • Best of 2013
      • Best of 2014
      • Best of 2015 – music
      • Best of 2015 – Theatre
      • Best of 2016 – Music
      • Best of 2016 – Theatre
      • Best of 2017 – Music
      • Best of 2017 – Screen
      • Best of 2017- Theatre
      • Best of 2018 – Music
      • Best of 2018 – theatre
      • Best of 2019 – Concerts
      • Best of 2019 – Theatre
      • Best of 2019- Music
      • Best of 2020
      • Best of 2020- Music
      • Cars are cars
      • Chorizo is Vile
      • Christmas Markets
      • Christmases long past …
      • Civil Wars & Statues
      • Climate Change: my rant
      • Communication skills: Leaders TV debate 2015
        • Opposition Leader’s Debate, 16 April 2015
      • Crisis at the Cash Register
      • Culture Shock Bourbon Street
      • Encounter: Saul Bellow
      • Eurovision 2022
      • Fawlty Towers and Tall Poppies
      • Flags and anthems
      • Football nicknames
      • Free Broadband in Every Packet!
      • Guilt and innocence
      • Hail, hail, the first of May
      • Howards End is a blur
      • In the April Garden …
      • In The Days of Covid-21
      • In the May Garden
      • Jangle Bells: shopping for Christmas
      • Jumble Sales
      • Land Of My Mother’s
      • London-centric theatre
      • Mail v Guardian
      • Matinees
      • Not an amazing grace
      • On The Road: Information overkill
      • Parent and child spaces
      • Poppies
      • Princely Names
      • Quaint hotels
      • Remember, remember …
      • Secondhand Christmas
      • Shrink wrapping albums
      • Sloppy fiction?
      • Someone will call you back …
      • Sound … and Fury… at The Globe
      • SS-GB – Mumbling soundtracks
      • Surveys
      • Testing in schools
      • The “Poldark” Effect
      • The 2019 watershed?
      • The 70s were crap
      • The Building Behind Me …
      • The Cheerful e-bay seller
      • The Curse of The Crawleys: Downton Abbey Series 10
      • The Decline of Bournemouth
      • The End of Deference …
      • The Famous Five – by Paul F. Newman
      • The four day week?
      • The Great War
      • The Hacking Cough
      • The Long & The Short Of It
      • The March of The Halloumi Fries
      • The Shakespeare Cod-Piece
      • The Stitch Up
      • View From The Queue
      • What happened to car CD players?
    • stage
      • ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore – Cheek by Jowl
      • ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore – Wanamaker
      • 8 Hotels
      • A Damsel in Distress
      • A Little Hotel On The Side
      • A Mad World My Masters
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – BBC TV 2016
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Bridge 2019
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Filter 2011
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Globe 2013
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Globe 2016
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Grandage 2013
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Propellor 2013
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – RSC 2011
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – RSC 2016
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Selladoor 2013
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Watermill 2018
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Watermill Tour 2019
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Young Vic
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bath 2016
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe 2019
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Headlong
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare
      • A Midsummer Nights Dream – Handspring 2013
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream RSC 2016 Revisited
      • A Number
      • A Streetcar Named Desire NT Live
      • A Taste of Honey
      • A Very Very Very Dark Matter
      • A View From The Bridge
      • A Woman of No Importance
      • Abigail’s Party 2013
      • Absolute Hell
      • Ah, Wilderness!
      • Albion
      • All My Sons
      • All New People
      • All’s Well That Ends Well – RSC 2013
      • All’s Well That Ends Well- 2018
      • Amadeus – 2014
      • Amadeus – NT 2017
      • American Buffalo
      • An Enemy of The People
      • An Ideal Husband 2018
      • An Ideal Husband- 2014
      • Antony & Cleopatra – RSC 2013
      • Antony & Cleopatra – RSC 2017
      • Antony and Cleopatra – Globe
      • Antony and Cleopatra 2012
      • Arcadia
      • Arden of Faversham
      • Around The World in 80 Days
      • As You Like It – Globe 2015
      • As You Like It – Globe 2018
      • As You Like It – National 2015
      • As You Like It – RSC 2019
      • As You Like It RSC 2013
      • Awful Auntie
      • Bakkhai
      • Balletboyz: The Talent
      • Barber Shop Chronicles
      • Bartholomew Fair
      • Beauty & The Beast (Ballet Theatre UK)
      • Before The Party
      • Birthday
      • Bitter Wheat
      • Black Comedy
      • Blithe Spirit
      • Blithe Spirit – Bath 2019
      • Blood Wedding
      • Boudica
      • Bring Up The Bodies
      • Broken
      • Candida
      • Cardenio
      • Carmen Disruption
      • Caroline or Change
      • Comedy of Errors – Globe
      • Comedy of Errors – RSC, 2021
      • Comedy of Errors NT 2012
      • Comedy of Errors RSC ’12
      • Communicating Doors
      • Comus
      • Copenhagen
      • Coriolanus – NT Live
      • Coriolanus – RSC
      • Curiosity Shop
      • Cymbeline – RSC
      • Cymbeline – Wanamaker
      • Dancing At Lughnasa
      • Death Of A Salesman
      • Deathtrap
      • Dedication
      • Dido, Queen of Carthage
      • Dinner With Saddam
      • Doctor Faustus
      • Don Carlos
      • Don Juan in Soho
      • Don Quixote
      • Doubt – a parable
      • Dream
      • Dunsinane
      • Echo’s End
      • Educating Rita
      • Edward II
      • Electro Kif
      • Endgame / Rough for Theatre II
      • Eyam
      • Fallen Angels
      • Fantastic Mr Fox
      • Far
      • Farinelli and The King
      • Fences
      • First Light
      • Flare Path
      • Follies
      • For Services Rendered
      • Forests
      • Fortune’s Fool
      • Forty Years On
      • Fracked! Or Please Don’t Use The F-Word.
      • Frankenstein – NT Encore
      • French Without Tears
      • Funny Girl
      • Future Conditional
      • George’s Marvellous Medicine
      • Girl From The North Country
      • God of Carnage
      • Gypsy
      • Hairspray, The Musical
      • Half A Sixpence
      • Hamilton
      • Hamlet – Cumberbatch
      • Hamlet – Globe 2014
      • Hamlet – Maxine Peake
      • Hamlet – NT 2010
      • Hamlet – RSC 2016
      • Hamlet RSC 2013
      • Hamlet- Almeida / BBC 2107
      • Hamlet- Young Vic 2011
      • Hangmen
      • Harlequinade / All On Her Own
      • Harlequinade / All On Her Own – review
      • Hay Fever
      • Hecuba
      • Hedda Gabler
      • Hedda Tesman
      • Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 RSC
      • Henry V – 2018
      • Henry V – Jude Law
      • Henry V – RSC 2015
      • Henry VI – Rebellion
      • Henry VI – Wars of The Roses
      • Henry VI: Three plays
      • Hobson’s Choice
      • Hogarth’s Progress
      • Home
      • Home, I’m Darling
      • Hysteria
      • Imogen (Cymbeline) – Globe 2016
      • Importance of Being Earnest 2010
      • Importance of Being Earnest – Suchet, 2015
      • Importance of Being Earnest – Watermill
      • Importance of Being Earnest 2014
      • Importance of Being Earnest- 2018
      • Inala
      • Institute
      • Into The Hoods – Remixed
      • Ivanov
      • Jeeves and Wooster
      • Jerusalem
      • Jerusalem – 2018
      • Julius Caesar – Globe 2014
      • Julius Caesar – RSC 2012
      • Julius Caesar – RSC 2017
      • Ka
      • King Charles III
      • King John – Globe 2015
      • King John – Rose, 2016
      • King John – RSC 2019
      • King Lear Frank Langella
      • King Lear – Antony Sher, RSC 2016
      • King Lear – Barrie Rutter
      • King Lear – David Haig
      • King Lear – Globe 2017
      • King Lear – McKellen 2017
      • King Lear – Russell-Beale
      • Kiss Me Kate
      • Kunene and The King
      • La Bête
      • Lady Windermere’s Fan
      • Leopoldstadt
      • Life of Galileo
      • Little Shop of Horrors
      • Long Day’s Journey Into Night
      • Love
      • Love For Love
      • Love’s Labour’s Lost
      • Love’s Labour’s Lost – 2018
      • Love’s Labour’s Lost- 2016
      • Love’s Labour’s Won
      • Love’s Sacrifice
      • Love, Love, Love
      • Macbeth – Globe 2016
      • Macbeth – McAvoy 2013
      • Macbeth – National Theatre 2018
      • Macbeth – Tara Arts
      • Macbeth – Young Vic
      • Macbeth RSC 2018
      • Macbeth, RSC 2011
      • Macbeth, Watermill 2019
      • Macbeth- Chichester 2019
      • Macbeth- Wanamaker 2018
      • Mack & Mabel
      • Malory Towers
      • Man and Superman
      • Mary Poppins
      • Me and My Girl
      • Measure for Measure – Globe 2015
      • Measure for Measure – Young Vic
      • Measure for Measure RSC 2012
      • Measure For Measure- RSC 2019
      • Medea NT live
      • Miss Julie / Black Comedy
      • Miss Littlewood
      • Mojo
      • Monsieur Popular
      • Much Ado About Nothing – Globe 2014
      • Much Ado About Nothing – Globe 2017
      • Much Ado About Nothing – Old Vic 2013
      • Much Ado About Nothing – Rose 2018
      • Much Ado About Nothing – RSC 2014
      • Much Ado About Nothing- Northern Broadsides
      • Much Ado About Nothing- RSC 2016
      • Much Ado About Nothing- RSC 2022
      • Much Ado About Nothing- Wyndhams 2011
      • Murder On The Orient Express (stage)
      • Murder, Margaret and Me
      • My Brilliant Friend (play)
      • My Night With Reg
      • Neighbourhood Watch
      • Nell Gwynn
      • Nice Fish
      • No Man’s Land
      • Noises Off
      • Obsession
      • Oklahoma! – Chichester
      • Once
      • One Man, Two Guvnors
      • Othello – Globe 2018
      • Othello – RSC 2015
      • Othello NT 2013
      • Othello- ETT 2018
      • Othello- Wanamaker 2017
      • Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
      • Our Man in Havana (musical)
      • People
      • People Like Us
      • Pericles
      • Peter & The Starcatcher
      • Peter and Alice
      • Peter Gynt
      • Peter Pan (pantomime)
      • Peter Pan Goes Wrong
      • Photograph 51
      • Pitcairn
      • Plastic
      • Platonov
      • Playing Cards 1: Spades
      • Plenty
      • POSH
      • Present Laughter – Chichester 2018
      • Present Laughter – Old Vic 2019
      • Present Laughter- Bath 2003
      • Present Laughter- Bath 2016
      • Pressure
      • Private Lives
      • Privates On Parade
      • Punishment Without Revenge
      • Punk Rock
      • Pygmalion
      • Quatermaine’s Terms
      • Queen Anne
      • Quiz – James Graham
      • Racing Demon
      • Ralegh: The Treason Trial
      • Relative Values
      • Richard II – Globe
      • Richard II – RSC
      • Richard III – Almeida
      • Richard III – Apollo 2012
      • Richard III – Freeman
      • Richard III – RSC 2012
      • Richard III – Spacey, 2011
      • Robin Hood (panto)
      • Romantics Anonymous
      • Romeo & Juliet – Globe 2017
      • Romeo & Juliet – RSC 2018
      • Romeo & Juliet 2014 – Box Clever
      • Romeo & Juliet, Headlong 2012
      • Romeo & Juliet- Branagh 2016
      • Romeo and Juliet – NT, 2021
      • Romeo and Juliet- Globe 2015
      • Romeo and Juliet: Tobacco Factory
      • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
      • Ross
      • Rules for Living
      • Salomé – RSC
      • Same Time, Next Year
      • School nativities
      • Secondary Cause of Death
      • Separate Tables
      • Shakespeare in Love
      • She Stoops To Conquer – Bath 2015
      • She Stoops to Conquer – Rain or Shine
      • Skylight
      • Slava’s Snowshow
      • Snow in Midsummer
      • South Pacific
      • Spring Awakening
      • Stepping Out
      • Strife
      • Sweet Bird of Youth
      • Switzerland
      • Tamburlaine
      • Tangomotion
      • Tartuffe- RSC
      • The Alchemist – RSC
      • The Argument
      • The Beauty Queen of Leenane
      • The Beauty Queen of Leenane – 2021
      • The Beaux Stratagem
      • The Birthday Party
      • The Book of Mormon
      • The Broken Heart
      • The Canterbury Tales
      • The Captive Queen
      • The Caretaker
      • The Chalk Garden
      • The Changeling
      • The City Madam
      • The Constant Wife
      • The Country
      • The Country Girls
      • The Country Wife
      • The Cripple of Inishmaan
      • The Crucible
      • The Deep Blue Sea – 2019
      • The Deep Blue Sea-NT live, 2016
      • The Dresser
      • The Duchess of Malfi – 2012
      • The Duchess of Malfi – 2014
      • The Duchess of Malfi – RSC 2108
      • The Entertainer
      • The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich
      • The Ferryman (Acts 2 & 3)
      • The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk
      • The Four Seasons: A Reimagining
      • The Game of Love and Chance
      • The Ghost Train
      • The Height of The Storm
      • The Homecoming
      • The Hot House
      • The Hypochondriac
      • The Hypocrite
      • The Jew of Malta
      • The Knight of The Burning Pestle
      • The Ladykillers
      • The Lie
      • The Lieutenant of Inishmore- 2018
      • The Lieutenant of Inishmore-2001
      • The Lock In
      • The Lock In Christmas Carol
      • The Magistrate – NT Live
      • The Magna Carta Plays
      • The Man In The White Suit
      • The Merchant of Venice – Almeida
      • The Merchant of Venice – Globe
      • The Merchant of Venice – RSC
      • The Merry Wives – Northern Broadsides
      • The Merry Wives of Windsor – Globe 2019
      • The Merry Wives of Windsor – RSC 2012
      • The Merry Wives of Windsor- RSC 2018
      • The Misanthrope ETT
      • The Miser
      • The Nightingales
      • The Norman Conquests
        • Living Together
        • Round & Round The Garden
        • Table Manners
      • The Odyssey
      • The Painkiller (2016)
      • The Play That Goes Wrong
      • The Play What I Wrote
      • The Price
      • The Provoked Wife
      • The Recruiting Officer
      • The Rehearsal
      • The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
      • The Rivals
      • The Roaring Girl
      • The Rover
      • The Ruling Class
      • The School for Scandal
      • The Seagull
      • The Seagull- Chichester
      • The Seven Year Itch
      • The Shoemaker’s Holiday
      • The Silver Tassie
      • The Southbury Child
      • The Spire
      • The Storm
      • The Syndicate
      • The Taming of The Shrew – RSC 2012
      • The Taming of The Shrew – RSC 2019
      • The Taming of The Shrew- Globe 2016
      • The Taxidermist’s Daughter
      • The Tempest RSC 2012
      • The Tempest RSC 2016
      • The Tempest- Wanamaker
      • The Truth
      • The Two Noble Kinsmen- 2018
      • The Two Noble Kinsmen- RSC
      • The Unfriend
      • The Upstart Crow
      • The Wars of The Roses
        • Edward IV
        • Henry VI
        • Richard III
      • The Watsons
      • The Way of The World
      • The Weir
      • The Whale
      • The White Devil – Globe
      • The White Devil – RSC
      • The Winter’s Tale – Branagh
      • The Winter’s Tale – Cheek by Jowl
      • The Winter’s Tale – Globe 2018
      • The Winter’s Tale – RSC 2013
      • The Winter’s Tale – RSC 2021
      • The Winter’s Tale- Wanamaker
      • The Witch of Edmonton
      • There and Back Again – An Odyssey
      • Thérèse Raquin
      • This Happy Breed
      • This Is My Family
      • Timon of Athens
      • Timon of Athens – RSC
      • Titus Andronicus – RSC 2017
      • Titus Andronicus- Globe 2014
      • Totem
      • Travels With My Aunt (musical)
      • Travesties
      • Tristan and Yseult 2017
      • Troilus & Cressida RSC 2018
      • True West
      • Twelfth Night – Apollo 2012
      • Twelfth Night – Globe 2017
      • Twelfth Night – NT 2017
      • Twelfth Night – RSC 2017
      • Twelfth Night – Watermill
      • Twelfth Night – Young Vic
      • Twelfth Night RSC 2012
      • Twelfth Night- ETT 2014
      • Two Gentlemen of Verona – 2016
      • Two Gentlemen of Verona – RSC
      • Two Gentlemen of Verona- 2013
      • Uncle Vanya
      • Venice Preserved
      • Vice Versa
      • Volpone
      • Vulcan 7
      • Watership Down
      • Way Upstream
      • What The Butler Saw
      • While The Sun Shines
      • Wolf Hall
      • Women On The Verge of A Nervous Breakdown
      • wonder.land
      • Worst Wedding Ever
      • Woyzeck
      • Yerma (2017)
      • Young Chekhov Season
      • Young Marx
    • video
      • A Weekend Away, A Week By The Sea
        • Sections: Weekend Away / By the Sea
      • Dennis Cook: A history
      • Drama, dialogue and video
      • Teaching with video: techniques
      • Video: non-authentic
      • Video: on location
      • Video: Peter Viney Interview
      • Video: What happened?

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