• biblio.
  • biodata
  • ELT
  • rants
  • music
    • Concerts
      • Bellowhead 7.2015
      • Sam Lee & Friends
      • Jimmy Cliff
  • film
    • Our Man in Havana
    • Carol
    • Nomadland
  • stage
    • Romeo and Juliet – NT, 2021
  • video
  • Romeo and Juliet – NT, 2021

Peter Viney's Blog

ELT, theatre, music reviews

Feeds:
Posts
Comments

A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare

Directed by Christopher Scott
Designed by Mike Bearwish

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
West Country Tour

The Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne, Dorset
Wednesday 8th June 2016

Midsummer dream flier BOVTS

CAST:

Theseus / Fairy Mustardseed – Bradley Banton
Philostrae / Peasblossom – Luke Grant
Lysander – Rudolphe Mdlongwa
Demetrius – Ellis Duffy
Quince / Moth – Euan Shanahan
Bottom (Pyramus) – Georgia Frost
Flute (Thisbe) / Cobweb – Christopher Jenks
Egeus / Snout (Wall) – Billy Harris
Oberon – Ray Sesay
Hippolyta / First Fairy – Rachel Partington
Hermia – Emily Williams
Helena – Eleanor House
Titania / Snug (Lion) – Alice Kerrigan
Puck – Laura Soper

Additional music: Eleanor House
Cornet – Laura Soper

This is our fourth A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a couple of months, and the other three were as major, and indeed as expensive, in production terms as you can get: Royal Shakespeare Company: A Play For The People, then the Emma Rice production at The Globe and the populist Lord of The Rings meets Harry Potter in the BBC TV production. This one was announced, and we thought it would be a refreshing change just to let our favourite play speak for itself in a less ambitious production from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. It’s good to see theatre getting to Wimborne, Wells and Wedmore; Shaftesbury, Stroud and South Petherton. It’s fantastic training for the actors, setting up and doing one night stands too.

Wimborne cost one sixth the price of a Kenneth Branagh ticket. In a couple of years, given another Grandage or Branagh season, some of these actors will be in there. So, guys, I’m not reviewing it as final year students, but as an experience of theatre on the same basis as any fully professional play.

There is a concept. It’s set in an 1870 Yorkshire Woollen Mill, in Shipley. The whole play then becomes Bottom’s dream … as Puck’s final speech says, nothing yielding but a dream. The programme says he’s dreaming of a production at the Alhambra in Bradford, with his bosses as weird sprites. Bristol Old Vic? A West Country company, touring the West Country. They’re going to places in Somerset and Wiltshire where abandoned woollen mills line, no, litter, the rivers and canals. Take a look when they’re in Stroud or Devizes. the West Country woollen industry is an earlier phase of the industrial revolution, so I see no reason to import Trouble at mill Yorkshire clichés. As a Southerner, I get fed up of it being drilled into us that only Northern England suffered industrial drudgery.

Does the concept work? It looks good as they start out as industrial workers singing a song, then clicking away at machine noises before Theseus, now their master, appears. Inexplicably, whirring loom noises play softly through the PA throughout, even when they have left the mill context … a strange idea, as it’s mainly mildly annoying.

It runs them into accent issues. I think it fair to say, as she did the final post-play speech, that Laura Soper’s Puck is the joint lead in this version with Georgia Frost’s Bottom. Both are outstanding, and instant tips for the future. Both also have no problem at all with Yorkshire accents. For the rest of the cast, it’s a mixed reaction. Doing Shakespeare, blank verse, rhyme, a character and an accent which is not your normal pattern is like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time. Theseus has definite accent drift. So do others. They’ve given Hippolyta an ‘Allo ‘Allo French accent for no apparent reason, and though Puck and the fairies are Yorkshire tykes, Titania is RP and Oberon is African to the degree that he’s sometimes hard to understand. The lovers are RP. I’m dubious about going for accents and also dubious about “whatever you can do.” My remark about West Country woollen mills is best ignored in production, because while I’d happily attempt Yorkshire to a Somerset audience, I would be worried about attempting Somerset. Or even Mummerset.

It’s a short, heavily cut production … two hours running time plus interval. That also makes it fast and snappy. Good. They make a lot of line changes. On the text, in recent years Theseus’s relationship with Hippolyta, Queen of The Amazons, is prickly. She was captured. She usually resents him. Here, they’re lovey-dovey. The line I wooed thee with my sword becomes I wooed thee with my words. Athens becomes Shipley, or later Yorkshire. Athenian clothes become “flamboyant clothes.” The mask for Thisbe becomes “wig” (a common switch). The Duke becomes “the master.” The palace (or perhaps “The temple”) becomes “the mill.” The clearing in the wood becomes Shipley Glen. If they’re doing the obsessive Yorkshire, then Ilkley Moor might have been fun.

While you’re shifting lines, I was mildly surprised at some that didn’t go. Both recent productions dropped Lysander’s “Ethiop!” insult to Hermia, this one kept it, but as Lysander was black himself and Hermia white, it rang oddly. On the other hand, I was more surprised when a previous version dropped it for a black Hermia. There is a set casting decision, one of the few dictated by Shakespeare, in that Hermia (Emily Williams) needs to be noticeably shorter than Helena. That worked very well here. They didn’t follow the normal dark hair for Hermia, lighter for Helena (Eleanor House), which is usually done, but decent wigs are expensive and also a pain to deal with daily. It’s normally done to make sense of the dark and tawny insults.

15MidsummerNightsDream-Farrows-Creative-250x167

Bottom (Georgia Frost), Titania (Alice Kerrigan)

The great strength of this production is in acting performance and in stage movement. There is much brilliant blocking and movement. Puck shadowing Lysander and Demetrius’s stances as they chase each other with sticks is excellent, as are all Puck’s fluid movements. Bottom is a natural comedian with the movement to prove it. The four lovers active scene … the quarrel … is my favourite part of the play, and their performances here would grace any professional production.

10MidsummerNightsDream-Farrows-Creative-250x167

Bottom (Georgia Frost)

It was a better than average Pyramus & Thisbe too – I include the stellar BBC one as a lesser example. Yes, this was better than the BBC. Having a small Bottom in Georgia Frost … incidentally, a gender switch to a female actor playing male here that was seamless … and an extremely tall Thisbe is great. I always hope for bits of additional business and there were several. Bottom manipulating the lion like a puppet was very good. So was having Bottom switch Thisbe’s dropped scarf for a bloodied scarf and doing it with difficulty. They did the height joke, with Bottom pulling down the chink in the wall to his (her) level, but given such a tall Thisbe, I’d have milked the joke a bit further. First rate dying scenes from both Pyramus and Thisbe. When Bottom has the ass’s tail, they have some vulgar fun with pulling it through to the front, as it should be. That’s been noticeably absent recently.

BOVTS-Dream

Bottom, Titania and Fairies

The weakness is design and costume. The costume when they’re mill workers is very good and you can see a great deal of effort and thought went into them.  The flat caps reminded me that this the third “Peaky Blinders” costume style in a few weeks (Northern Broadsides The Merry Wives and The Globe’s Taming Of The Shrew are equally flat-capped). The rude mechanicals, dressed as mill workers … still good. Bottom as Pyramus as a Sudan War era redcoat soldier is excellent. Puck is excellent with gold trousers and tails (yes, it’s echoing the current RSC, but it is good). Demetrius gets a notably good costume with green velvet jacket. But I’m going to stop there.

Obviously we cannot compare RSC / Globe / Branagh costume budgets, which is why on this sort of tour simplicity is a good rule. However, we had full new costumes for the very short Theseus / Hippolyta hunting scene. Money down the drain. It should have been spent on three of the lovers. Why on Earth are Hermia and Helena, supposedly in 1870, dressed in Wars Of The Roses left over 15th century dresses? They look as if they’ve just walked out of Henry VI Part X. Completely wrong. Why is Lysander wearing black shorts, grey long socks, a gold and cream waistcoat, cravat and red jacket? Plus fours in a garish shade would have been funny, as he’s supposed to be flamboyant, but these are black shorts. I did like the colour coding in pairs though … Lysander and Hermia in bright red; Helena and Demetrius in green. It subliminally helps the school parties sort it out.

The RP accents indicate the lovers are the 1870 middle class … Egeus is played as the local vicar, a nice idea. So it’s simple. There are a lot of Oscar Wilde costumes about. A pretty girly Cecily frock for Hermia, the vicar’s daughter. A more formal darker Gwedolyn dress for Helena, who fears she’s less attractive. Also, as young girls, even in 1870 they don’t need to trail their skirts on the floor. Ankle length with ankle boots is fine, and much more practical for the intense physical work in the quarrel scene. Lysander? Easy. Bright striped blazer and cricket flannels.

The worst costume decision is Oberon and Titania. First of all, the masks obscuring half their faces with foliage is a really bad idea. The two actors are instantly confined to “mouth only acting.” We can’t see them properly. The green fringes of crepe make the black Oberon look like a Maori in an overlength grass cloak and skirt. On my “What would you feel if you were watching this with an (African) friend?” ethnicity test, the answer is “embarrassed.” Oberon looks like Man Friday in a cheap panto, or more charitably, something from the African sections of The Book of Mormon.

They’re touring to a wide variety of venues, so they have a foot high raised stage area sitting on top of the actual stage, designed for the smallest theatre. Even at Wimborne’s Tivoli, that left them a lot of unworked stage area around it while they were crowded onto their raised platform. With the sort of movement used in the lover’s quarrel, the actors do need to know where they are and boundaries may be necessary, but it does cram everything together. They use it because they’re carrying their own lights which need to be placed outside the platform. A note that the stage right front corner loses light on the actor at a few critical points.

The mill – big photo of looms and two twisted belts is strong, as are moons either side. But the sub-Richard Morris Liberty curtain over it for the forest is too fussy, as are the standing room dividers with fussy patterns in the forest. It’s messy and distracts from the actors. As with costume, if you have budget restraints, you should go for greater simplicity.

It’s lively, fast, fresh. Added songs are a good idea, nice bits of flute and penny whistle and a wonderful wobbly offstage cornet. There are two mega productions this year (RSC, Globe) which will b shown in cinemas. But I think it’s always more fun to see real actors on a real stage. If they’re coming near you, go for it!

OTHER REVIEWS OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM ON THIS BLOG:

  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – RSC 2011
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Headlong 2011
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Filter 2011
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Selladoor 2013
  • A Midsummer Nights Dream – Handspring 2013, Bristol
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Grandage 2013
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Globe 2013
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Propellor 2013
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream RSC 2016, ‘A Play for the Nation’ at Stratford
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream RSC 2016 Revisited
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe 2016
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, BBC – TV 2016
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bath Theatre Royal, 2016
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Young Vic, 2017
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Watermill, Newbury 2018
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bridge Theatre 2019
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Globe 2019
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Watermill on Tour, Poole 2019
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare, Wimborne 2019

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit

Like this:

Like Loading...

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Pages

    • A Feast of Shakespeare
    • biblio.
      • Fast Track introduction
      • Fast Track Question & Answer
      • Garnet Oracle Readers
      • In English Starter syllabus
      • Oracle Classics
      • Oracle Readers Illustration
      • Reviews of IN English
      • Streamline and IN English
      • Streamline English – A History
      • The EFL Novels by Dart Travis
    • biodata
      • Forthcoming talks
      • News and Updates
    • ELT
      • “Drama Evenings”
      • 01: Classic Picture Stories
      • 2015 Language Literature Awards
      • Alan Tankard
      • Bernard Hartley 1940-2002
      • Chris Owen
      • ELT Articles
        • A coursebook writer responds …
        • Apostrophes
        • Audio Books
        • Authentic? Or memorable?
        • British and American English 1
        • British and American English 2
        • Changing the focus of Teacher Training
        • Colour My World
        • Comparison
        • Corpus and textbook
        • Correcting students
        • Course Books
        • Doesn’t anyone teach intonation anymore?
        • ELT News Japan interview
        • Empowering (?) students
        • Empowering and Motivating
        • Eng. Lit. in Britain Past
        • Fixing A Hole
        • Forbidden Words
        • Gender and language teaching
        • Grading
        • Have got
        • How Just William Got Me Into Grammar School
        • How NOT to write …
        • I don’t like Mondays
        • If your face fits … continuous assessment
        • Increasing language output
        • Influential ELT Books
        • Language Learning in Britain Past
        • Language viruses: politics
        • Listening and mobiles
        • MacDonaldization & UnCola
        • MATSDA Interview 2007
        • Mr Brown or Gordon?
        • New Class? First lesson
        • Peer observation
        • Personality teaching?
        • Poems in ELT Classes
        • Politics, religion and ELT
        • Possessive pronouns
        • Preparing Reading Schemes
        • Proverbs and clichés
        • Reading Fast
        • Robert O’Neill
        • Status of ELT Teaching
        • Stressed endings
        • Student Talking Time
        • Teacher Independence
        • Teaching trivia?
        • TESOL-Arabia 2010
        • Thatcherite
        • The Dead Hand of the CEF
        • The End of Term …
        • The Inspection …
        • The Invisible Person
        • The RP Club
        • The Wrong Trousers interview
        • Theme Park English
        • Time for A Song
          • I Want To Stay Here
          • Stay
        • What makes a good teacher?
        • What’s In A Name?
        • Why copyright?
        • Writing in Collaboration
        • ZZZ … Travelogues
          • Mexico 1997
          • Thailand 1997
          • Travails of Travelling Authors
      • Greek Affairs
      • John Curtin
      • Nick Keeping, 1950-1999
      • The Swiss Connection
    • film
      • 12 Years A Slave
      • 1917
      • A Family At War (TV)
      • A Very Peculiar Practice – Series One
      • A Very Peculiar Practice – Series Two
      • A Very Polish Practice
      • Across The Universe
      • After Love
      • Agora
      • American Hustle
      • An Unexpected Journey: The Hobbit Part 1
      • Anna Karenina
      • Another Year
      • August Osage County
      • Avatar: The Way of Water
      • Babylon
      • Bank of Dave
      • Being The Ricardos
      • Belfast
      • Birdman
      • BlacKkKlansman
      • Blithe Spirit (2020 film)
      • Boiling Point
      • Boyhood
      • Bridesmaids
      • Bridge of Spies
      • Bridgerton
      • Burlesque
      • Captain Phillips
      • Carnage
      • Carol
      • Cemetery Junction
      • Centurion
      • Chipwrecked
      • Crazy Heart
      • Cyrano
      • Dad’s Army
      • Darkest Hour
      • Date Night
      • Dawn of The Planet of The Apes
      • Death On The Nile (2022)
      • Dogtooth
      • Don’t Look Up
      • Downton Abbey
      • Dunkirk
      • Eight Days A Week
      • Elvis
      • Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
      • Every Day’s A Holiday
      • Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
      • Ex machina
      • Exodus: Gods and Kings
      • Furry Vengeance
      • Gambit
      • Get Back (Part 1)
      • Get Back (Part 2)
      • Get Back (Part 3)
      • Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
      • Gravity 3D
      • Greed
      • Hail Caesar!
      • Hanna
      • High Rise
      • Horrible Bosses
      • Hostiles
      • House of Gucci
      • How To Build A Girl
      • How To Train Your Dragon
      • Inception
      • Inside Llewyn Davis
      • Inside Out
      • Invictus
      • Jane Eyre
      • Jason Bourne
      • Jersey Boys
      • Joy
      • Jurassic World
      • Jurassic World: Dominion
      • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
      • King Charles III – TV version
      • Knight and Day
      • La La Land
      • Lady Chatterley’s Lover
      • Les Misérables
      • Little Joe
      • Love and Mercy
      • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
      • Made in Dagenham
      • Mank
      • Marie-Antoinette
      • Misbehaviour
      • Missing Link
      • Mothering Sunday
      • Mr Turner
      • Mr. Holmes
      • Much Ado About Nothing (2013)
      • Munich – The Edge of War
      • Narvik
      • Nebraska
      • News of The World
      • Nightwatching
      • Noah
      • Nomadland
      • Once Were Brothers
      • One Day
      • Operation Mincemeat
      • Our Man in Havana
      • Outlander
      • Outlander season 6
      • Paddington
      • ParaNorman
      • Passengers
      • Passing
      • Peterloo
      • Philomena
      • Puss in Boots
      • Rebecca
      • Reds 2
      • Respect
      • Rocketman
      • Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
      • Saving Mr Banks
      • See How They Run
      • Selma
      • Sex Education (Netflix)
      • Sex, Chips and Rock ‘n’ Roll
      • Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
      • Shrek Forever After
      • Shutter Island
      • Source Code
      • Star Trek Into Darkness
      • Star Wars: The Force Awakens
      • Star Wars: The Last Jedi
      • Suite Française
      • Summer in February
      • Tangled!
      • Testament of Youth
      • The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
      • The Banshees of Inisherin
      • The Book of Life 3D
      • The Book Thief
      • The Conspirator
      • The Debt
      • The Deep Blue Sea
      • The Dig
      • The Disaster Artist
      • The Duke
      • The English
      • The Father
      • The Five-Year Engagement
      • The French Dispatch
      • The Frightened City
      • The Girl On The Train
      • The Girl Who Played With Fire
      • The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
      • The Grand Budapest Hotel
      • The Great Gatsby
      • The Greatest Showman
      • The Help
      • The Highwaymen
      • The History Man
      • The Imitation Game
      • The Irishman
      • The Iron Lady
      • The Joy of Six
      • The Jungle Book (2016)
      • The King’s Man
      • The Life of Pi
      • The Look of Love
      • The Lost Daughter
      • The Man In The Hat
      • The Midnight Sky
      • The Phantom of The Open
      • The Power of The Dog
      • The Prom
      • The Railway Man
      • The Salisbury Poisonings (TV series)
      • The Secret Garden
      • The Theory of Everything
      • The Trial of The Chicago Seven
      • The Wolf of Wall Street
      • Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
      • tick, tick … BOOM!
      • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
      • To Olivia
      • War for the Planet of the Apes
      • West Side Story (2021)
      • What Maisie Knew
      • Widows
      • Wild Mountain Thyme
      • Wild Target
      • Wolf Hall TV Series
      • World on Fire
      • Yesterday
    • Film – the 60s retrospectives
      • A Hard Day’s Night
      • A Taste of Honey (1961)
      • Accident
      • Alfie (1966)
      • Barbarella (1968)
      • Be My Guest
      • Beat Girl
      • Blow-up
      • Bonnie and Clyde
      • Bullitt (1968)
      • Cat Ballou
      • Catch Us If You Can
      • Custer of The West
      • Darling
      • Deadfall (1968)
      • Doctor Zhivago
      • Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
      • Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)
      • Georgy Girl
      • Girl On A Motorcycle
      • Gonks Go Beat
      • Harper (aka The Moving Target)
      • Help!
      • Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
      • How I Won The War
      • I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘Is Name
      • If ….
      • Just For You
      • Little Fauss & Big Halsy
      • Live It Up!
      • Medium Cool
      • Modesty Blaise (1966)
      • Morgan – A Suitable Case For Treatment
      • Nevada Smith
      • O’ Lucky Man!
      • Performance
      • Petulia
      • Play It Cool
      • Poor Cow
      • Privilege
      • Six-Five Special
      • Some People
      • Sparrows Can’t Sing
      • Summer Holiday
      • Take A Girl Like You
      • Ten Little Indians
      • The Bofors Gun
      • The Carpetbaggers
      • The Chalk Garden (1964)
      • The Chase (1966)
      • The Devil Rides Out
      • The Family Way
      • The Fast Lady
      • The Ipcress File
      • The Knack … and how to get it
      • The Magic Christian
      • The Magus
      • The Party (1968)
      • The Party’s Over
      • The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
      • The Small World of Sammy Lee
      • The Swimmer (1968)
      • The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
      • The Trap
      • The Yellow Rolls-Royce
      • The Young Ones
      • Theorem (Teorema)
      • Tom Jones
      • What A Crazy World
      • Wonderful Life
      • Work Is A Four Letter Word
    • It was fifty years ago in May …
    • John Wetton Tribute
    • music
      • 45 rpm records …
        • Leon Rosselson
      • Anglicana … and Americana
      • Anti songs
      • Broadside: Bellowhead
      • Concerts
        • 70th Party …
        • ABBA Tribute / BSO
        • Al Stewart
        • Albert Lee
        • Allen Toussaint
        • American Queen Ensemble
        • Andy Williams
        • Animals & Friends / Steve Cropper
        • Art Garfunkel
        • Bap Kennedy
        • Bellowhead 2.2013
        • Bellowhead 2014
        • Bellowhead 2016
        • Bellowhead 7.2013
        • Bellowhead 7.2015
        • Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings 2011
        • Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings 2013
        • Bob Dylan – 2022
        • Bob Dylan 2002
        • Bob Dylan 2006
        • Bob Dylan 2017
        • Bonnie Raitt, Hyde Park 2018
        • Brian Wilson
        • BSO: Coming to America
        • BSO: Triumphal Elgar
        • Carole King – Hyde Park
        • Chris Rea
        • Chuck Prophet & Stephanie Finch
        • Cliff Richard 2018
        • Crosby, Stills & Nash
        • Dave Kelly, Maggie Bell, BBQ
        • Don Henley – Hyde Park
        • Dr John
        • Eliza Carthy
        • Emma Swift
        • Emmylou Harris
        • Fay Hield 2013
        • Fay Hield 2014
        • Fay Hield 2016
        • Fleetwood Mac 2003
        • FLIT
        • Garth Hudson 1999
        • Garth Hudson 2007
        • Glen Campbell
        • Glenn Tilbrook
        • Gospel in West Helena
        • Grupo Lokito
        • Hal Wilner Leonard Cohen Project
        • Hall & Oates
        • Ian Felice 2018
        • James Taylor 2014
        • James Taylor, Hyde Park 2018
        • Jimmy Cliff
        • Joan Baez
        • John Cale Paris 1919
        • John Cale, Brighton 2011
        • John Lydon
        • Johnny Flynn, Hyde Park 2018
        • Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings
        • Jonathan Wilson
        • Joni Mitchell’s Hejira and Mingus
        • Joyce Cobb
        • Judy Collins – 2020
        • Judy Collins 2010
        • Judy Collins 2013
        • k.d. lang
        • Kiefer Sutherland
        • King Crimson – 2018
        • KT Tunstall
        • Legends: Joanna Lumley, Twiggy, Lulu
        • Leonard Cohen Aug 2013
        • Leonard Cohen July 2009
        • Leonard Cohen Nov. 2008
        • Leonard Cohen O2 2008
        • Loudon Wainwright III
        • Louise Goffin – Hyde Park
        • Lulu
        • Margo Price
        • Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
        • Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick
        • Michael Kiwanuka – Hyde Park
        • Michelle Shocked 2001
        • Natalie Merchant
        • NKOTB
        • P.P. Arnold 2019
        • Paul Simon & Sting 2015
        • Paul Simon – Hyde Park 2018
        • Paul Simon 2016
        • Paul Simon Nov. 2006
        • Paul Simon Oct. 2000
        • Preston Shannon
        • Raghu Dixit
        • Raghu Dixit
        • Ralph McTell 2016
        • Richard Thompson 2017
        • Rita Coolidge
        • Rodriguez
        • Roger Chapman
        • Roger McGuinn
        • Rufus Wainwright
        • Sam Lee & Friends
        • Sandy Denny Tribute
        • Saving Grace
        • Seth Lakeman 2014
        • Shawn Colvin, Hyde Park Review
        • Simi Stone
        • Simon & Garfunkel 2004
        • Simone Felice – Oct 2015
        • Simone Felice 2011
        • Simone Felice April 2012
        • Simone Felice April 2014
        • Simone Felice July 2013
        • Simone Felice November 2014
        • Simone Felice Sept 2012
        • Simone Felice- Oct 2016
        • Sly & The Family Stone
        • Spiers & Boden 5.13
        • Spiers & Boden, 6.13
        • Spiers and Boden 2014
        • Steeleye Span
        • Suzanne Vega
        • Symphonic Pink Floyd
        • Taj Mahal
        • The Australian Pink Floyd
        • The Band
        • The Bleedin Noses
        • The Bootleg Beatles 2018
        • The Bootleg Beatles 2022
        • The Cactus Blossoms
        • The Civil Wars
        • The Decemberists
        • The Delines
        • The Demon Barbers
        • The Foundations
        • The Full English
        • The Grand Ole Opry
        • The Imagined Village
        • The Manfreds – 2016
        • The Manfreds 2011
        • The Manfreds, P.P. Arnold 2003
        • The Manfreds, P.P. Arnold, Zoot Money, Nov 2016
        • The Mastersons, Hymn For Her
        • The Mavericks
        • The palmer james group
        • The Platters
        • The Searchers
        • The Transports
        • The Unthanks 03.11
        • The Unthanks 04.2012
        • The Unthanks 10.2012
        • The Unthanks 12.11
        • The Unthanks 2.2015
        • The Unthanks 2019
        • The Unthanks 2022
        • The Unthanks 5.2017
        • The Waterboys
        • Thea Gilmore
        • Tom Jones
        • Van Morrison
          • Van Morrison 1998
          • Van Morrison 1999
          • Van Morrison 2000
          • Van Morrison 2001
          • Van Morrison 2002 Jan.
          • Van Morrison 2002 Oct.
          • Van Morrison 2003 Jul.
          • Van Morrison 2003 Sep.
          • Van Morrison 2005 Mar.
          • Van Morrison 2005 Nov.
          • 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 …
      • Driving Me Mad …
      • A Fishy Story
      • A Legal Matter
      • 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
      • Best of 2022 – Music
      • Best of 2022- Theatre
      • 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
      • Cycling in London (and elsewhere)
      • 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
      • Major Brylcreem or My adventures in the CCF
      • 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
      • Supermarket check-outs
      • 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?
      • What’s happened to air travel?
    • 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
      • All’s Well That Ends Well- RSC 2022
      • 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
      • Blues For An Alabama Sky
      • 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
      • Crazy For You
      • 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 2017
      • 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
      • Jack Absolute Flies Again
      • Jeeves and Wooster
      • Jerusalem
      • Jerusalem – 2018
      • Jitney
      • John Gabriel Borkman
      • 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
      • Local Hero
      • 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
      • Mrs Warren’s Profession
      • Much Ado About Nothing – Globe 2014
      • Much Ado About Nothing – Globe 2017
      • Much Ado About Nothing – NT 2022
      • 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
      • Othello- Watermill 2022
      • 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 – RSC 2022
      • 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
      • Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads
      • Skylight
      • Slava’s Snowshow
      • Snow in Midsummer
      • South Pacific
      • Spring Awakening
      • Stepping Out
      • Strife
      • Swan Lake
      • 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, NT 2022
      • The Crucible, Old Vic 2014
      • The Deep Blue Sea – 2019
      • The Deep Blue Sea-NT live, 2016
      • The Doctor
      • The Dresser
      • The Duchess of Malfi – 2012
      • The Duchess of Malfi – 2014
      • The Duchess of Malfi – RSC 2108
      • The Entertainer
      • The Famous Five: A New Musical
      • 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 Narcissist
      • 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 – Bath Ustinov
      • 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 – Globe, 2021
      • 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 (Hare)
      • Uncle Vanya (McPherson)
      • Venice Preserved
      • Vice Versa
      • Volpone
      • Vulcan 7
      • Watership Down
      • Way Upstream
      • What The Butler Saw
      • While The Sun Shines
      • Wolf Hall
      • Woman in Mind
      • 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?

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Peter Viney's Blog
    • Join 161 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Peter Viney's Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: