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Edward II

Edward II
by Christopher Marlowe

Directed by Nick Bagnall
Bill Barclay composer
JessicaWorrall- designer

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
at Shakespeare’s Globe

Wednesday 27th March 2019, 14.00, matinee

CAST
Annette Badland – Mortimer Senior / Earl of Arundel / Abbot
Richard Bremner – Archbishop of Canterbury / Spenser senior
Richard Cant- Earl of Lancaster / Earl of Leicester
Polly Frame- Earl of Kent, Edward’s brother
Jonathan Livingstone- Mortimer Junior
Sanchia McCormack- Earl of Warwick / Sir John of Hainault
Colin Ryan – Bishop of Coventry /  Spenser Junior / Prince Edward (i.e. King Edward III)
Tom Stuart – King Edward II
Beruma Tessema – Gaveston / Lightborn
Katie West – Queen Isabella

MUSIC
Sarah Case – voice
Sarah Homer- Contra Alto Clarinet / Recorder
Tunde Jegede – Cello / Kora
Paul Johnson- flute / bagpipes / Nyatiti
Rob Millett- MD / percussion / dulcimer

How I loathe these Globe cast and creative lists mixing up on-stage, back-stage and background. I must say if I’d known that three male earls were to be played by women, I wouldn’t have booked it at all. We have not booked any of the “Globe Ensemble” history plays in the 2019 season, the first time in years we’ve missed Globe Shakespeare productions, but in 2018 they went beyond silly.

I booked this because we’ve been working through the Royal Shakespeare Company Marlowe productions of the last few years with great enjoyment and I wanted to see another Marlowe. Then the RSC has put the full works into the Marlowe productions, and this is the Wanamaker with a small cast, and dare I say it, nowhere near the creativity of the RSC. Also, Wanamaker productions can end up looking very “samey” after you’ve seen a few. The set’s fixed and the costumes are generally dull.

L to R: Earl of Lancaster (Richard Cant), Edward II (Tom Stuart), Mortimer Junior (Jonathan Livingstone). Earl of Kent (Polly Frame) slinking at the side.

Edward II is most famous for the king’s unpleasant death. Hmm. Van Morrison had The Red Hot Pokers (from Wales) as his backing band for a couple of years. I doubt they were referencing this play, nor was Corporal Jones in Dad’s Army (They don’t like it up ’em!) Edward II’s death by insertion of a red hot poker in the anus is probably a myth, though it is one that dates back to just a few years after his death. The evidence that he was murdered at Berkeley Castle in September 1327 has been disputed. The Earl of Kent was beheaded in 1330 for attempting to free Edward from Corfe Castle in Dorset, where he believed he was being held. That’s brought earlier in Marlowe’s play to before Edward’s alleged 1327 death.  Another time change by Marlowe, is having Mortimer (theEarl of March) killed soon after Edward II’s death. Mortimer was de facto ruler from 1327 to 1330 before Edward III exercised his power and had him beheaded. Other stories have the deposed Edward II turning up in Italy in 1330 having been to stay with the Pope. There are further tales of him meeting his son Edward III in Germany in 1338. Once deposed, it would have been in his interest to pretend to be dead so as to close the whole thing down.

So like Shakespeare’s version of Richard III, we take the play as it stands as drama, rather than as history. The “IIs” in British history didn’t have a lot of luck in the Middle Ages. William II, “accidentally” shot with an arrow in the New Forest he had recently devastated. Henry II, dominated by his more powerful wife. Edward II who came to an unpleasant end. Richard II who got it in Shakespeare’s play. Marlowe compressed 23 years of action (1307-1330) into the play … in fact the king’s favourite, Gaveston, had been a fixture in his household from 1300, before Edward ever married Isabella of France in 1308.

Edward II turned out to be a pleasant surprise for a Wanamaker production. The cast were dressed in something like 14th century costume, and for a play from 1592 that I’d never seen nor read it was surprisingly clear and transparent in text and delivery. They’ve cut or combined many characters so that the first half had pace and clarity, with the barons, opposed to Edward, using every part of the theatre to surround and argue with the king. Edward II (Tom Stuart) has decided to bestow favours on a favourite and boyfriend, Gaviscon … sorry, Gaveston (Beruma Tessema) … while his poor wife and queen, Isabella of France (Katie West), has to look on.

methode-times-prod-web-bin-797fb2b0-3376-11e9-a129-05a1d4d7c2a2

Beruma Tessema as Gaveston. Tom Stuart as Edward II

The king’s favourite and lover, Gaveston, significantly shared royal purple (nylon) with Queen Isabella. Having read about productions in the past, this went light and mild on the homosexuality theme. Basically, Edward II was a weak king, his armies defeated by the Scots, and his French territories taken at will by his brother-in-law, the King of France. The barons sneer at Gaveston as a Frenchman and add:

YOUNG MORTIMER:
I have not seen a dapper Jack so brisk
He wears a short Italian hooded cloak
Larded with pearl, and in his Tuscan cap
A jewel of more value than the crown

Possibly this is 14th century Brexiteer anti-European stance, but in the Middle Ages, Italian fashion was seen as a sign of homosexuality. My headmaster had great distaste for “Italian suits” and “Italian winklepickers” in the 1960s too. Conversely, many Italians think that an English public school education is a sure sign of gay inclinations.

The barons could have turned a blind eye to his bit on the side of whatever gender, but being useless was unforgivable. Edward II’s interest in Gaveston wasn’t a one off either. Once Gaveston was removed, he soon turned his attentions on another lad, Spenser, played here with a Brummy accent by Colin Ryan. A particularly nice scene was Edward explaining his angst while Spenser polished his (hollow) crown for him. At the interval, we both expressed surprise at the Wanamaker (at last) exceeding our expectations.

The Globe just about got away with its knee-jerk 50 / 50 gender blind casting. Only just though. The cast had to triple up in spite of ruthless excision of characters from the original, and (e.g.) Annette Badland is too distinctive in height and appearance to get away with much role switching, though she gets a red costume as Earl of Arundel compared to dark blue for Mortimer Senior. It doesn’t help that much. Polly Frame, as Edward’s brother, Edmund Earl of Kent, is also small. Both look female because of their stature in spite of playing men. Also, Edward was surrounded by fierce and brutal warlords as barons, and face it, a set of burly thuggish looking blokes would certainly have helped. I’m continually told that we accept colour blindness in the theatre, so why not gender blindness. Different thing. One is cultural history, the other is basic biology cutting across not only all ethnicities but the entire animal kingdom.

Edward-II-PROD-204-captioned-e1550145781405

Katie West as Queen Isabella

The gender-blind casting had another effect- as the only actor playing a female in the play, Queen Isabella has very, very short hair. It’s as if the Globe eschews any overt femininity at all. Katie West was excellent as the cast aside, put-upon wife. We thought she was less effective in Part Two where she unites with Mortimer Junior against Edward. This is a woman who decides to have her husband deposed, probably killed, in favour of her son who became Edward III. She was a powerful female ruler, like Eleanor of Aquitaine in King John. We need to see that exercise of power, and for a woman in the 14th century, she needs to display the charisma and power, which (sorry, Globe) means exercising some obvious feminine allure. A decent wig would have helped her look more female.

I would single out Richard Bremner, doubling as the Archbishop of Canterbury and as Spenser Senior, as an especially impressive performance. Like Chris Ryan as Spenser Junior, the father had that Birmingham accent. It’s always funny on stage for some reason. They managed to get a few laughs from a play which did not have them written in by Marlowe. Both clerics … Canterbury and the arrested Coventry … have bright red gloves. Coventry was openly critical of the king’s affair.

The play is intrinsically weaker in Part Two, where the anti-Edward barons are rounded up and executed (everyone then changes parts) and we then have the Queen and Mortimer invading from France to depose Edward in favour of his son. That was not a necessary outcome either – the barons talk of “electing” a new king. There is a line that should have got more audience reaction in these Brexit confusion days:

TRUSSELL: My Lord, the parliament must have present news.
And therefore say, will you resign or no?
EDWARD II: I’ll not resign, but whilst I live, be king.

The character of “Trussell” was eliminated or rather combined, but his lines got transferred. This was on the very day that Teresa May offered to resign if Parliament agreed to support her Brexit deal.

The second half is also literally darker, with several candles being snuffed. It’s preparation for the murder scene where Edward II is naked for the poker insertion. Done effectively. As is apparently the custom, the murderer, Lightborn, is played by the same actor (Beruma Tessema) who played Gaveston. Given that Gaveston has been dead a fair time at this point, this might be construed as efficiency rather than making a point as to the affair with Gaveston (and so sodomy) being the root cause of Edward’s death. Here, Tessema kept his face half covered throughout, so I would not say they were making any overt reference from the doubling.

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L to R: Mortimer (Jonathan Livingstone) / newly crowned Edward III (Colin Ryan)/ Archbishop of Canterbury (Richard Bremner)

The music was significant, playing subtle accompaniment behind speeches throughout as well as adding excitement to the main fight scene … Mortimer Junior v Gaveston.

The Wanamaker continues to have magic. Marlowe’s play dates from 1592. I wonder if it ever had a life in the private theatres. By the time the Blackfriars housed the Kings Men, James I was on the throne, and a play about a gay king with favourites would have been a dangerous venture.

Overall rating:

***

I was going for 4 stars at half time too. The intrinsic play reduced it, there was just less pace in part two.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID:

3 star
Kate Maltby, Guardian ***

The cast, especially Tessema, speak Marlowe’s verse beautifully. But the production, struggling with this play’s leaden structure, loses momentum towards the end. The last few scenes are performed in deep darkness: it feels more like lights out for nap time than dramatic effect.

Ben Lawrence, Telegraph ***

Gaveston is ostracised not on account of his sexuality (and it is probably right to assume that same-sex love in 16th-century England – the time at which Marlowe was writing – was less troubling an issue than in later centuries), but because he challenges the status quo. Here, the array of accents among the cast rather stymies the idea of a nobility closing ranks to oust a groundling. Thus, Old Mortimer’s words “See what a scornful look that peasant casts” do not ring true.

Chris Bennion, The Times ***

Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard ***

There’s strong work at the centre from Stuart, but elsewhere in the 10 strong company there is some uneven acting. Across all houses and productions now, the Globe really does need to attract a stronger overall calibre of performer.

LINKS ON THIS BLOG

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE PLAYS:

  • Dido, Queen of Carthage by Christopher Marlowe, RSC 2017
  • Tamburlaine, by Christopher Marlowe, RSC 2018
  • Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, RSC, 2016
  • Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe, RSC, 2015
  • Edward II by Christopher Marlow, Wanamaker Playhouse 2019

NICK BAGNALL, director
Love’s Labour’s Lost, Wanamaker 2018
The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Globe 2016
Henry VI – Three Plays, Globe on tour, 2013 at Bath

TOM STUART
The Changeling, Wanamaker 2015, Alonzo

KATIE WEST
Carmen Disruption, Almeida 2015 (Micaela)
Hamlet, Manchester, NT Live 2015 (Ophelia)

ANNETTE BADLAND
Eyam, Globe 2018
The Winter’s Tale, Globe 2018

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          • 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?

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