SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Yes, we like it
GORDON PARSONS relishes a Shakespearean comedy played at pace for sheer delight
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
As You Like It
The Holloway Garden Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE’s reference in Romeo and Juliet to “the two-hour traffic of our stage,” when modern productions of the Bard’s works normally extend to nearer three, has left theatre historians some evidence of how contemporary productions of his plays may have been handled at his bankside Globe theatre.
Perhaps a visit to the RSC’s temporary Avon-side summer theatre with Brendan O’Shea’s 80-minute As You Like It may provide something more of a practical demonstration.
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
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GORDON PARSONS hails a magnificent performance by a cast who make sure that every word can be heard and understood
GORDON PARSONS applauds a production which turns a Jacobean obscurity into a dreamlike journey
GORDON PARSONS relishes a fast moving production of Sheridan’s comic masterpiece
Transmorphed into a romp in the Caribbean, the play effortlessly wins over the audience, writes GORDON PARSONS