87. Cardenio - Swan Theatre

If the promise of Gregory Doran and the Swan and theatrical ‘archaeology’ wasn’t enough, having seen Double Falsehood at the Union Theatre in January made Cardenio a must see for me. In the end though, the last of these I think proved more of a hindrance than a help and I’ve found myself increasingly unable to separate my thoughts about one from my thoughts about the other. Which has made it rather difficult to work out truly how I felt about this.

85. The City Madam - Swan Theatre

I feel a little sorry for The City Madam, sandwiched in between two of the most impressive productions I’ve seen at the RSC it was bound to suffer somewhat by comparison. In the end though I couldn’t shake the feeling that whilst there were some wonderful performances, an interesting design and some funny set pieces – that the writing just wasn’t strong enough to stand up against Shakespeare. (Though truly who can? I occasionally get irrationally sad that there was a genius in the world and there isn’t anymore – I may be more than a little odd).

44. The Rape of Lucrece - Swan Theatre

I know that when people talk about completing the Shakespeare canon they’re not normally including his poetry, but hearing that the RSC were creating a version of the Rape of Lucrece accompanied by music was nothing short of irresistible. I didn’t really know what we would get, only being vaguely familiar with the poem, not having seen anything like this before and having no idea who Camille O’Sullivan was – I certainly didn’t expect how powerful it would be (or that we would be sharing the theatre with half the Romeo and Juliet cast).

41. The RSC Ensemble Revealed - The Swan Theatre

And now for something completely different... literally every 3 minutes or so, as those of us in The Swan Theatre on Sunday were treated to poetry one moment, comedy the next, singing, dance and some things that defy all description. Whilst I certainly hadn’t been planning to visit Stratford-Upon-Avon three weeks in a row (though I really don’t need much excuse) hearing that the ensemble were putting on a cabaret afternoon to raise money for James Gale and his family after his sad diagnosis with leukaemia, I couldn’t have imagined being anywhere else.

37. The Tempest - The Swan Theatre

Oh, I truly loved this co-production between the RSC and the Little Angel Theatre and was shocked recently to see the London run getting a two star review. All I can say is that I think the reviewer was completely wrong and also possibly a bit of a miserable fart as comparing a brutal Russian production of the play to a version designed for children is rather missing the point, especially as part of the joy of the Tempest is that it can take such polar opposite productions. And this one was utter magic from start to finish, filling me with a childish sort of wonder and glee that is exactly what I want to feel in the theatre and exactly how I would want children to first experience Shakespeare.

36. Antony and Cleopatra - The Swan Theatre

I saw the original run of Antony and Cleopatra twice whilst it was in Stratford-Upon-Avon and was left with the feeling that I hadn’t hated it half as much as everyone else seemed to, even if it was deeply flawed. Still the idea of it being remixed for the Swan Theatre was utterly irresistible – it’s rare we get to see such a complete and dramatic journey for a production.

RST Re-Opening

Decided I’d probably be best off writing about these two together as, although I do love both productions dearly, what I was really there for was to see the new theatres in action at last. Plus having just written a 2,000 word or so... well, essay on this King Lear, I’m still feeling a little burnt out (it may have made me cry multiple times again, but that’s all I’m going to say).