Review: Measure for Measure, Donmar Warehouse

While others strive for power, one Duke appears to be giving it away. Relinquishing his judicial power and assigning it to his deputy, he dons a monk's habit and steps back, to see what will unfold in his absence...

What does unfold is a staging of Measure for Measure quite unlike any that has been envisaged before. Though it is performed far less frequently than some of Shakespeare's other plays, Measure showcases an array of human vices which have become ever more important to address. Abuse of power, blackmail and hypocrisy, gender inequality and sexual violation - one instance of many in which a 16th century playwright appears to be speaking directly to us in the 21st century.

Review: The Merry Wives of Windsor, RSC

There's a knock at the door. A letter has arrived for a certain 'Mr Shakespeare', and it's from the Queen of England...

It feels like a long time since the Royal Shakespeare Company have performed a Shakespearean comedy, and so the current production of The Merry Wives of Windsor was a much needed breather from the darkness of Scottish moors and the tombs of ill-fated lovers. As with their recent productions of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, the play, its set and costumes, were modernised to add a 21st century relevance, but here, the worlds of Elizabethan bawdiness and Essex gaudiness came together in a fantastically farcical blend. Here's my thoughts. 

Shakespeare Sunday: The Merchant of Venice

Welcome to 'Shakespeare Sunday', where I take an extract from one of the plays and write my thoughts.

'All that glitters is not gold' - The Merchant of Venice, Act 2 Scene 7
External versus Internal: Tolkien & Shakespeare

Shakespeare Sunday: Twelfth Night & King Lear

Welcome to 'Shakespeare Sunday', where I take an extract from one of the plays and write my thoughts.

'Hey, ho, the wind and the rain' Twelfth Night Act 5, Scene 1, and King Lear Act 3, Scene 2

Shakespeare's Songs: Fools and Fortune 

Review: Bridge Theatre, Young Marx

The year is 1850, and amongst the ramshackle streets of Soho, a desperate man heads to the pawnbrokers with his wife's family silver tucked under his arm...

So begins Young Marx, the debut production at the new Bridge Theatre on London's South Bank. For me, the play was an unexpected delight - not the dry, inaccessible political lecture I feared it might be, but a playful, upbeat comedy highlighting the all-too-human flaws and failings of one man, now known as the greatest intellectual revolutionary of his age. Here's my thoughts.