Hamlet (Lazarus Theatre)

What do you get if you remove the older generation from Hamlet? Lazarus Theatre’s new 90-minute production at Southwark Playhouse. The cast (dressed in identical jumpers & trackie bottoms) assemble in a circle and take orders from a disembodied voice (Micha Colombo), before introducing themselves and their character – to each other rather than the […]

Most popular posts of 2022

Unsurprisingly again, in terms of hits 2022 is now the worst year on record – I did have some bursts of motivation at certain points in the year, but at times was definitely more ambitious than I should have been. At least I did manage some challenge weeks, as well as some lengthier film-based projects […]

Favourite shows 2022

You didn’t think I’d share my least favourite shows of the year and just leave it at that, did you? Obviously not. As well as continuing to follow Wuthering Heights across the country, and making regular appointments with Operation Mincemeat in its two 2022 homes, I managed to see 78 different shows (repeat visits – […]

Play By Candlelight: Hamlet (2022)

You caught me red-handed. As soon as Hamlet was announced as part of the 2021-22 winter season my eyes rolled so hard I nearly saw the inside of my eye sockets. Unlike the current government, I’m not going to try and cover that up or pretend I held the opposite opinion – in fact, I’m […]

Out of 2021 – Into 2022

I’m slightly more ahead of the game this year than last year, as this is my official follow-up to my ‘favourite things‘, favourite digital shows & favourite in-person shows posts; a round-up of 2021 and a glance ahead to 2022. The main thing dominating the blog in 2021 was motivation – or lack thereof. It’s […]

Play by Candlelight 2021-22: preview

You know things are starting to feel a bit more normal when Shakespeare’s Globe is able to announce their winter season, with a return to the beautiful candlelit surroundings of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Intriguingly, this will be the first time that £5 tickets for productions in this performance space, with 48 standing tickets available in […]

#MindTheBard 2021: round-up

You know what? I think this hybrid form of challenge week might be here to stay. Despite the fact that it’s taken me almost a week to write this round-up post, it’s actually felt pretty manageable – and I don’t know whether I’ll have the energy to go out to the theatre every single night […]

#MindTheBard: Madness (Hamlet)

Madness. Not the most sensitive or appropriate term, but simply extracted from today’s play: Hamlet. There are various different displays of what might have been understood to be ‘madness’ when Shakespeare wrote the play, but what we could now diagnose as depression, anxiety, paranoia, schizophrenia… The list goes on. But what of the Prince of Denmark […]

#MindTheBard 2021: Diary

As I’m not doing much in the way of reviews for this #MindTheBard, I thought the best way to keep things going throughout the week was to do a daily ‘diary’ update – this way I can give you a little bit of feedback on whatever version of the day’s play I end up seeing. […]

Challenge Week 2021: Mind The Bard

We’ve had Mind The Bard, we’ve had Mind The Bard: 2 Bard 2 Spurious – and now I give you… Mind The Bard 3: Hospital Shift. (There is no earthly reason why I’m taking inspiration from the Fast & Furious franchise titles, but there we go.) It’s a bit of a risk taking the decision to […]