Misc. Mini-Reviews: Henry V / As You Like It

Initially I was going to write separate, full reviews for both of these – however, as I’ve left it a little while since watching Henry V and both of them are closing fairly soon I took the executive decision to clump them together here instead. Other than the fact that they are both Shakespeare plays (and […]

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 – […]

Midsummer Mechanicals 2022

After their runaway success Pyramus & Thisbe, the Midsummer Mechanicals returned to tread the boards once more, this time as part of the Duke’s anniversary celebrations. Though it wasn’t plain sailing the first time round, what with Bottom suddenly acquiring a donkey’s head, they’re set for a few more challenges in this follow-up – and […]

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 […]

Globe 2022: “Pomp, pageantry, politics & power”

The day is finally here – it seems like we’ve been made to wait an inordinately long time for this announcement, but it was definitely worth it as far as I’m concerned. In the words of Artistic Director, Michelle Terry: “The world beyond may be uncertain, but these plays are sure to guide us through […]

Favourite shows 2021 (in-person)

It’s quite nice to go back to this, although when I had a look through my list of shows it wasn’t too hard to choose a top 10 – the hardest thing was getting them in the right order… I haven’t seen all of the shows that have been put on since things reopened, for […]

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 […]

Shakespeare’s Globe: “Parting is such sweet sorrow”

Reading that the Globe may struggle to come back from this current crisis without the help of donations and emergency funding didn’t seem quite real. When they announced their forthcoming summer shows back in January, I must admit that I did wonder whether the rather bland programming had come about because there were some financial […]

The Show Must Go Online: Love’s Labour’s Lost

Thankfully for The Show Must Go Online, Shakespeare decided to keep things quite light for two consecutive plays – we were spared bloodshed once again with Love’s Labour’s Lost following hot on the heels of The Comedy of Errors. Not that a bit of onscreen/onstage bloodshed is a bad thing (my weekly Tarantino viewings are still going […]

Globe 2020: “This wooden O”

I really enjoyed the last summer season overall (despite now being almost completely sworn off returning to the groundling life – people are just too rude & inconsiderate for me to countenance it as a viable option), and the 2019/20 winter season has just gone above and beyond so far. The Wars of the Roses […]