Shakespeare

School trips to the Old Vic... Alan Badel and Claire Bloom in Romeo & Juliet -- 1952 or 53 -- the frantic pressing of sixpences into the opera glass slots as the masters saw Juliet lean over the balcony in her low-cut frock...!

Julius Caesar - all I remember is the death of Cinna the Poet from that production (it was the play on our GCE O Level Eng. Lit exam)

Have any of us watched any of the Globe Theatre production shown on SKY Arts2? A fabulous Flastaff in Henry IV by Roger Allam - funny and entirely believable.

I'm so envious Seventimesfive

Have a wonderful time ...please tell us something about each one!

We saw Julius Caesar at the RSC STratford n Avn on Friday night. It was was shown on BBC laast night. The cast was made up of all black actors and it was electrifying! The performance is shown as a whole piece without an interval s it never loses pace. the actors were wonderful so ful of life and energy and the delivery was faultless. It was an expensive thing to do (tickets, meal, hotel) but it was my birthday present to DH who never wants or asks for anything for hinself and he loved it. we are really hooked on Shakespeare now.

susie wish I had been there too, did JC for O level.

Why an all black cast? I don't really understand the point they make when they do any all one race performance, like Ballet Black, what is the point? Would love to understand.

The all black cast was because it was set in a nameless African country undergoing a coup against a general planning to become a dictator. It was a brilliant and highly successful piece of drama. Putting it in an African context proves that Shakespeare doesn't go out of date. Human nature and human politics don't change for the better! The torture of the conflict between Brutus' loyalty to his friend, Caesar, and what he saw as his patriotic duty, was brought to life by Paterson Joseph's agonised portrayal.
A famous African leader, the late President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, obviously saw the play's relevance to African politics when he translated it into classical Kiswahili.
Thank goodness there was something good to watch while the football was on.

I would definitely prefer Shakespeare to football. Sounds like you had a great birthday susie

Susie, Annobel, saw the telly version last night. It was great! Sometimes when you see a non- trad Shakespeare production it's quite irritating because the scenery/location costumes etc don't seem relevant. When it works, like it did here, it's like seeing the play for the first time. The African setting really brought the themes alive.

How true, lilygran. I think the worst example was Measure for Measure in broad Scots. It wasn't even well acted and the setting didn't bring any fresh understanding to the admittedly tortuous plot. Many years ago, saw Much Ado in a British Raj setting. Why?

* susiecb* Yes l caught that on TV last night as l'm NOT a football fan.
I thought it was great- liked the African setting. I envy you seeing it live.
I might even watch it again on catchup.
Did anyone see the Laurence Olivier Henry V on on of the remote channels on Sat afternoon.The production seemed stiff and dated.but still good to revisit.

I noticed that Henry V was on, but too late to watch it. I have seen it many times when I was teaching mature students. We watched both the Olivier and the Brannagh versions. They were each redolent of their time. Olivier did it in wartime when the country needed to hear of heroism and patriotism - a shot in the arm. Brannagh's version shows more of the squalor of war - not the Dulce et Decorum attitude.

SKY Arts 2 recently broadcast several productions from the Globe Theatre, in particular Henry IV (a play discussed by Simon Schama in his current TV series). Roger Allam's Falstaff was wonderful - and in his mouth the language is instantly understandable.

So glad others enjoyed this as much as I did! Also planning to see King John at Stratford (Swan), middle DD is its designer and it has had excellent reviews. Very chuffed, she has been asked to design As You Like It at the "big" theatre next year!! [modest but chuffed to bits] emoticon!

Your daughter must be very talented, gracesmum. How wonderful to be able to look at the stage and say, 'My daughter did that'.

My daughter is vocal coach for the stage play featured on tonight's 'Imagine' programme -'The Two Worlds of Charlie F' featuring professional front-line soldiers. Its a new venture for her but she was asked to do it because of her reputation as a voice gp teacher.
[proud parent emoticon]

I should think I know what you'll be doing this evening

Seeing Shakespeare in Stratford you'll never be disappointed. I love the smaller Courtyard theatre rather than the large Swan theatre at the RSC.

Even though it is quite a long way for me, I loved a production of A Winter's Tale a few years ago so much, that I went back a week later to see it again!!