RSC Productions in Stratford and London 2010

Morte d'Arthur, Stratford, until 28 August 2010 Mike Poulton, the adaptor of Malory’s Morte d’Arthur for the RSC, says in his introduction in the programme that he didn’t want to ‘embark on another Ring Cycle’ and thus had to heavily cut down Malory’s work. Having witnessed the condensed result, all three hours forty-five minutes of it, I think this was a mistake. Why couldn’t it have been three separate shows, an epic cycle that dragged the saga out, instead of a tripartite single play? Ok, so three plays might not be possible economically, but whilst the plot of this abridged version was brilliant, it felt incomplete at places and left me with many questions. A fleshier first section alone could have easily filled the time and the audience would have relished being able to come back for more. I watched the audience’s faces: they were utterly gripped. Time seemed to fly; the staging alone kept us all on tenterhooks, as now Launcelot appeared in the gallery, now Gareth zoomed down on a rope to kill the infamous Red Knight, now Guenevere’s funeral pyre burnt with the smell of sage to the sound of drums. It was an assault on the senses verging on an Artaudian intensity.

The whole auditorium was made use of, with its raw wood make-up being so apt to the context of the play, forming at once both forest and castle. The most traditional stage conventions were used to amazing effect: backlighting displayed not only the amorous conception of Arthur and Margawse’s child, but also a battle and Launcelot’s move to France; projection produced a grotesquely gigantic baby to haunt Arthur and a crystal effect to act as the first sensing of the Holy Grail; light filters shone onto a material backdrop set the tone of the scenes, with angry devil-red giving way to watery blue to sickly, stone-like yellow.

The fantastic script (which even has lines in Latin) gave us glimmers of humorous respite from an otherwise dark tale: Arthur’s initial shock at pulling the sword from the stone - with Sam Troughton’s wide-eyed innocence making us fond of him from the outset - and Gareth’s pot and pan attack, to name a couple. The main drag of the plot though was downwards, into a gloomy well of Arthur’s despair at the knights he had prized so highly - a despair that grew as did his hair. Yet even this gloom was lightened by Arthur’s mysterious disappearance (and possible continuing existence?) and the doting Launcelot’s final redemption - for, as his heart-bedecked costume told, what was his fault but to love another with his whole being?

The play is so dense and of such epic proportions that it simply must be seen. Get in there and grab those 5 quid tickets or hop on the Shakespeare university buses and get some young blood into The Courtyard Theatre!

Nina Brown (DI Reviewer), 23/06/10

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Antony and Cleopatra,
The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford till 28th August 2010 Shakespeare’s retelling of the classical true story of love and ambition is one of his greatest plays; it was written in the year 1606 which also produced Macbeth and King Lear. Antony, most brilliant of the Roman generals, loses his position as co-ruler of Rome (and eventually also a war and his life) to the young and ruthless Octavius. The catalyst for these events, Antony’s passionate love affair with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, is what raises the story above straightforward tragedy.

The RSC’s new modern-dress production by Michael Boyd brings out many of the joys of the play, and is especially successful with the comic elements in the first half. The main characters are vividly alive and the drama is compelling – if anything, at times too compelling, since some of the poetry of Shakespeare’s language can be lost when the viewer’s attention is grabbed by what the characters are doing rather than what they are saying. The three hours of performance time fly by; they are not nearly enough to capture everything in this multi-faceted play, despite the swift, vigorous and at times frenzied pace of the staging.

For me the star was the tiny Kathryn Hunter as Cleopatra, whose energy, wit and charisma dominated and animated all her scenes; we are left in no doubt as to why Antony (Darrell D’Silva) would abandon his demure, passive but politically expedient wife Octavia (Sophie Russell) to return to infinitely variable Cleopatra and the exhilarating revelry of the Egyptian court. D’Silva matched her well in authority, passion and power; both shone in the first half, but both could perhaps have done more to generate empathy in the final scenes, which occasionally failed to keep the difficult balance between comedy and tragedy.

Brian Doherty’s Enobarbus was eloquent and arresting, perhaps the most human of all the characters. Every joke got a laugh, adding poignancy to his inner turmoil in the second act. Octavius Caesar (John Mackay) contrasted well with the passion and personality of most of the other players, managing to seem simultaneously insecure and psychopathic. Just the sort of chap who’d seize control of an empire.

The space of the Courtyard Theatre is admirably suited to the sort of surround-acting at which the RSC excel. Romans loomed suddenly and menacingly out of the darkness in the upper tiers of seating, and there was constant ebb and flow on- and off-stage with scenes constantly merging into one another. The imposing burnished backdrop proved highly flexible, and atmosphere was generated well through sound and lighting. Romans in modern suits and military uniform were offset by Egyptians in flamboyant, colourful, and constantly changing outfits.

Only a few elements of the staging fell flat, usually when Shakespeare was being ‘augmented’ in some way or other – in particular the birthday cake. I wasn’t too impressed with the paper boats or the ‘battle dance’ either – but such moments were few and soon forgotten amidst the excellent drama and entertainment on offer.

Alastair Wilson (Unverified), 03/06/10

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Romeo and Juliet
Playing until 27 August 2010
at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford Everybody loves a good old fashioned love story. Instant infatuation, clandestine encounters, illicit passion and violent self-immolation will always get the audience cheering, even when the story is so familiar as to be ingrained in their collective consciousness. Familiarity need not dim the power of the play’s subject matter, nor its exquisite expression, but it does mean that each new incarnation needs to pull something special out of the bag to stand out. This energetic and thoughtful production of Shakespeare’s ill-fated teen romance ticks the usual boxes and offers a few surprises of its own.

I’d heard director Rupert Goold’s Romeo and Juliet described as a ‘youthful’ version of the play, an evaluation which seems less obvious in the context of the recent successful setting of a production in a retirement home, with octogenarian lovers. It’s hard constantly to reinvent one of the most popularly resonant of Shakespeare’s tragedies, but there’s certainly a freshness, liveliness, and a raw edge to this production that brings it firmly up to date and mines added seams of meaning. What was meant here, I guess, by ‘youthful’ is the effort that has been made to set Romeo and Juliet apart from their surroundings, and from the authority figures who surround them, creating a far more modern interpretation of inter-generational relationships and filial duty. Kids are so often at odds with the older generation, and dressing differently is a tried and tested way of demonstrating the separation. In this case, with the cast in more-or-less traditional Elizabethan dress, the young lovers are wearing urban casual – army surplus jackets and Converse trainers. It works well; they look like they’re in the process of growing up, rewriting and reinterpreting the rules, as each generation will.

It’s nice to be given a chance to feel knowledgeable when watching Shakepeare – no educated audience is immune to a bit of intellectual flattery, and it’s a clever touch when Romeo searches for the English version of the prologue on his personal stereo, cycling through various European languages first. You get to say ‘Ooh! That was “Two houses, both alike in dignity” in Italian!’ It’s lovely. You’ve been praised, and deservedly so. The production has given you a biscuit. There are various other light-hearted touches: Benvolio capers; Tybalt struts - just as he ought - like one of the baddies out of Grease; Richard Katz’s Capulet is a ripe old gangster, pleasingly armed to the teeth; and Jonjo O’Neill as Mercutio offers a truly extraordinary and inventive display of obscene mime. The music is also brilliant, creating a heady atmosphere which allows the audience to really feel and accept the onset of infatuation.

Both Sam Troughton as Romeo and Mariah Gale as Juliet approach their roles with a wonderful mixture of gaucheness and precocity. Gale’s Juliet doesn’t entirely work for me. I don’t quite understand her; can’t fathom what motivation, what intelligence, lies behind the façade of opaque naivety and tentative coyness. But perhaps that’s actually a pretty decent representation of a teenager. I had a bit of difficulty also with the Nurse. Noma Dumezweni can’t seem to help but exude intelligence, which is wonderful and absorbing to watch, but felt uneasy in the context of her character.

But these were difficulties of interpretation which I enjoyed chewing over and which didn’t, for me, detract from the drama. I don’t think that this production’s success lies in quirky costume design or clever re- (or mis-) interpretation. I think its power comes from the fact that it’s simply, thoughtfully, properly acted and presented, making no apology for the adolescent fervour which, handled correctly, can be so inspiringly cathartic. Enjoy it as a story of youth and its trials. Enjoy it as melodrama. Enjoy it as a potent and universal interpretation of love.

Susie Cogan (DI Staff), 07/04/10

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