Reviews by Jane Shields
Othello: deconstructed
Jane Shields
Othello Deconstructed is an adaptation of the classic Shakespearean play of love, jealousy and ultimately murder.
In this adaptation, the set has been used to continually draw the audience's ...
10 years ago
Othello: deconstructed
Ernest and the Pale Moon
Jane Shields
Ernest and the Pale Moon is a weird hour of theatre, encompassing murder, obsession and madness.
The story was inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe and Alfred Hitchcock. It is clear to see the ...
10 years ago
Ernest and the Pale Moon
Breathing Corpses
Jane Shields
Breathing Corpses by Laura Wade was an evening of murder, suicide and black humour. It interweaves three stories: Amy, a hotel cleaner who discovers more than the usual amount of corpses, Jim ...
10 years ago
Breathing Corpses
Being Human
Jane Shields
Being Human ranges from the thoughtful to the mundane, from the hilarious to the tragic, and from the usual to the unusual. The poems are chosen from an eponymous anthology designed to explore ...
10 years ago
Being Human
The Country
Jane Shields
The Country by Martin Crimp is an intense, disquieting and cryptic play which was completely compelling to watch.
A Doctor brings home an unconscious girl whom he claims to have found in the ...
10 years ago
The Country
The Producers
Jane Shields
The Producers is a musical adventure which follows a neurotic, anxious accountant and his extravagant producer ally as they attempt to open a new show on Broadway, close it the same night and run off ...
11 years ago
The Producers
Swan Lake
Jane Shields
Swan Lake, performed by the English Youth Ballet, tells the enchanting story of Odette, the White Swan, who falls in love with the Prince. As she is below his status he cannot marry her, and the evil ...
11 years ago
Swan Lake
Daytona
Jane Shields
Daytona is a three-person production by Oliver Cotton starring Maureen Lipman (Elli) Harry Shearer (Joe) and John Bowe (Billy). The set is a simple apartment which increases the effectiveness of the ...
11 years ago
Daytona
So Comedy Live! Tom Deacon and Felicity Ward
Jane Shields
The North Wall comedy night was entertaining: funny of course and one of the more unusual comedy evenings I've been to as the audience consisted of only 14 people. The excellent compere, noticing ...
11 years ago
So Comedy Live! Tom Deacon and Felicity Ward
Save The Last Dance For Me
Jane Shields
If you love music from the sixties then this is the show for you! "Save the last dance for me" is a new musical set in the summer of 1963. It's the age-old story of boy meets girl, set ...
11 years ago
Save The Last Dance For Me
The Pirates of Penzance
Jane Shields
Pirates of Penzance is a light-hearted way to spend a summer’s evening, full of amusing songs, and excellent singing. The production opens with an energetic overture giving the audience ...
11 years ago
The Pirates of Penzance
Jekyll & Hyde
Jane Shields
Jekyll & Hyde is a one man show expertly performed by Michael Palmer and directed by Caroline Devlin. As the audience entered the downstairs Norrington Room of Blackwells, the candles, and eerie ...
11 years ago
Jekyll & Hyde
Wicked Women
Jane Shields
Wicked Women is a light-hearted performance from Sara Coward and Sunny Ormonde. It describes a broad range of women, from Snow White's evil stepmother to Mae West, using a variety of quotes, ...
11 years ago
Wicked Women
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2013
Jane Shields
Have you done anything to be ashamed of lately? I thought I hadn’t but now I’m not so sure. Last night I attended 'Shame: A Force for Good or Bad' hosted by Alastair Niven with ...
11 years ago
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2013
Simon Munnery: Fylm-Makker
Jane Shields
Quirky, unusual and completely random (in a good way!) were my first thoughts after this enjoyable performance. I had never been to a comedy show like it before, where the comedian speaks to you from ...
11 years ago
Simon Munnery: Fylm-Makker
Marx in Soho
Jane Shields
Karl Marx returns to modern-day London in this hour long show written by and starring Howard Zinn.
This lively production covers Marx's family life, his work and his fellow revolutionary ...
11 years ago
Marx in Soho
Short Stories Aloud
Jane Shields
I love reading stories, but there's something about having a story read to you that inspires the imagination and draws you closely into the narrative. This evening, I enjoyed listening to three ...
11 years ago
Short Stories Aloud
The Glee Club
Jane Shields
The Glee Club is a friendly venue with tables for guests and a wide selection of food available. The evening started well: we were welcomed by the door staff and shown to our table, which ...
12 years ago
The Glee Club
Live Stand-Up Comedy at the Glee Club
Jane Shields
The Glee Club is a friendly venue with tables for guests and a wide selection of food available. The evening started well: we were welcomed by the door staff and shown to our table, which was ...
12 years ago
Live Stand-Up Comedy at the Glee Club
Mayday Mayday
Jane Shields
Mayday Mayday is an exciting blend of comedy, tragedy and hope. The solo performer, Tristan Sturrock fell from a wall in the early hours of 1 May 2004 paralysing his body and fracturing his neck ...
12 years ago
Mayday Mayday
Shakespeare in Performance
Jane Shields
Although I have studied Shakespeare from a literary angle, I had not previously considered the stage or theatrical elements which make up so much of a performance. This show was very informative in ...
12 years ago
Shakespeare in Performance
Oxford Lieder Festival 2011
Jane Shields
The 2011 Oxford Lieder Master Course Participants' Concert comprised nine separate pianist/singer duets. The overall standard of performance was absolutely amazing; it really was a fantastic evening ...
13 years ago
Oxford Lieder Festival 2011
Oxford Lieder Festival 2011
Jane Shields
One of the most important things about music is its inherent subjectivity; one person’s favourite song can be another’s massive headache. It is difficult, in some respects, to review music ...
13 years ago
Oxford Lieder Festival 2011
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet
Jane Shields
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet is performed in the round and features only two actors so it feels very intimate. The North Wall is perfect for this play as the audience can be close enough to the stage to feel ...
13 years ago
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet
The Stoning of Soraya M
Jane Shields
The Stoning of Soraya M is one of the most upsetting, horrific films I have ever seen; made even more powerful as it is true. Soraya was the victim of religion, men and her position as a woman in ...
13 years ago
The Stoning of Soraya M
Mary Blandy's Gallows Tree
Jane Shields
Mary Blandy’s Gallow Tree is based on a true story: Mary Blandy was a murderess hanged in 1752 at Oxford Castle for the murder of her father. She claimed that her lover, Captain Cranstoun, had ...
13 years ago
Mary Blandy's Gallows Tree
Hamlet
Jane Shields
Merton College Chapel was a wonderful setting in most respects for Hamlet. It is slightly eerie already, and on a typically rainy summer’s evening, the light through the windows gave extra ...
13 years ago
Hamlet
The Oxford Revue and Friends
Jane Shields
The Oxford Revue and Friends was an enjoyable evening of comedy including some particularly brilliant sketches. It commenced with the Cambridge Footlights followed by the Durham Revue in the First ...
13 years ago
The Oxford Revue and Friends
Listen To This: The Music Of What Happens
Jane Shields
Listen to this: The Music of What Happens was an interesting evening redefining our ideas and definitions of music. It consisted of four different pieces; Dead End, 124 Milton Street Extract, Plateau ...
13 years ago
Listen To This: The Music Of What Happens
Brideshead Revisited
Jane Shields
Brideshead Revisited was written by Evelyn Waugh in 1945 and was adapted for this stage production by Christina Drollas. It is an unhappy story of alcoholism, religion and disturbed family ...
13 years ago
Brideshead Revisited
Barefoot in the Park
Jane Shields
Barefoot in the Park was written by Neil Simon in 1963 and adapted into a 1967 film starring Jane Fonda. It is based on a newly married couple’s experiences in their first apartment: Corie and Paul ...
13 years ago
Barefoot in the Park
The Oresteia
Jane Shields
Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy is made up of three separate plays, here condensed into a two and a half hour production. The main theme of each play is justice; and whether murder can ever be ...
13 years ago
The Oresteia
Mona and Bea
Jane Shields
This intimate examination of how relationships can evolve portrays the importance of connecting to another person - even if that connection is only made by talking through a wall. The play ...
13 years ago
Mona and Bea
Tale Of Two Friends
Jane Shields
This play was produced and presented by the Oxfordshire Bangladeshi Association and is designed to illustrate the damage violent extremism can cause, not just to an individual but to an entire family ...
13 years ago
Tale Of Two Friends
