Richard Inverne vigorously approves of Chelsea Walker’s new production of the Tennessee Williams classic, currently running at NST City, Southampton. In a 1975 interview with New York Times columnist Robert Berqvist*, Williams insisted that his plays contained ‘very little’ autobiographical content, although John Lahr’s excellent 2014 biography of the writer, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of…
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In 2014, Mike Poulton adapted Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall novels for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The result was a huge success, garnering such plaudits as ‘As in Mantel’s book, you feel this is history made manifest’ (Michael Billington, The Guardian) and ‘an adaptation that knows exactly when to speak and when to stay silent and…
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In his Guardian obituary of 12 September, Michael Billington suggests that Sir Peter Hall, who has died at the age of 86, was ‘the single most influential figure in modern British theatre.’ As well as leading the RSC and then the National Theatre through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, Hall was a formidable artistic director…
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Did the RSC’s high-tech The Tempest work with or against Shakespeare’s dark, enigmatic comedy? The Tempest apparently premiered with a performance at Whitehall Palace in 1611, performed by the King’s Men before King James I and his court. Whilst we do not know much about this occasion, we can assume that His Majesty was pleased…
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Richard Inverne visits Straford upon Avon, in search of some Comedy by Shakespeare. 1. Putting on Comedy by Shakespeare The FIRST way to enjoy a Shakespeare comedy… is the play has to be put on! What might seem obvious simply wasn’t the case on Tuesday 19 July when arriving in Stratford-upon-Avon for a handful of…
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