All entries for Saturday 10 February 2007

February 10, 2007

Henry VI Part 1 @ The Courtyard Theatre

Last night’s trip was a jolly really- a third viewing of the first part of Michael Boyd’s ‘Henry VI’ trilogy, just for fun! I’d really wanted to see all three ‘Henries’ and ‘Richard III’ in sequence, but timing hasn’t allowed, and I’m sure I’ll get the chance in 2008 when the company play eight history plays in sync!

Yet again, it was wonderful, and the company seemed to be enjoying themselves, which I suppose is an imperative when you’re required to perform three different plays the following day! It was lovely to see the Courtyard relatively full as well, which hasn’t happened very often so far.

It’s all coming to a big climax now, with the end of the Festival in just over a month. ‘Richard III: An Arab Tragedy’ and the London production of ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ await this week, then the week after sees the Polish work-in-progress production of ‘Macbeth’ and the big Sonnet project, ‘Nothing Like The Sun’. The last play in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, ‘Coriolanus’, finishes off February, followed three days later in the Swan by Cheek By Jowl’s excellent Russian ‘Twelfth Night’. We then drop to one play a week, seeing ‘As You Like It’, ‘Venus and Adonis’ and a repeat viewing of ‘The Tempest’ in quick succession. Then I pop off to Edinburgh for a few days, and return for a final pair of big-hitters, ‘The Merchant Of Venice’ and ‘King Lear’, which I’m seeing on the 30th of March.

I haven’t actually thought about what I’m going to do with this blog when the Festival finishes. I enjoy writing it, and I have plans to start going to productions further afield (which I can’t really justify at the moment thanks to the amount I’m spending at the RSC!), so it may turn into a more general theatre-going blog. Anyway, that’s something to think about nearer the time!


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Peter Kirwan is Teaching Associate in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at the University of Nottingham and a reviewer of Shakespearean theatre for several academic journals.


The Bardathon is his experimental review blog, covering productions of (or based on) all early modern plays. The aim is to combine immediate reactions with the detail and analysis of the academic review.


Theatre criticism always needs more voices. Please comment with your own views and contributions!

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  • I think you may be over analysing. Wasn't it just meant to be a bit of a history lesson? I remember … by Sue on this entry
  • Very interesting and commendable, it'll be great to see some more of the plays given this attention.… by on this entry
  • The lack of venture in the filming is probably due to NBC Universal being onboard. They provided the… by Duncan on this entry
  • I have been watching the Hollow Crown and i have enjoyed it very much, the acting i think has been v… by Carole Heath on this entry
  • I know what you mean Steve, and it's a reading I appreciate theoretically, but I felt that Part 1 re… by on this entry

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