James Sheldon Archives - North West End UK

Much Ado About Nothing – Thomas’s College

9Aug

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Much Ado About Nothing – Thomas’s College

Tom Littler’s staging of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is a true masterclass in how Shakespeare should be performed, adapted and directed: intelligent without becoming academic, emotionally rich without descending into sentimentality, and uproariously funny without ever compromising the text. Presented by the Orange Tree Theatre and Guildford Shakespeare Company in the grounds of Thomas’s College, Richmond, alongside ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, it is an extraordinary theatrical achievement that is brilliant on every level. The production continues the stories of the same characters from ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, but six eventful years later. The original carefree summer of 1939 has been replaced by the summer of 1945, with the surviving men returning from war and the women revisiting the village i...

Love’s Labour’s Lost – Thomas’s College

Tom Littler’s adaptation of ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ is an exceptional theatrical achievement: intelligent, technically accomplished and irresistibly entertaining. Presented by the Orange Tree Theatre and Guildford Shakespeare Company in the grounds of Thomas’s College, Richmond, this glorious open-air production demonstrates precisely how Shakespeare can be made contemporary, immediate and entirely accessible without sacrificing the richness of the original text. The production is performed in repertory with ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, using the same company to connect the two comedies across six eventful years. Although the productions reward being seen together (this is highly recommended), they also stand independently. Having recently played within the grounds of Braboeuf Manor in G...

Pride & Prejudice – Hull Truck Theatre

On Tuesday evening, make-up intact, I took my front row seat at the Hull Truck Theatre to watch a performance of Pride & Prejudice. Nearly three hours later, at the show’s end, I had acquired panda eyes and could have kicked myself for not wearing waterproof mascara. The person responsible for my facial demise? Ben Fensome. In this Jane Austin classic, made extra famous by the TV series starring Colin Firth (who could forget that wet shirt scene), Fensome has a dual role - that of dashing soldier Mr Wickham and ingratiating clergyman, Mr Collins. It’s his portrayal of the latter that caused my tears of mirth. Tall and slim, every move he made in his all-black apparel had the audience in stitches. But it was his rubbery facial expressions that did the damage to my face. Y...