Swan Theatre Archives - North West End UK

9Jul

By Holly SewellNo Comments

London

The Constant Wife – Swan Theatre

W. Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife, written and set nearly half a century after A Doll’s House, transforms Ibsen’s critiques of marriage into a sparkling 1920s comedy of manners. It’s hard not to compare with Ibsen’s masterpiece, but the purpose here is different: less a rallying cry, more a pragmatic question. What should you do if your perfect husband has an affair? The eponymous Constance is married to the right kind of man, with the right kind of job, in the right kind of house. Unfortunately, the man in question is having an affair with Constance’s best friend. By a stroke of (bad?) luck, Constance catches the two of them in the act - but decides to keep it to herself. Over the course of the next year, she hatches a plan to gain economic independence from her husband in secret...

Titus Andronicus – Swan Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon

Director Max Webster arrives In Stratford to direct his first production for the Royal Shakespeare Company hot on the heels of recent critical and popular success with Macbeth at the Donmar and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at the National Theatre. For his debut with the company he has given us a glorious interpretation of ‘Titus Andronicus’ which, whilst sparing none of the blood and gore associated with Shakespeare’s bloody revenge tragedy, also manages to encompass the filial love at the heart of the play. The Costume Design by Joanna Scotcher places this ‘Titus’ somewhere in the present; a gorgeous grey-black palette suffuses the stage with long luxuriant coats and smart suits replacing the martial uniform of Imperial Rome. Scotcher also designed the set, the action played out o...

Pericles – Swan Theatre

We all have our off days and I think, amongst learned academics, we can safely agree Shakespeare was having one when he wrote “Pericles”. Not only is it a ramshackled, riotous romp of a plot with some unfathomable coincidences, it also seems Bill is not the only name on the poster. George Wilkins, who I’m sure I don't need to remind you, was a victualler, panderer (Google it), dramatist and pamphleteer, who dripped his quill in the ink pot, too. People better informed then I seem to think the Bard was responsible for the first half before handing over his parchment. Rarely is the play performed, so it’s a gamely director who’ll have a stab at it and the director on this occasion is new RSC co-AD, Tamara Harvey who, eighteen years after the previous production, clearly thought it was time t...