Review: Romeo and Juliet
Completeness is just one reason to cherish this clean-driven clear-headed production
Genre: Classical and Shakespeare 0
Review: Twelfth Night
Tamsin Greig’s extremes as Malvolia mark the first intimations of the terrible and define this production. The ground’s shifted.
Review: The Winter’s Tale
Far more than a curate’s egg, this production reveals things we’ve never seen
Review: Hamlet
In Michelle Terry’s quicksilver, quick-quipping Hamlet, much has been proved, from interpretive to gender fluidity in tragic action, that sets a privilege on being in at a beginning.
Review: Women Beware Women
A stylish, timely production which redefines how we experience Middleton.
Review: The Taming of the Shrew
See it and you’ll never think of the Shrew without this groundbreaking stab at the dreams of men.
Review: The Duchess of Malfi
The scalpel and scruple of class and coolness breaks into tragedy and gifts us three outstanding moments
Review: Richard III
This production could draw out the poison of being dead serious in terminal bursts of laughter
Review: As You Like It
For Lucy Phelps and Sophie Khan Levy above all, this is a joyful As You Like It.
Review: All’s Well That Ends Well
Hannah Morrish’s Helena shines in this achingly desperate, quietly beautiful production.
Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
This surely is the greatest Dream since Peter Brook’s landmark 1970 production.
Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A carnival riot of joy – with enough misdirection to evoke moonshine
Review: As You Like It
A heartwarming revival. Jack Laskey, Bettrys Jones and Nadia Nadarajah have made a space for this As You Like It well beyond its initial moment last year.
Review: Romeo and Juliet – One Man Musical
A bravura and daring interpretation of this Shakespeare classic
Review: The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys and The Laments
In nearly every way an outstanding pair of productions.
Review: The Flies
There’s nothing like the Exchange’s approach: their bi-lingual virtuosity burns questions.
Review: Henry IV Part 2 or Falstaff
The triumph of this newly-energized production is bringing the darker Falstaff to a diverse audience
Review: Henry IV Part 1 or Hotspur
A soaring remix of how the play settles a succession on congealed blood.
Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Enormous clarity, much heart and more than a pinch of magic. With marvellous singing.
Review: Return to the Forbidden Planet
It’s a must-see. Whatever warp factors you have to go through.
Review: Caliban’s Codex
a superbly realised piece, vying with Carding’s own outstanding Quintessence.
Review: Creditors
We’re unlikely to see a better production of this still rarely-performed disturber of ourselves.
Review: Miss Julie
It’s unlikely we’ll get a cleaner version, or a more absorbing production any time soon
Review: The Lady From the Sea
A groundbreaking production. Even outside its unique terms it’s outstanding.
Review: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Sparkling, a sassy, sexy, sure-footed revival. On its own terms, could it really be bettered?
Review: Romeo and Juliet
This Romeo and Juliet has all the pace and heart any production, modern-dress or period, demands. Karen Fishwick’s radiant Juliet is the soul that imprints itself on it.
Review: Antony and Cleopatra
Supremely worth it to see a pair so famous weighing equal in their own balance, perhaps for the first time.
Review: The Little French Lawyer
Make friends with this troubling, deeply fascinating, vitally sour play.
Review: Measure for Measure
The most thoughtful and thought-provoking recreation of a Shakespeare play this year.
Review: Antony and Cleopatra
Supremely worth it to see these characters weighing equal in their own balance, perhaps for the first time.
Review: The Wits
Exhilarating and fresh, this comedy shows just how singular Davenant is, deserving full-scale revival. You’d go far to find as spirited and sure-footed a cast as this.
Review: The Merry Wives of Seoul
Refreshing, engaging take on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Review: Romeo and Juliet
This Romeo and Juliet has all the pace and heart any production, modern-dress or period, demands. Karen Fishwick’s radiant Juliet is the soul that imprints itself on it.
Review: Believe As You List
A work rich in a few characters and poignant recognitions touching some of Massinger’s greatest. It’s the larky stoic Berecinthius though, who adds a dimension to the Caroline stage.
Review: Hamlet
In Michelle Terry’s quicksilver, quick-quipping Hamlet, much has been proved, from interpretive to gender fluidity in tragic action, that sets a privilege on being in at a beginning.
Review: The Merchant of Venice
Exceptional in many things, it’s almost a classic production and definitely worth a detour for.
Review: As You Like It
A ripping discovery, a spontaneity and transparent skin to the process makes this thrilling. An As You Like It for the moment, certainly. But a moment of change.
Review: The Winter’s Tale
If Sicilia and its dense expressive syntax could rise elsewhere, this might be altogether remarkable. As it is, enjoy its slow burn.
Review: The Comedy of Errors
This is a light-footed, thump-fisted, limp-wristed and eye-poppingly uproarious production.
Review: Sir Thomas More
This the second RND this year easily maintains the bar set so high by Eastward Ho! It’s fleet, superbly characterised in major parts but inevitably John Hopkins takes the palm for centring a superbly-realized portrayal.
Review: The Two Noble Kinsmen
We’re looking at a bright Book of Hours. Barrie Rutter’s done it profound service, adding a warmth and agency that opens up this pageant. This is hopefully just the first of many such he’ll bring to the Globe.
Review: The String Quartet’s Guide to Sex and Anxiety
A melange of music, spoken word and performance, musing on mental health.
Review: The Tempest
A superb, fleet outdoor Tempest. What it has to lack in quiet subtlety, it more than makes up in fleet humour with dispatch, keen wit, warmth, and truth.
Review: She Wolf
So what did Harvey Weinstein and the fifteenth century European ruling classes have in common? Exactly. A lot. English has achieved a phenomenal amount. She co-ordinates everything as she directs and manages her own minimal props.
Review: Eastward Ho!
This is one of the most exuberant and superbly orchestrated Read Not Deads I’ve seen.
Review: Macbeth
There’s a visceral intent and bravery, a willingness to tear though every received nostrum, some wild use of the revolve with an admittedly frantic cast trying to catch a magic roundabout, that suggests something magnificent could be made of it all. The rationale’s an urgent one: in a post-Trump post-Brexit post-climate-refugee state we could even be looking at this world soon.
Review: The Way of the World
A triumphant revival. What’s striking isn’t just the clockwork plotting but the amplitude, even insouciant luxury Congreve allows his characters to unfold in. It comes together in this rich, endlessly self-fascinated masterpiece from a master of self-effacement.
