Brighton Festival 2026
Shakespeare’s Sisters
Genre: Classical and Shakespeare, Music
Venue: Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Festival: Brighton Festival
Low Down
A recital combining classical singing with readings from Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, as well as from Harriet Walter’s book She Speaks! (2024)
Review
This concert’s programme brought together songs in the classical tradition, performed by Sophie Bevan (soprano) accompanied by Christopher Glynn (piano) interwoven with readings from Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, as well as from Harriet Walter’s book She Speaks! (2024), performed by Miranda Richardson.
The recital was structured around the persona of each of the Shakespearean female characters, which included Desdemona, Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, the Witches and the fairies – as well as Juliet and her nurse.
The concept of clustering together songs and readings from different eras inspired by the same character was intriguing, and worked well.
There were some issues with the mic crackling during the first couple of readings. After that, it seemed to me as if Miranda Richardson switched to projecting her own voice (or perhaps her mic got replaced). Either way, Miranda’s voice filled the Dome, bringing the spirited Three Witches Rap reading off with aplomb.
The choice for both readings and songs to be performed without being introduced from the stage meant that the audience had to rely on the programme to keep track. This lack of framing left those in the auditorium who prefer to concentrate on the action on the stage potentially perplexed. I trialled listening without the programme during the first half, but concluded that I needed to switch to reading along for the second half.
The songs and readings followed each other in quick succession – so fast, in fact, that I wished for a tiny moment longer between each piece, to allow the echoes of the previous performance to absorb, before the next piece arrived to claim my attention.
As I recall from my training in classical singing, getting the diction so crisp that even the back row can make out the words is an important part of the singer’s craft – as it is for other performers working with language. This meant that I enjoyed the pieces where I could pick out the words that much more.
My personal highlights were Sophie’s delicate and lively rendition of Titania’s Song by Alison Bault, and Mirandra’s reading of Lady Macbeth: It was all talk.
A Very Good show.
