ArtwordBlog

Month: January 2019

  • Playing Real Good for Free

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    Ronald Weihs

    One of the pleasures of our 10-day stay in Lisbon was the quality of the street music all over the city. Best of all was a really fine ensemble from Cabo Verde playing near the waterfront, Nôs Raíz. We listened to their concert for about 40 minutes and bought a CD, which turns out to…

  • RSC: Kathryn Hunter’s Timon of Athens

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    Ronald Weihs

    Kathryn Hunter in Timon of Athens, photo by Simon Annand When Judith and I  learned that the Royal Shakespeare was doing Timon of Athens this winter, with Kathryn Hunter in the lead role, we were more than excited. Kathryn Hunter is a remarkable actor. She is known for her powerful stage presence, her prowess as…

  • RSC: Tartuffe in Birmingham

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    Ronald Weihs

    Tartuffe (played by Asif Khan) takes a selfie. The RSC’s new version of Molière’s Tartuffe is a remarkable piece of work. It transports the plot to Birmingham, and sets it in a Pakistani Muslim household. Tartuffe is a fake holy man, who has gained influence over Imran Pervais, and is imposing his fundamentalist version of…

  • Richard II at the Almeida: the real Beale

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    Ronald Weihs

    It was with great anticipation that I went to the Almeida to see Simon Russell Beale in The Tragedy of Richard II. He had been a brilliant Timon of Athens at the National in 2012, in a startling production by Nicholas Hyntner that connected Shakespeare’s stark fable to the Occupy movement and Wall Street corruption.…