ArtwordBlog

Category: Theatre

  • 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.…

  • National Theatre: Consent

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    Ronald Weihs

    Consent at the Harold Pinter Consent is what used to be called a “problem play”, an examination from various perspectives of a current hot topic. The topic in this case: consensual sex versus rape. The characters are almost all lawyers or lawyers wives, except for one: a woman from the working class who has been…

  • Arcola Theatre: Donizetti and Ravel Operas

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    Ronald Weihs

    Opera Alegria poster for Grimeborn Grimeborn is an annual summer series of opera performances by alternative companies, held at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston. This is a chance to hear chamber versions of operas, sung up close and personal by accomplished singers, accompanied by piano or sometimes small ensembles. Sunday, August 5, it was a…

  • Taming of the Shrew, Trinidad Style

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    Ronald Weihs

    Taming of the Shrew by The Oratory Foundation in Stratord upon Avon Strolling along the Avon River on the way to see Miss Littlewood at the Swan, we chanced on an outdoor production of Taming of the Shrew by a little company from Trinidad-Tobago. I was fascinated, and only with regret tore myself away to…