RSC All New Seasons

Yes. It was the second revival of this particular adaptation by David Edgar

As far as I understand Winter is planned by EW and the first season of new AD's will not be until next summer.
EW planned through until March.

Thats my understanding.

So Cymbeline. Pack an overnight bag and take snacks. Also take your own water as RSC charges £4 for a small bottle. Wear comfortable clothes. Pee before the show. These precautions are required because this production is very loooooooooooooooong. The first third is looooooooong, there is a 15 min interval and then the second third is about 40 mins before a 5 minute pause and then third part goes on and on and on and on …ended at about five to 11. In the old days, I would have missed the bus back to Brum.
Nicely done, the story is clear, set simple, the performances what you expect, trad RSC make ‘em think you understand what you are saying stuff. But o boy did it need a blue pencil and bit of that old fashioned chutzpah that Barton had when he used to write bits in to explain the plots, thus being about to cut a load of, let’s be honest, less than understandable and un dramatic blah. ( Willie, you know I love ya but even you would have been shuffling in your seat and begging for a drink last night )
Odd play, isnt it? Very funny, reconciling and merciful end with justice done, baddies dead. But what is done to the main characters is truly horrific and the stakes are high. If it were the only Willie play we had, it would never be played.

Let's be honest. There are several other plays by Willie that had they been written by anyone else they would never be played. While he was an undoubted genius I think there is too much reverence and reluctance to say "actually, this one is a bit pants" in some cases or, as you say, a reluctance to take a blue pencil to make them more stageworthy.

I’d forgotten it was the Dustin Hoffman one - that explains why I didn’t see it, the ticket prices were crazy. When Hoffman approached Hall it was to play Hamlet - it took all of Hall’s considerable diplomatic skills to steer him towards Shylock instead.

It is the third longest play, only Hamlet and Coriolanus have more lines. That means it’s longer than King Lear and Othello both of which can run close to 4hrs. Usually though it is heavily cut with no adverse effect but I assume Doran in his plodding way is using close to the full text.

So I went up to Stratford after nearly 4 years to see Gregory Doran’s last hurrah with Cymbeline.

Firstly, it is long and it is felt in the first part running at 1 hour 30 minutes

It’s not helped by a cast of mixed performances. Some act like they’re in different productions. At times it livens proceedings. Alexandra Gilbreath and Conor Glean ham it up as the villainous Queen and clumsy Cloten whilst others played it straight

Jamie Wilkes was the standout in the first part as Iachimo. He owned the stage with his debonair performance. I’ve seen him in Shakespeare productions before and he knows how to deliver the verse.

Which unfortunately exposed Ed Sayer’s flat and pedestrian delivery as Posthumus. When he and Wilkes are on it’s like night and day. No real feeling when he has to show anguish or despair either. More performative

Amber James is better as Imogen but she doesn’t convince as this graceful, chaste princess. She could also do with speaking up in the main theatre. So when you’ve got a first part that centres around these two lovers you do feel that hour and 30 minutes go by.

The senior actors fare better with Peter de Jersey as Cymbeline and Mark Hadfield giving a nuanced performance as Pisanio. Other bright spots include Jake Mann as the suspicious doctor and Theo Ogundipe looking commanding in Roman armour

It’s the second part where things really settle down and the best scenes are found between Christian Patterson, Scott Gutteridge and Daf Thomas as the exiled Belarus and the missing sons. All performing off each other and giving natural and engaging performances. Just how Shakespeare should be performed. I could watch a show with those three any day. Except for an unnecessary song the lads sing untunefully. Even Amber James fared better with them pretending to be a boy

Good production values taking inspiration from that sun installation the Tate Modern had ages ago.

And you get a recording of Patrick Stewart playing Jupiter as a bonus

Overall I enjoyed myself by the end but there are problems here and there. 3.5 stars

This is a valuable experiment according to the acting AD. Having stand-alone companies is a good thing. Doing away with the ensemble ethos is a good thing.

Who cares about budgets when someone else is paying?

We are very close to the end of her time in charge. We have to hope for a return to a management that celebrates Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as nurturing quality new writing through top quality productions guided by experienced and talented directors. How things used to be done before the current regime took over.

When the NT switched from rep to single runs they said it was cheaper so it probably is in principle but they don’t run plays for 4 weeks followed by 2 weeks with the theatre dark.

I see Doran has a book out celebrating his achievement of directing or producing all the First Folio plays during his time as AD. Which he failed to do actually.

A correction. It seems Doran’s book covers his entire career. He describes how his own production of Henry VIII was his lucky break (it was pretty good). Maybe he also explains why he missed that play out of his “complete” cycle as AD.

www.amazon.co.uk/My-Shakespeare-Directors-Journey-through/dp/1350330191

I think some weekends have two plays on the go, so Hamnet and Cymbeline. I know Merchant and Macbeth in the autumn coincide. But I agree, the town desperately needs influx of money. I was shocked how many vacant shops there are and how neglected the frontages of the shops are. Covid did for many such places but it really shows there in the small central area. Thank goodness they spruced up the area by the river when they did. Some people have complained about a Gummies shop which is painted a lurid pink. I’m no gummies fan and I expect it won’t be there for long but at least someone is making an effort to make money, make a business. The M&S which I know our American ladies go to for their for their knickers has lamentable stock of women’s clothes, none of the trendy stuff on sale online or in London stores. I think they have def dropped the ball there, theatre and town. But the last two I have seen, Tempest and Cymbeline, are good productions, the problem is they need sensational productions. Let’s hope the two new guys get something going before Shakespeare gets woked.