Page 17 - Isolation Guide: LEP Special E-mag Supplement

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LANCASHIRE POST wvm.lep.co.uk Spring 2020
Hugh Quarshie as Othello and Joanna Vanderham as Desdemona in the RSC's production {photo: Keith Pattison) with (below right circle) David Troughton in RSC’s Titus Andronicus (photo: Helen Maybanks)
1TWELFTH NIGHT
National Theatre, London, streaming April 23 to 30
A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin
brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins awhirlwind ofmistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households ofOlivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia’s upright housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible. The production stars Tamsin Greig, who came to widespread prominence thanks to acclaimed performances in television comedies including Black Books and Green Wing,
but who has been winning plaudits for her stage work for many years, winning one Laurence Olivier Award and being nominated for two others.
Details: Stream free ofcharae
from the National Theatre Live channel on YouTube
2HAMLET
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, streaming now
Your dad’s dead. You think your uncle killed him.
And now your uncle has shacked up with your mum. What do you do? That’s the predicament into which young Hamlet is thrust in what is widely held to be the greatest play ever written. From its booming, luminous opening to its wild and mad conclusion, this is a boldly confident and sure-footed effort. Director Simon Godwin has transported
the setting from a chill Denmark to a torrid west African kingdom in broadly contemporary times, and this vision is realised to glorious effect. At its centre, though somehow detached, is Paapa Essiedu’s sharp and searing Hamlet, an attractive and sympathetic outsider. Details: Streamfrom marquee, tv, currently offering 30-dayfree trial
Paapa Essiedu in the RSC's Hamlet (photo: Manuel Harlan)
3ROMEO AND JULIET
Shakespeare’s Globe, London, streaming April 20 to May 3
Dominic Dromgoole’s‘2009 production brings a new clarity to one ofShake­ speare’s most famous and best-loved tragedies.
Details: Streamfreefrom the Shakespeare's Globe channel on YouTube
4OTHELLO
Royal Shakespeare
Company, Stratford- upon-Avon, streaming now
Iqbal Khans
groundb­
reaking
production of
Othello was the
first attheRSCto
cast a black actor, Lucian
Msamati, as lago. It adds
an intriguing dimension
to this racially-charged political and romantic
thril ler. Othello, a heroic and for the most part dignified general in the Venetian army, secretlv marries his beloved
Desdemona; lago exploits this love to exact revenge on Othello who, until it’s too late, remains convinced that “honest lago” is a trustworthy man.
Details: Stream from marquee, tv, currently offering 30-dayfree trial
5 TITUS ANDRONICUS Royal Shakespeare Theatre,
Stratford-upon-Avon, streaming now
There’s tragedy upon tragedy,
death upon death, blood
and more blood. But
Blanche McIntyre’s is
fullofcomedy too - which
has the effect of making the horror
all the more horrifying. key to its success is David
Troughton, whose Titus brings an emotional gravity to a play that in lesser hands can bean empty gorefest. Details: Streamfrom marquee, tv, currently offering 30-dayfree trial
Doon Mackichan as Feste and Tamsin Greig as Malvolia in the National Theatre’s production (photo: Marc Brenner)