Shakespeare in Love...

Last night Roger, Stuart and I went to see Shakespeare In Love at the Noel Coward Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Q: What’s Shakespeare in Love about then?
A: Well, it’s about 3 hours. (ha ha.)

Being the transfer of the multi Oscar-winning film to the stage we begin our story as promising young playwright Will Shakespeare is tormented by writer’s block. Soon he finds his muse in the form of passionate noblewoman, Viola De Lesseps. Their forbidden love draws many others, including Queen Elizabeth, into the drama and inspires Will to write the greatest love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet. Oh, and there's a bit with a dog.

Shakespeare in Love is still in previews so perhaps we should give it some benefit of the doubt but I found it dragged somewhat. Yes, there were some funny moments (the boat taxi for instance) but largely the laughs were to be had at the expense of jolting us out our suspended disbelief. Using modern-day expressions and sayings to give us a laugh are all well and good but Shakespearean X-Factor just reeks of pantomime.

Shortening the running time, rewriting with a few more gags and reducing the thirty odd players down to a more manageable twenty or so would do much to tighten up this production.

Overall I'd say it's an overlong but enjoyable romp.

Henry V...

Last week Stuart and I went to see Jude Law perform in Henry V at the Noel Coward Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

The play is a fairly straightforward account of Henry V's attack on the French at the Battle of Agincourt and his subsequent woeing of Catherine of Valois.

Mr Law gave a super performance as the battling king and as a straight history play it's fine. It begins to sparkle however when Shakespeare give full rein to his witty prose in the woeing scene.

This is the last of Michael Grandage's productions at the Noel Coward and I for one will be sorry to see him go.

Much A Doctor Who About Nothing...

"I do love nothing in the world so well as you, is not that strange?"

Last night Stu and I went to the Wyndham's Theatre in London's glitzy West End to see David Tennant and Catherine Tate appear together on stage for the first time in a brand new production of William Shakespeare’s timeless comedy Much Ado About Nothing.

The story tells of two young lovers, Claudio and Hero, who are to be married imminently but the devious scheming of a resentful Prince looks set to thwart the nuptials. Meanwhile, marriage seems inconceivable for reluctant lovers Beatrice (Catherine Tate) and Benedick (David Tennant) whose endless witty sparring threatens to keep them apart forever. And hilarity ensures.

It was a 1980s resetting - which worked surprisingly well. There were subtle references to Miami Vice, Wham!, Kylie and Jason, Princess Diana, and Adam Ant.

We laughed and laughed. OK, there were plenty of modern asides that might shake the Shakespearean purists to their core but we loved it. David Tennant was great. Catherine Tate was brilliant.