Two Noble Kinsmen - Globe

Oooh, very tempted despite my dislike of the Globe - one I don't think I've seen, unless I'm failing to connect title with storyline.

Saw it at the RSC last January, not as poor as its reputation but needs a creative director.

I love a nice bit of Fletcher. Saw this years ago at the Globe and found it pretty tolerable.

Rutter can’t direct for toffee as far as I am concerned. I was going to add he can’t act either but that’s not strictly true - he can’t act in comedy. No matter how many times he plays Falstaff he always comes across as very cold on stage, no link or empathy with the audience. At least here we’re spared the ultimate nadir which is when he directs something he’s in himself.

Seen the play a couple of times. A very good RSC one years ago with Gerard Murphy and Hugh Quarshie and again more recently at the White Bear. It can work if done well.

Have to agree JB, he was a v poor Lear recently. I am however going to the adaption of Aurung-Zeb in the AWP but only because it is such a rare outing.

I have only seen one of Rutter's productions - his version of Medea. When he had his title character say 'Oh just f*** off Jason', I rather gave up on his direction. I know the translation was by Tom Paulin - but any director with a real sense of drama and the theatre would know that that line would just fail with a modern audience. And it utterly did. The last thing you need in a production of Medea is the audience giggling at the title character.

Ok, that is only one outing - but enough for me to be cautious about seeing any of work in the future - particularly with play as difficult as TNK.

'Bout time they sorted out that floor. Should be porous nut casing and stuff.

Enjoyed This, this afternoon, if a bit baffled for first ten mins or so having not seen it before. Good groundlings queue chats, including some returnees in the post Emma Rice era who seemed very much to just want to return to traditional practise and not a woman in sight (on stage that Is) and therefore most dubious as to why you'd gender swap or even why a woman would want to play a male role, I suggested there were a lot more of them and some great roles so why wouldn't you want to play them but cut no ice.

I swear the stage is higher than when I first started going, I can't have shrunk that much can I?!

Limited audience uptake in final dancing, disappointing, I do like a dance in the anonymity of the theatre.

They do concessions for disabled people. They also waive the booking fee for disabled people

There are a lot of restricted view tickets due to the pillars of the building, but they are generally fine and you miss very little. Avoid the two blocks at the side of the stage though.

Plus you can get top price tickets for £20 up to 11th June for Two Noble Kinsmen - www.theatremonkey.com/CURRENTSPECIALOFFERS.htm#Shrew

Well. Although I've always loved it, I couldn't be faffed standing about in the yard for this one so I splashed out in the gallery. In my defence, the queue in the toilet was rather long. Fnar fnar. It was lucky I did because a pigeon decided to defecate on some poor people in the yard during the first act which was most amusing.

I rather enjoyed the play as it happens. It's not one I've ever seen before and I found it rather straightforward for a Shakespeare play, not too much fannying around elsewhere with superfluous characters and just getting on with the story. Came in at under 2.5 hours including an interval with a nice glass of wine so job well done although I don't think I've ever seen the Globe so empty, it can't even have been half full.

The cast were good on the whole, Bryan Dick (no, it's just too easy) and Paul Stocker were great as the duelling double act of Arcite and Palamon (Stocker in particular was great) and they had a pair of lovely jackets, although personally I wouldn't have put Bryan in a beige vest. There was also a really rather lovely performance from Andy Cryer as the Jailer and I thought I recognised the camp chap playing Pirithous, turns out to be the fellow from 'Kinky Boots' sans boots. Mayo Akandé looks glorious in a couple of nice frocks and sounds like she's just stepped out of 'Doctor Finlay's Casebook' which is fun and there's a fair bit of comic mugging from Francesca Mills which means that her mad scenes don't really seem particularly mad and aren't as affecting as they could be. Some glorious scene stealing from Jos Vantyler though, pouting for all he's worth and his Gerald is the absolute highlight of the whole show. Loved how he treats the final song and jig as his own too. Never mind that Jane from 'Dinnerladies' is hanging around at the back, it's Jos' show. The final song is rather lovely before they go into a bit off morris dancing too.

But did they have banjos in Elizabethan times? Bet the anti-Emma Rice brigade aren't complaining about that. And I spied some lights at the top of the stage. Sneaky Michelle, very sneaky.