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Post by Jan on Apr 21, 2022 6:51:47 GMT
There doesn't seem to be a single play by a near-contemporary of Shakespeare (Marlowe, Jonson, Middleton, Webster, Dekker, Kyd etc.) scheduled anywhere in UK at any time in 2022. Am I right ? I can't remember a similar occasion like this in the last 40 years. This seems extraordinary dereliction of duty by the subsidised sector in general and in particular the NT and especially the RSC. No Ancient Greek plays either as far as I can see. And the NT's "The Rivals" adaptation one of the very few pre-1800 dramas. It demonstrates the increasing lack of diverse programming in the subsidised sector.
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Post by joem on Apr 21, 2022 7:57:02 GMT
I blame the Marlowe Society - they're putting on Shakespeare! You are right, the only other playwright getting a look-in is Fletcher at the Globe, but that's only because he co-wrote Henry VIII with Shakespeare.
I'm afraid that a knowledge of the history of our theatre and the traditions it is built on increasingly does not seem to be important, as though things just emerged and did not develop. You don't need to be in thrall to this tradition in order to understand it. In years to come the RSC will probably be neither R nor S.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Apr 21, 2022 8:42:14 GMT
Pity for the lack of Johnson plays in his 450th birthday
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Post by Jan on Apr 21, 2022 8:58:43 GMT
Pity for the lack of Johnson plays in his 450th birthday Good point - I didn’t realise that. His plays are difficult to do, only big subsidised venues can really do them well - all the more reason why they should. Even Fletcher at the Globe is having to share a writing credit not only with Shakespeare but also with a contemporary writer they’ve brought in to adapt his work. |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Apr 21, 2022 9:00:06 GMT
Pity for the lack of Johnson plays in his 450th birthday Good point - I didn’t realise that. His plays are difficult to do, only big subsidised venues can really do them well - all the more reason why they should. Yeah I was expecting something from RSC |
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Post by Jan on Apr 21, 2022 9:04:20 GMT
Good point - I didn’t realise that. His plays are difficult to do, only big subsidised venues can really do them well - all the more reason why they should. Yeah I was expecting something from RSC As the Swan is closed till at least 2023 they won’t be doing anything. |
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Post by lynette on Apr 21, 2022 13:49:08 GMT
Does seem a shame espesh as Jonson was so generous in his acclaim of Shakespeare. Volpone and The Alchemist are always ‘relevant’ and very funny. Maybe nobody in theatre world has noticed.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Apr 21, 2022 14:19:20 GMT
We are still only in April. Many theatres haven't announced their full programmes for the year. There is still time.
There is bound to be a Faustus somewhere....
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Post by Jan on Apr 21, 2022 15:09:37 GMT
We are still only in April. Many theatres haven't announced their full programmes for the year. There is still time. There is bound to be a Faustus somewhere.... More likely than there being a Jew of Malta I suppose but still very unlikely I’d say. The Massacre at Paris would be my preferred option. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Apr 21, 2022 16:15:30 GMT
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Post by Jan on Apr 22, 2022 6:21:30 GMT
Proves my point  Baron's Court continuing their tradition of staging extreme rarities that no other theatre in the country would touch - last time I was there it was for Ibsen's "Olaf Liljekrans". |
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Post by Jan on May 5, 2022 17:16:14 GMT
We are still only in April. Many theatres haven't announced their full programmes for the year. There is still time. There is bound to be a Faustus somewhere.... You are quite right. There is one at Southwark Playhouse in September. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on May 5, 2022 22:31:21 GMT
But as an adaptation not clear how close it will be to either of the texts
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Post by Jan on May 6, 2022 6:40:45 GMT
But as an adaptation not clear how close it will be to either of the texts True, but at least it's something. It is the 400th anniversary of Molière's birth this year too and except for a single one-off rehearsed reading I'm not aware of any productions of his work this year either. It's a bit of an insult really, surely one of our subsidised venues could have partnered with a French theatre to bring us something at least. |
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Post by lichtie on May 6, 2022 7:08:37 GMT
But as an adaptation not clear how close it will be to either of the texts True, but at least it's something. It is the 400th anniversary of Molière's birth this year too and except for a single one-off rehearsed reading I'm not aware of any productions of his work this year either. It's a bit of an insult really, surely one of our subsidised venues could have partnered with a French theatre to bring us something at least. Birmingham Rep are doing their version of Tartuffe later in the year - the one that played at the Swan in 2019 and was supposed to transfer in 2020. |
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Post by Jan on May 6, 2022 7:35:43 GMT
True, but at least it's something. It is the 400th anniversary of Molière's birth this year too and except for a single one-off rehearsed reading I'm not aware of any productions of his work this year either. It's a bit of an insult really, surely one of our subsidised venues could have partnered with a French theatre to bring us something at least. Birmingham Rep are doing their version of Tartuffe later in the year - the one that played at the Swan in 2019 and was supposed to transfer in 2020. Oh ? Good for them. |
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Post by circelily on May 7, 2022 11:21:13 GMT
Sam Wanamaker will do its part. My favourite winter treat is their annual Jacobean production(s).
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Baron's Court continuing their tradition of staging extreme rarities that no other theatre in the country would touch - last time I was there it was for Ibsen's "Olaf Liljekrans". 