REVIEW: Shakespeare: The Man From Stratford
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.
Who'd have though Our Will pinched that from a textbook he used while swotting up on Latin? Turns out he did that rather a lot.
Just one of the many surprising nuggets of information gained during a delightful night out at Simon Callow's latest one man show.
The Man From Stratford is not just a celebration of Shakespeare's work, but a biography.
Callow teamed up with Shakespeare expert Jonathan Bate to create the play, which on the face of it, could have been a stuffy, intellectual nightmare, but instead, it was funny, interesting and most of all, an excellent treat.
This can be mainly put down to the talents of Callow, who put his absolute all into the performance.
He brought to life not just the man himself but countless of his characters, family members, friends and figures from the age. Callow's ability to go from frivolous hilarity to the very depths of emotion is outstanding and how he has not yet received a knighthood is beyond me.
Director Tom Cairns made what could have been a lecture into a performance. Using the simple set, sound, lighting and music to its upmost, you were able to thoroughly concentrate on the dialogue without becoming distracted, yet what was there was creative and effective.
I would recommend this show to anyone, student, scholar, or someone more used to the likes of West End musicals.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wakefield
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
