Supplying every stage

It’s been a busy time in the theatre world…

Much Ado About Nothing

The Rose Playhouse

 

I’m not sure whether to review this as a play, or what it really was – a joyous celebration.

In celebration of this day with shows

It looks like everyone else is getting very excited about Shakespeare’s 400^th Death-iversary as well as me. I’ll update this post with major events as an when I find out about them so keep watching this space!

Othello

13 February 2015

Twas the night before Valentine’s, and I was off to see a play about sex, jealousy, obsession and death. Probably a good thing I didn’t have a boyfriend to take with me (even if the couple I did go with didn’t seem to have a problem). And it was pissing down with rain, which is more of an issue than you might have been thinking since the Rose isn’t heated (thank god they give out blankets)*.

This busy time

Apologies for being more than usually quiet! Alas, I have had birthdays, house viewings, World War One research and holiday planning to contend with. Plus the day job, shouldn’t forget that…

I will presently pen down my dilemmas

Othello is, apparently, like buses. I am wondering how many times one can see the same play in a very short timespan!

A kingdom for a stage I

So this is the first post in a series – about Shakespeare in London, and the places where his places were originally performed.

Shakespeare must have come to London in the 1580s – by 1592, he was being insulted as an “Upstart Crow” which indicates some level of success (and fame).

There were already a number of purpose-built theatres scattered around the outskirts of London, The Red Lion in Whitechapel was the first, followed by the Theatre (1576) and the Curtain (1577) in Shoreditch, and the Rose at Bankside (1587), the first theatre-house in Southwark. They were built outside the city, as the Mayor and Corporation of London had banned plays as a measure to prevent the plague. It seems likely Shakespeare’s early plays were put on by a number of different companies – the title page of the 1594 edition of Titus Andronicus showed that it had been acted by three different companies.

A rose by any other name

There is going to be a long post on all Shakespeare’s venues soon, I promise. (Part of the problem is that it’s becoming too long – it’s likely going to become a multi-part multimedia event.) But in the meantime you all need to stop what you are doing and go and visit the Rose Theatre in Bankside*.

The Rose’s blue plaque