Last night I went to see Shakespeare’s Richard II by Scena Mundi at St Bartholomew the Great church in London. A stunning setting and an exceptional performance. Richard II is a wonderful play and it will be the focus of a chapter of my planned book on Shakespeare and territory. (You can listen to the audio recording of a lecture I gave on the play at Purchase College, SUNY in April 2015 here). The space of the church was used to very good effect in this performance, and I thought Pip Brignall as Richard and Graham Pountney as John of Gaunt, the Bishop and the Gardener were especially good.
The play is paired with Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II in a season on ‘sad stories of the death of kings’. I’ll be going to Edward II later this month. The audience was very small, and the company deserved much better. If you’re in London, do pay them a visit – highly recommended.
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Thank you very much for your posts regarding Shakespeare and territory which I have been following, but all too casually. I think I’ll engage more fully now, after having seen the “Shakespeare in the Ruins” outdoor production of Antony and Cleopatra yesterday at the old St Norbert monastery site in Winnipeg. The production is set in the Metis territory of Red River as the indigenous populations are being dispossessed by the fur traders of the Hudson’s Bay Company and is very resonant in the shadow of the recent report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Thx again and here are 2 links about the production that might be of interest.SL
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/The-Bard-marries-Metis-history-in-Antony-and-Cleopatra-wedding–306050921.html
http://www.shakespeareintheruins.com/whats-on/antony-and-cleopatra/
Thanks – interesting!