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Shakespeare out in the open
Illyria in full swing
[Illyria]
ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MARIA DUARTE review On The Sea, A Useful Ghost, Brunello: The Gracious Visionary, and Pinocchio Unstrung
RON JACOBS enjoys a great tale, told by a US communist, of the lives of working-class New Yorkers
BRENT CUTLER searches a new history of contemporary Iran for an understanding of the Islamic Republic, finding both interesting detail and glaring omissions
MARIA DUARTE recommends the true story of the remarkable woman who sued Donald Trump for sexual assault not once, but twice
KENNY MacASKILL is disappointed by a polemical, rather than factual, account of the Lone Star State and its political path since the civil war
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by the lives of Charles and Mary Bagot, and the insight this biography shines on the morals of pre-Victorian society
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Illyria Theatre — Winterbourne House and Gardens, Birmingham and touring
TO DELIVER a full Shakespeare play outdoors among the huge blowing trees, with all parts played by just five actors, should be commendation enough, but director Oliver Gray has inserted unexpected drama, interpretation and characterisation.
Tonight's audience at Winterbourne House and Gardens, were treated to a fresh and original professional production and responded with an applause so loud it drowned the inclement wind.
This was intimate theatre with pace — breathless, actually — and loud energetic voices projected to this audience of 400+ worked to perfection. There was never time to lapse into wondering what was going to happen next.
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