Category Archives: Performance Reviews

The Globe’s performance of Titus Andronicus certainly opens up a lot of questions about society, especially war and violence. However, it also emphasized violence against and their reactions to this violence, which brought out important aspects of the role of … Continue reading →

Critics remain unsure whether or not All’s Well That Ends Well can be categorized as a comedy due to the seemingly unhappy end for Bertram at the hands of the manipulative Helena. A director of this play can choose to … Continue reading →

King Lear is a long play. Because there are 300 lines cut from the Quarto to the Folio (with only 100 of those lines replaced), we know that even Shakespeare thought King Lear was too long. The best evidence for … Continue reading →

Even during the interval of King Lear, I knew that I would be writing my performance review about Edmund. His character interested me the most; largely because the production’s interpretation of him was so different from what I’d anticipated. My expectations … Continue reading →

Sam Mendes’s long running production of King Lear does not shy away from showing the grisly realities of being a character in a Shakespearean tragedy. While ultimately faithful to the original dialogue that Shakespeare wrote, the production takes it’s liberties … Continue reading →

Throughout The National’s production of King Lear, I was captivated with the idea of the three daughters as three very distinct female archetypes – the bitch, the whore, and the innocent. King Lear’s eldest daughter, Goneril, is obviously depicted as … Continue reading →

As fictionalized drama, Titus Andronicus claims no historical foundation. However, set within an imaginary, Late Antiquity Rome, the play pulls on literary elements defining Rome for Early Modern audiences and still relevant in the modern day. This past winter term, … Continue reading →

Sunil Shanbag’s version of All’s Well That Ends Well in Gujarati incorporated many traditional Bollywood aspects such as singing, dancing, music, and a critique of some parts of Western culture.  Due to the play being performed in a language which … Continue reading →

Sam Mendes’ adaption of King Lear takes a fatalistic approach to the tale of a devolving king, lessening the burden of tragedy that accompanies the play. The absurdity of King Lear throughout the performance within his actions and responses to … Continue reading →

King Lear was definitely the performance I had been looking forward to most. I’m quite familiar with the play and was even in a production my freshmen year of college. All that familiarity, of course, meant that I had a … Continue reading →