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“All The World’s A Stage”. Mollie Pigott reflects on the RSC’s production of As You Like It (Shakespeare: Perspectives Trip 2019)

“All The World’s A Stage”

Director Kimberley Sykes combines pantomime, audience interaction, puppetry and musical elements to create a fantastical, almost Brechtian approach to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s current production of As You Like It.

A photo from the RSC’s current production of As You Like It. Photo from: https://www.rsc.org.uk/as-you-like-it/production-photos

For the past eleven weeks, I’ve constantly been reminded in lectures and seminars that Shakespeare’s plays are texts that were written with the intention to be performed on a stage, not to be read in a classroom. My Shakespeare: Perspectives module’s two-day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon proved that there’s more to the Bard’s plays than just text to be analysed. Shakespeare’s plays offer escapism, a chance to get away from reality with friends or family and I was lucky enough to escape to the Forest of Arden in the most recent production of As You Like It.  Continue reading ““All The World’s A Stage”. Mollie Pigott reflects on the RSC’s production of As You Like It (Shakespeare: Perspectives Trip 2019)”

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Sci-fic for a realist: ‘we need it now more than ever’. Annice White reflects on the Terra Two Anthology Launch #YorkLiteratureFestival

Terra Two Anthology Launch with special guest Temi Oh

“The note that I took from this morning’s launch was that exploration into exploration of space is often an exploration into the self.” Annice White reflects on the Terra Two Anthology launch earlier this year on 16th March 2019.

As a fan of realist fiction, currently researching fictional representations of the Yorkshire Ripper, I would not call myself a science fiction fan. However, when York Literature Festival advertised their spec-fiction day I thought I’d step out of comfort zone and see what sci-fi is all about.

Before today I had this notion that Sci-fi is about things that don’t or wouldn’t happen. However, as I learnt today, it isn’t that the things in sci-fi aren’t real, it’s that we don’t want them to be. Continue reading “Sci-fic for a realist: ‘we need it now more than ever’. Annice White reflects on the Terra Two Anthology Launch #YorkLiteratureFestival”

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All’s Well That Ends Well Review YISF @Friargate Theatre

By Charlotte Crawshaw

Thursday 9th May saw the opening of the York International Shakespeare Festival, kicking off with the fantastic performance of ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’ at the Friargate Theatre. Director Paul Burbage provided an interesting and modern take on the performance, in the note from Burbage  he said ‘with a little fine-tuning, a surprisingly contemporary voice emerges’ which he succeeded with.

            Even before the performance began the take on the performance was very interesting, as the players were introduced to the audience as people working on the set. It was really interesting to be able to see all of the players before the performance actually begun. The set itself was minimalist, yet impressive and immersive. The set consisted of two tables, which moved around the stage periodically as the scenes changed. The seating in the theatre draw the members of the audience in, making everyone feel involved in the performance.

Continue reading “All’s Well That Ends Well Review YISF @Friargate Theatre”

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The Problem with “Social Progress”: LGBT History Should Teach Us To Challenge The Present, Not Assume Everything Is Sorted

Inspired by responses to the recent National Theatre Live production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Adam Kirkbride contemplates the dangers that arise when we assume the problems of the past are no longer visited upon the present.

Continue reading “The Problem with “Social Progress”: LGBT History Should Teach Us To Challenge The Present, Not Assume Everything Is Sorted”