'Shakespeare in Ten Acts' at the British Library

I went to see the Shakespeare exhibition at the British Library the other day, 'Shakespeare in Ten Acts'. It's based around ten performances of Shakespeare plays that changed the way they were viewed or that changed the history of the plays in some way. It's a novel approach and there was some fascinating stuff there but it was a bit underwhelming. Darkened rooms with everything spotlit seemed a bit, well, odd. The exhibition was book and paper-based which I expected (well, it's in a library after all) with some of the later rooms using video of performances or costumes.

The first exhibit is, of course, one of the prides of the Library - its copy of the First Folio in a glass case opened at the title page with the portrait of William himself. Beside it is a note that says Ben Johnson certified the pen and ink portrait as a true likeness. Mr Johnson's plays don't seem to be performed very often these days.

It wasn't so much the theme of the exhibition that caught me, it was some of the objects on display and their historic significance. Such as this little book that contains the prologue specially written when a woman first took to the stage in a production of a Shakespeare play, in this case 'Othello' in 1660. The first woman is thought to have been Anne Marshall. Can you imagine a time when women weren't legally allowed on the stage and the female roles were taken by boys? How odd is that.

The rest of this room went on to show portraits of some of the women who took to the stage with potted histories of their lives. There were also extracts from newspapers that raised against the new-found habit of men buying tickets back stage to watch the new actresses get dressed!

Another book to grab my attention was a small copy of 'Hamlet' thats' been passed from actor to actor in the 20th Century who've played the role. It's signed by some of the actors including Michael Redgrave, Peter O'Toole and Derek Jacobi. The sign notes that the book is passed on to note particularly celebrated performances. Jacobi passed it to Kenneth Branagh when he did his film version of 'Hamlet' in the '90s. Now, that's what I call a great gift. I've not seen Branagh's film but I did see Derek Jacobi play 'Hamlet' back in 1978 so that made me smile. I wonder who Branagh will give it to to continue the tradition?

One of the odder exhibits was Vivien Leigh's dress from her performance of Lady Macbeth. It's a nice enough frock but it was odd since the main poster for the exhibition shows her all gossamer and fairy as Titania from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' but that frock isn't there.

And finally, here is a large red and white handkerchief that I coveted - I like the man bottom-right with the legend 'Ha! Ha! Hah! In places', presumably noting the potential response to one of the comedies.

'Hamlet' at The Barbican starring Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch playing Hamlet was announced over a year ago and tickets went on sale a year ago and finally there we were, in the front row of the Barbican Theatre waiting for 'Hamlet' to begin last week. I've seen quite a few Hamlet's over the years and my first was Derek Jacobi in 1978 while he rode the wave of the success of 'I Clavdivs'. More recently I've seen Jude Law and Rory Kinnear play the role as well as Michael Sheen in an awful production at the Young Vic. And now it's Benedict's turn.

What is it about 'Hamlet' that makes playing the role mandatory for an actor of any stature once he reaches a certain age? You can't play it as an older man so I suppose you need to play it when you're in your 30s or early 40s at the latest - any later would just be silly. But it does seem to have become a star turn for actors when they reach a certain level and I'm not sure that's good for the play. It draws in the crowds (and Benedict did the other night) but do new audiences for stars go away having learned anything?

We follow the psychological trauma and drama of the young prince of Denmark whose father has recently died and his mother married his uncle for the sake of the realm. But is that all that's happened? Soldiers see the ghost of Hamlet's father on the battlements of Elsinore, young Fortinbrass of Norway is threatening war, Laertes goes back to university while Hamlet remains at home and Ophelia is ripe to go mad. So much is going on in this play but you know the story - can anyone looking at this blog not know the story? The question is how well is it re-told in this new star vehicle and it is re-told very well indeed.

I half expected not to like it since it is clearly a star turn rather than a more 'standard' production (if you see what I mean).  It could so easily have been a one-man show with a few minor supporting characters to allow the star to bounce off them but it wasn't like that at all. While not quite an ensemble piece, it wasn't that far off really. And I'd mention the set as an astounding piece of work that helped the action to flow. The first half was set in a baroque banqueting hall with staircases and balconies that could transform into the castle ramparts with a slight change in lighting. In the second half it's a scene of desolation and destruction with the action taking place in what seems to be rubble of the once grand castle. I winced when Gertrude came on barefoot but later realised the craggy rubble was really cork. I loved the set in the first half and would happily live there.

Anastasia Hille and Ciaran Hinds as Gertrude and Claudius were very effective as the king and queen, bringing some sympathy to the characters. I also liked Jim Norton as Polonius, a difficult role to get just right but he managed it as did his son Laertes, played by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (although I was less keen when he pulled out a gun). I wasn't keen on Leo Bill as Horatio who didn't quite get the role of Hamlet's one true friend right and didn't get the 'flights of angels' speech right either. Very workmanlike but not entirely convincing. And Sian Brooke as Ophelia... I liked giving her a camera to play at amateur photographer but the motif didn't last very long and was soon forgotten. I've no idea why she was given a small trunk to drag down the staircase in her final scene. And then, of course, there's Mr Cumberbatch.

I thought Benedict was excellent and brought real believability to the character he was playing. We could feel sympathy for this poor lost soul not knowing what to do for the best, and the changes in mood and pace were well judged as were the interactions with the other characters. I saw him in 'Frankenstein' at the National Theatre a few years ago and he's a class act. But I didn't like him playing with his toy castle or wearing a hoodie for the graveyard scene - I mean, c'mon... But it must be very strange for him to be dishing out serious poetry with deadly connotations and have his fans laugh in the wrong places which they did with annoying frequency. Someone has just been killed - it's not funny and it's not meant to be. One could argue the laughter was to ease the tension but I doubt it.

All in all the production gets the thumbs up from me. I'd say go and see it but tickets sold out a year ago although it's always worth looking out for returns. I've no idea why they've cast children in the roles for the poster and the front of the programme - sorry, souvenir brochure - but I think it's silly. I was also surprised to see a merch stand selling souvenir mugs and stuff. You know there's a star around somewhere when you get a merch stand in a theatre!

Goodnight sweet prince...

Shakespeare at 450

Last week saw the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, poet and playwright. Everyone knows his name but we know very little about him, including his actual birth date. He was baptised on 26 April 1564 so, presumably, was born a few days earlier and he died on 23 April 1616. He would have had no inkling that people all over the world would still be talking about him, reading his words and seeing his plays all these years later. I wonder what he would have thought?

I've seen and read many of Shakespeare's plays and poems but not all by any means. I used to have a hardback 'complete plays' when I was at university (it had a red cover I seem to recall) as well as individual editions of the plays I was studying. Some of his plays come round again and again on the stage while others seem to be rarely touched. I haven't seen many of the history plays because I've never been terribly interested in them but I ought to see them if only for the sake of completeness.

I've seen great productions of Shakespeare plays and others that were a bit ho hum. Sometimes it's the interpretation, sometimes it's the direction or the acting. And sometimes, frankly, it's the play that's the problem. Why, for example, have the daft wooing scene at the end of 'Henry V' and am I the only person in the world that doesn't like Bottom in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (or any of the rustics for that matter)? I'm sure there's a very valid reason for all the things I'm not keen on in Shakespeare plays but  that won't make me suddenly like them.

I have favourite productions and sometimes I leave the theatre elated and sometimes depressed. Productions that I should have liked have been very disappointing and it's sometimes difficult to pinpoint why that is. Last year's must-see production of 'Othello' at the National Theatre with the double-header of Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear (who won an Olivier Award for his performance) was an example of a production that left me cold. It should have been a massive favourite bit it wasn't, partly because of the staging and costumes even though the acting was excellent. I felt terribly let down by that one.

On the other hand, two versions of 'Much Ado About Nothing' live on in my mind. Firstly there was Zoe Wannamaker and Simon Russell Beale's version at the National Theatre which I will always remember for them both falling into the same pond. Then, a couple of years ago, the production billed as the 'Indian' version with that great Shakespearean actress Meera Syal who showed us no mercy by milking every possible laugh from every scene and laugh we did (even me). It most ably demonstrated that Shakespeare can be transplanted to any age or culture and it still works. I loved that production and wish I'd seen it again.

My first ever Shakespeare production was 'Hamlet' with Derek Jacobi in, I think, 1978. Other than a few panto's that was my first trip to the 'serious' theatre with 'serious' actors. Mr Jacobi was, of course, hot property at the time off the back of 'I Clavdivs'. His star status helped fill seats but I went because I was doing 'Hamlet' for 'A' level English. The most recent production that I'd praise is 'Henry V' with Jude Law who delivered an excellent St Crispin's Day speech (I saw Adrian Lester deliver this speech 11 years ago when he took the part). Jude is my king and my sword-arm is his, at least until I see another production of the play.

The most disappointing play was 'Timon of Athens' at the National Theatre a couple of years ago with Simon Russell Beale. It was a great productions, with excellent acting, direction and sets but what disappointed was the play. I'd never read it or seen it before so didn't know what to expect - I wanted to experience it raw and direct as a first time experience so I wasn't prepared for the downbeat ending. Why didn't Timon triumph over adversity at the end instead of crumbling? I don't want to see that play again.

The beauty of Shakespeare is that the plays can be interpreted in many different ways to suit the current mode and productions can mirror life in any way they want, from the prosaic to the magical. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'The Tempest' should always be done as magical in my mind, anything less is an insult to the text and to the audience. I want magic and wonder.

The current big Shakespeare production is 'King Lear' at the National Theatre with Simon Russell Beale in the title role. I saw another production of this a few years ago with Derek Jacobi (yes, the same names keep cropping up) and the excellent Gina McKee as a triumphant Goneril. You don't take her on lightly.

There's always another Shakespeare production and actors ready to step up and make their names in these classic roles. A play I'm looking forward to - and again, that I haven't seen or read before - is 'Titus Andronicus' at The Globe in a couple of months time. The Globe has a lovely big stage but the wooden bench seats are a challenge even with the cushions you can hire in the yard. Something else I'm looking forward to is a reading of all 154 sonnets by Simon Russell-Beale, Harriet Walter and others at the Royal Festival Hall. That's going to be an intense evening and I'm sure there'll be smiles and tears that night!.

There is always another side to Shakespeare and that is why he's great. There's a Sheakespeare for every age and every mode, you just need to dig. Happy birthday William, you'd be astonished at the shop at The Globe Theatre but I suspect you'd have a wry grin at the souvenirs when you walked round.

The Plastic Bag Awards 2013

Once again it's time for the annual Plastic Bag Awards, the Baggies 2013.

The Baggies offer a great opportunity to look back over the year and mull over things I've done and seen as well as enjoyed and been challenged by. I've seen a few films this year so that category has been reinstated and there's a new category for 'talks' since I've been to quite a few. So let's jump right in and see who wins the first award ...

Best Theatre - Drama

This has been an odd year for drama - I saw some great plays but didn't particularly like the productions ('Othello' and 'Edward II" both spring to mind at the National Theatre) and that narrows down the nominees quite a bit. After a lot of thought, the nominees for this category are:

• The Winslow Boy
• The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
• The Judas Kiss
• Cocktail Sticks
• The Audience

'The Winslow Boy' was really quite impeccable but failed to engage me with the characters as did 'The Curious Incident', both really good plays and well produced but didn't do anything for me. 'The Audience' and 'The Judas Kiss' were perfect for the respective leads and both were great productions but the award goes to another tour de force performance in 'Cocktail Sticks' by Alan Bennett.

I saw 'Cocktail Sticks' as part of the 'Untold Stories' evening brigaded with another short Bennett play, 'Hymn'. It is an autobiographical tale of Alan Bennett's relationship with his parents over the years as he finds a pack of cocktail sticks at the back of a kitchen cupboard when clearing out the family home after the death of both of his parents. I recognised so many things in the play that helped make it real for me and that's why it wins the Baggie this year.

Best Theatre - Musical

2013 was a great year for stage musicals with some great (and not so great ) revivals as well as new productions. I saw the new production of 'Merrily We Roll Along' back at the start of the year at the Menier Choccy Factory and it just didn't work for me. I know it's been doing well in the West End but it didn't draw me in. On the other hand, I loved  the Choccy Factory's 'Candide' which is well worth seeing. Other productions that just failed to make the nominations were 'Titanic' and 'The Scottsboro Boys', both musicals I'd love to see again.

The nominations for 'Best Theatre - Musical' are:

• The Book Of Mormon
• A Chorus Line
• The Color Purple
• The Amen Corner
• The Light Princess

'The Book Of Mormon' was great fun and very rude and it was great to see Gavin Creel again. 'A Chorus Line' was a joy and I had to see it twice on its short run over the summer. 'The Light Princess' was a feminist fairytale with songs by Tori Amos and a sumptuous production at the National. Also at the National Theatre was 'The Amen Corner' which I saw a matter of days before seeing 'The Color Purple' at the Choccy Factory and it's 'Purple' that wins the Baggie.

'The Amen Corner' was a great mix of drama and song but it was the story and songs of 'The Color Purple' that swung it. Great acting and great voices melded in a great production that made me go back again to see it on its relatively short run. It should have transferred to the West End but a bonus prize is the Baggie for Best Musical.

Best Entertainment

I define 'entertainment' as a staged something that isn't a play or a musical. That makes it quite a wide ranging category. The nominations this year are:

• Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty @ The New Theatre, Wimbledon
• John Cooper Clarke @ The Palladium
• Patti Smith - Words & Music @ The Purcell Room as part of Meltdown
• A Christmas Carol @ Queen Elizabeth Hall
• Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake @ Sadler's Wells

A Matthew Bourne production is almost mandatory in this category and it's nice to have two, one from the national tour in the spring ('Sleeping Beauty') and the latest Christmas show at Sadler's Wells, 'Swan Lake'. Both have won Baggies in previous years that clearly indicates their strengths.

I saw the mastery of John Cooper Clarke for the first time this year despite buying my first record of his 35 years ago. He is a master wordsmith and it was a joy just to hear him talking let alone reciting his verse. And it was the same with Patti Smith who mixed readings from her autobiography ('Just Kids') with stripped back versions of her songs played with her son and daughter. However, the Baggie goes to 'A Christmas Carol', an ensemble reading of the story a week before Christmas. It was enchanting.

Best Talk

This is a new category of award for 2013 and is included because I seemed to attend so many 'talks'. These included staged interviews to promote books or celebrate films and  reminiscences as part of the National Theatre 50th anniversary celebrations. The nominees are:

• Tracey Thorn @ the Royal Festival Hall
• Ray Davies @ The Purcell Room
• Julie Walters & Richard Eyre @ the National Theatre
• Rita Moreno @ the British Film Institute
• Derek Jacobi @ the National Theatre

Sometimes it nice to just turn up and listen to people talk. They're generally set up in an interview format with someone interviewing the star - the best ones ask such open questions that the star can take flight and talk about virtually anything. The worst are where the interviewer has a script and sticks to it (a hideous Patti Smith interview a few years ago springs to mind where all the questions were based on a book she rubbished in the first five minutes - take a hint!).

Thankfully, all the talks I attended this year were good and the interviewers had actually read the book or done their homework. I'm going to single out Sir Derek Jacobi who gave a talk to promote his autobiography because he was so unexpectedly entertaining and human. I loved his stories about his parents and about him growing up as an actor.

Best Film

I've seen a few films this year for the first time in ages, old films and new films, documentaries and unexpected tales. The nominations are:

• I'm So Excited
• Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
• A Yank At Oxford
• Saving Mr Banks
• The Thirteenth Tale

I saw a not quite finished version of a documentary about Marvin Hamlisch as part of the London Film Festival that reminded me who he was and a delightfully twee 'Yank At Oxford' as part of a festival celebrating Vivien Leigh's centenary. I saw the impossibly camp and colourful 'I'm So Excited' by Almodovar and a preview at the BFI of the new Vanessa Redgrave TV film that was shown over Christmas, 'The Thirteenth Tale'. However, the Baggie goes to 'Saving Mr Banks' for its practically perfect magic.

Best Gig

I went to quite a few gigs last year, particularly over the summer with Yoko Ono's great Meltdown Festival on the Southbank. I saw the Pet Shop Boys bigging it large at the O2 with their new album and I saw Boy George and Marianne Faithfull (separately) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of Yoko's Meltdown. I was privileged to see Siouxsie twice at the Royal Festival Hall, supported both times by Viv Albertine.  The nominees for the Best Gig Baggie are:

• Siouxsie @ the Royal Festival Hall
• Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band @ the Royal Festival Hall
• Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra @ The Roundhouse
• Viv Albertine @ The Purcell Room
• Kim Wilde's Christmas Party @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

All the nominees are women of power who've been around for a while. Siouxsie majestic in white PVC and Yoko screaming into her mic, both at the Royal Festival Hall. Amanda Palmer the rock star at The Roundhouse with the kind of light show and professionalism that says she's moved to another level. Viv Albertine headlining her own show at The Purcell Room with a tight band and so different to her 12Bar Club show back in January 2013.

But the Baggie goes to Kim Wilde for her first full show in London in a  couple of decades and killing it - and us! Tight band, Kim striding along the front of the stage taking us higher then singing Christmas songs - it was her Christmas Party after all! Well done Kim!

Best Live Performance

The best performance award is for a one-off song that just hit it and sends you away with a marvellous memory of the evening. This years nominations are:

• 'Dear Daily Mail' - Amanda Palmer
• 'Spellbound' - Siouxsie
• 'Warrior In Woolworths' - Celeste Bell
• 'Still England' - Viv Albertine
• 'Kids In America' - Kim Wilde

Amanda's 'Dear Daily Mail' was an internet sensation since, while singing a letter to the Daily Mail about her escaped tit at Glastonbury, she strips off her kimono and sings the song naked. Siouxsie delivered a magical 'Spellbound' and Celeste Bell (or Styrene to me) gave us a perfect acapella 'Warrior In Woolworths' at PolyFest. And who could fail to be excited by seeing Kim Wilde singing 'Kids In America' live 30 odd years after it was her first hit?

The Baggie goes to Viv Albertine for what I think of as the disco version of 'Still England' she gave us at the Purcell Room. Halfway through the song it changed into a disco beat and a glitter ball exploded to surround us all with light as she read out the names of people that mean England to her. It was magnificent and shows just how much she's grown as a musician and performer in the last year, from the D.I.Y. 12Bar Club show to her encased in lube and a PVC top. With a glitter ball. Well done Viv, a performance to stick in the memory!

Best New Album

There weren't that many new albums this year that made me go wow so it was relatively easy to list the nominees:

• David Bowie - 'The Next Day'
• Linda Thompson - 'Won't Be Long Now'
• Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - 'Take Me To The Land Of Hell'
• Boy George - 'This Is What I Do'
• Kim Wilde - 'Wilde Winter Songbook'

The biggest wow factor goes, of course, to Mr Bowie for releasing a new single out of the blue and then followed it up with an excellent album of new material. I still listen to it avidly. Linda Thompson and Yoko Ono take us back to another time and it's great that both are still producing excellent and challenging music. Then we have two '80s stars in the shape of Boy George and Kim Wilde and, while the Boy's new album is excellent, it's out-shone by Ms Wilde's Christmas record. 'Wilde Winter Songbook' is full of excellent songs for singing along to or listening to on a cold winters' day. Well done Kim!

Best Exhibition

This has been a great year for exhibitions from portraits of Native Americans at the National Portrait Gallery to one of the inventors of pop art, Lichtenstein, at the Tate Modern. The nominations are:

• Light Show @ the Hayward Gallery
• Man Ray @ the National Portrait Gallery
• David Bowie Is @ The Victoria & Albert Museum
• George Bellows: Modern American Life @ the Royal Academy
• A Crisis Of Brilliance @ Dulwich Picture Gallery

All were excellent in different ways. I'd be really tempted to award the Baggie to George Bellows or A Crisis Of Brilliance if it wasn't for Mr Bowie. If you weren't in your early teens (or younger) in 1972 when Ziggy pointed straight at you through the telly box while singing 'Starman' then you won't understand the sheer thrill of seeing that costume in a glass case with the model pointing straight out at you. Again. Giant video walls, stage costumes and the keys to his Berlin flat, the exhibition had it all and was a joy to wander through. Well done V&A and thank you to Mr Bowie for blessing it.

And there you have the Baggies for 2013. I wonder what 2014 will bring?