5 of the best
Shakespeare productions for isolation watch
1 TWELFTH NIGHT
National Theatre, London, streaming April 23 to 30
A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households of Olivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia’s upright housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible. The production stars
Tamsin Greig, who came to widespread prominence thanks to acclaimed performances in television comedies including Black Books and Green Wing, but who has been winning plaudits for her stage work for many years, winning one Laurence Olivier Award and being nominated for two others.
Details: Stream free of charge
2 HAMLET
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, streaming now
Your dad’s dead. You think your uncle killed him.
And now your uncle has shacked up with your mum. What do you do? That’s the predicament into which young Hamlet is thrust in what is widely held to be the greatest play ever written. From its booming, luminous opening to its wild and mad conclusion, this is a boldly confident and sure-footed effort. Director Simon Godwin has transported the setting from a chill Denmark to a torrid west African kingdom in broadly contemporary times, and this vision is realised to glorious effect. At its centre, though somehow detached, is Paapa Essiedu’s sharp and searing Hamlet, an attractive and sympathetic outsider. Details: Stream from marquee. tv, currently offering 30-day free trial
3 ROMEO AND JULIET
Shakespeare’s Globe, London, streaming April 20 to May 3 Dominic Dromgoole’s 2009 production brings a new clarity to one of Shakespeare’s most famous and best-loved tragedies.
Details: Stream free from the Shakespeare’s Globe channel on YouTube
4 OTHELLO
Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratfordupon-Avon, streaming now Iqbal Khan’s groundbreaking production of Othello was the first at the RSC to cast a black actor, Lucian Msamati, as Iago. It adds an intriguing dimension to this racially-charged political and romantic thriller. Othello, a heroic and for the most part dignified general in the Venetian army, secretly marries his beloved
Desdemona; Iago exploits this love to exact revenge on Othello who, until it’s too late, remains convinced that “honest Iago” is a trustworthy man.
Details: Stream from marquee. tv, currently offering 30-day free trial
5 TITUS ANDRONICUS
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, streaming now There’s tragedy upon tragedy, death upon death, blood and more blood. But Blanche McIntyre’s is full of comedy too - which has the effect of making the horror all the more horrifying. key to its success is David Troughton, whose Titus brings an emotional gravity to a play that in lesser hands can be an empty gorefest. Details: Stream from marquee. tv, currently offering 30-day free trial