King John Unplugged

King John Unplugged

The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath

By Hammerpuzzle Theatre Company

Its no secret that Shakespearian drama's can be confusing for even the best of us, I strongly disagree with famous Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellows when he boldly insinuated in an interview recently that to understand Shakespeare you have to 'have had a very expensive education like his own'. Audiences all over the world, even in none English speaking countries, have been able to enjoy Shakespeare's plays. I was excited to see this adaptation to see the kind of productions I could be working on in a few years time, as two graduates from my own University were involved. The production was easy to follow and its strong use of music and puppetry made it entertaining for children keeping their attention. The use of costume and puppetry also made it easier for a smaller cast to stage this production while allowing the audience to be able to keep track of the characters. As well as having a few musical instruments in the piece the cast also used their voices to make musical interludes during scene or costume changes. This really helped the play run smoothly.

My actors notes: This performance proves to me that the more skills you have acquired the more appealing you are as an actor, every cast member played an instrument or could sing which added to the performance. The more adaptable the piece the better, I could quite easily see this as a street performance or at an outside venue. I am currently reading Peter Brooks 'The Empty Space'. He confirms for me that you don't need an expensive education or even to be English speaking to understand Shakespeare, he talks about touring with the Royal Shakespeare Company's cast of 'King Lear' in Europe and that the best received performances were in Budapest and Moscow where most people had little knowledge of the English language.