Tag Archives: Orlando Gough

As You Like It

Olivier, National Theatre, London (****)

© Johan Persson

© Johan Persson

One normally imagines As You Like It as a rustic rom-com. Polly Findlay hasn’t exactly ignored its usual romantic setting so much as, taking her cue from the characters in the play – and one or two other hints such as comedy routines, a bit of a music hall, a bit of high tech there – has given it a transformative make-over. Continue reading

Bakkhai

Almeida Theatre, London

© Marc Brenner

© Marc Brenner

For the second production in Rupert Goold’s exciting Greek trilogy, hubris once again becomes a leading player, this time in the guise of Pentheus, the son of Agave whose curiosity and inflexibility – like Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (with whom incidentally, one can see several parallels) – leads him to a terrible death. Continue reading