Tag Archives: Jamie Parker

I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be

I encountered T.S. Eliot when I was about 17;  Shakespeare I’d known a little longer.   Lines like these – allusions which I could actually catch (and Eliot was hugely allusive, especially in his earlier work) – played a part in the thrill of recognition I felt on first reading him.  I still, vividly,  remember starting to read the Four Quartets for the first time – at home, in the ‘front room’ as we called it (a whole socio-economic digression possible in that term.  I will resist). Continue reading

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Masters, look to see a troublous world

As I tried to find some way to comprehend the US Election result, Richard III came to mind.   I do not suggest that Trump is as evil, or as intelligent, as Shakespeare’s Richard; I wondered rather about the circumstances which allow … Continue reading

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Pass it on

I was trying to write a blog contrasting quantitative and qualitative approaches to research and posed the example question “Why has Nick Hytner been good for the National Theatre?”.  Quantitatively, one would look at revenue and audience numbers, but the post was entirely hijacked by … Continue reading

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He stars eternally

I love The History Boys – although explaining how and why I love it is probably another blog.  This weekend, any thoughts of that wonderful production are dominated by our loss of the colossal, inimitable Richard Griffiths. 

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The wheel is come full circle.

Back in the late 1970s and early 80s I was incredibly lucky.  My mum loved theatre and we spent our summer holidays in Stratford seeing every play we could in the course of a single week’s stay.  Over the years

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My tables. Meet it is I set it down.

My first blog mentioned exciting summer plans, so I thought I should follow that up with a quick update on the productions so far.  

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Restoration

June is my busiest month at work:  the usual tasks continue, while all the routines necessary to prepare for the new academic year also fall due.  I find it strangely amusing that, unless I work through a long list of … Continue reading

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Just the ticket

My brand of retail therapy is to buy theatre tickets – there is even a special drawer at home to store these. Forget the “promise to pay the bearer” printed on a piece of currency: the potential crammed onto this … Continue reading

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No enchanted evening, but summer plans

Theatre in 2012 started with confirmation of my worst prejudices: an ex-West End South Pacific touring the provinces with a tediously competent production which lacked both energy and imagination. Never mind – compensation in the post

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