Propeller in China

Propeller's stay in China was part the larger UK Now festival. China Daily looked at the overall festival as well as Propeller specifically.  [e]

Pocket Henry

Another small blurb explaining Propeller's Pocket Henry, briefly outlining the concept and tour.  [e]

Minnesota

Along with the general announcements of Propeller's upcoming projects, here are two previews highlighting their stay at Minnesota's Guthrie Theater, specifically. BroadwayWorld sketches out the season and Minnesota Public Radio looks at the season's bias towards "white and male." [e]

Bringing Back the Night

As the current tour starts to wind down, theaters are beginning to look with eager eyes for the next round of Propeller shows. Twelfth Night will make landfall at the Yvonne-Arnaud in Guildford in November and at UMS in February (this preview including pictures form the 2007 production).

BroadwayWorld has a more complete summary of Propeller's projects moving forward, alerting readers to their 2012-2013 tour of Twelfth Night and Taming of the Shrew as well as Propeller's plans to launch two more Shakespeare productions in 2013-2014, the announcement of a commissioned new work, information on this autumn's Pocket Henry and the creation of the Jill Fraser Award. WhatsOnStage also has the story.  [e]

A Little Touch of Harry

While the full-length Henry V will pack up its ammunition boxes soon and, like the eponymous king himself, be reduced to the memories of those who were lucky enough to catch it on tour, the Pocket version this autumn will offer another Propeller perspective on the doings of Agincourt. The press release for the production can be found here.  [e]

Propeller in China

Before they arrived in China, City Weekend previewed Propeller's Henry V, looking forward to "incredible results" from this "unique theater group." China Daily mentioned both shows in their write-up, which focused on the company's policy of single-sex casting. Similarly, ExpatChn heralds Propeller as an opportunity to experience "authentic Shakespeare" and That's Magazine explains the female free policy as the company hoping "to bring out nuances in the text that might otherwise be lost"

Shanghai Cultural Information profiles Henry V by looking not just at the play and Propeller, but also at William Shakespeare.

Like China Daily, the Global Times article about Propeller's Chinese stay focuses on the all-male aspect of the company's work, speaking to Ed Hall, Robert Hands and Dugald Bruce-Lockhart about the shows and company. The Global Times follows-up on the gender question with another article, quoting Joseph Graves, Artistic Director of Peking University's Institute of World Theatre and Film.

Time Out Shanghai praised the shows and promised readers "whether you choose the tragic fairy tale or the gory history for your night at the theatre, Propeller delivers." The article also contains quotes from Ed Hall on Propeller's origins and their current productions.

Hall also is quoted in Shanghai Daily's article  which calls Henry V "dangerous, thrilling and deeply moving" and The Winter's Tale "a fairy story that is at once mysterious and extraordinary."  [e]

Catch-up

Getting to some older posts...

From Australia, The Spectator takes a look at both productions and how they hold up under single-gender casting. The Winter's Tale poses some reservations, but

On the other hand, the final scene, one of the most difficult and most moving things in the whole of Shakespeare, is beyond praise. Ed Hall articulates it flawlessly with great stillness and sweeping surprise and depth of feeling. It reminds us that, whatever its flaws, Propeller has an empathy for Shakespeare that carries it across gulfs and up mountains.

Furthermore, "The Propeller Henry V is finer still and the production exhibits a ruthless brilliance of conception that is utterly consistent with the masculine prowess and muscle of this supremely warlike play, drenched in glamour and blood."

Writing for his blog, David Zampatti calls Henry V "the best Henry V I'm ever likely to see." Dugald Bruce-Lockhart " looks and sounds like he was born to throw himself headlong at an enemy, and that’s what his men, and we, react to" and he is "s surrounded by actors made for their parts. Chris Myles and Dominic Thorburn, Exeter and Westmoreland, look, sound and feel like men who command divisions, Nicholas Asbury, as Mountjoy the French Herald, a man who stands for his liege. As Fluellen, Tony Bell is as charismatic and shifty as was his Autolycus in the Winter's Tale."

As for The Winter's Tale, it is "a gorgeous looking, beautifully spoken and often riotously staged production." Robert Hands offers an "outstanding Leontes [who] raves in his magnificent derangement" and Tony Bell is "as appealing and appalling a rogue as Shakespeare ever slid onto a stage." Even so, the call for female actors is once again sounded.

Before they got to New Zealand, Stuff had a chat with Ed Hall on the settings of the plays, how both address questions of honour and (of course) a bit about the all-male aspect.

This Is Kent previews Propeller's arrival in Canterbury this past weekend.

Reviewing for The Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish muses that "while the lusty commitment of this band of brothers isn’t in doubt, the value of the project, in its current gender-biased form, perhaps is." Even with that, Henry V picks up four stars and The Winter's Tale three, while the focus remains firmly on the value of an all-male company.  [e]

Dispatches from New Zealand

New Zealand's Dominion Post has two conversations with Ed Hall--one on Henry V and the other on The Winter's Tale. Both deal a bit with the history of the company and its methods (the music they compose, the scene changes, the all-male aspect), and each play individually. Hall also talks a bit about the common thread he's noticed running through the two plays--"their treatment of the concept of honour".

-cs

Talking Australia

Amidst the flurry of new reviews, we've found this video of Jonathan Holloway, the Artistic Director of the Perth International Arts Festival, talking about Henry V and Winter's Tale.

-cs

All-Male Double-Take in Australia

Ahead of their arrival in Perth, here's a piece about Propeller in The Australian. Matthew Westwood talks with Edward Hall about the use of an all-male company (something Westwood thinks "still seems odd"), the benefits of pairing contrasting plays, and the ambiguity of "Period Shakespeare", among other things. A good read!

-cs

Winter's Coming

This is Gloucestershire offers a preview of The Winter's Tale at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, suggesting if you miss them this time around you can always "zip over to Australia and New Zealand."  [e]

"What's yer name, luv?"

Another tour, another international stop, another round of Google-garbled web pages for your reading pleasure.

I have been purposefully shying away from previews as they tend to be based off the same press release and can be repetitive, but it's worth a look at how an inherently English play such as Henry V is marketed in Spain (translated). Oh, and here's one more (translated).

I ave absolutely no idea if this review (translated) is good or bad but, as the saying goes, "which means than means."

Terra Noticias' piece (translated) is less a review and more a short article (I think) reporting on the production and press conference given by Dugald Bruce-Lockhart.

The kids are back in the rehearsal room now, so expect a bit of a slow-down in posting until mid-January when it will begin again in earnest!

Happy holidays!

[e]

Pocket Change

Because I've been so woefully negligent of the Pocket production, and can only come up with so many puns on the word "pocket," I'm going to combine a few Pocket Comedy posts:

The Corner Shop has the press release...

...PlaysToSee has a detailed review, going into production specifics and calling it "the ideal way to make Shakespeare easily accessible"....

...though maybe accessibility isn't what some were going for....

...and BroadwayWorld.com has the announcement covering the nitty-gritty of who/what/where/when.  [e]

Leading the Way

BroadwayWorld has a preview of Propeller's upcoming tour, calling particular attention to Dugald Bruce-Lockhart's role as Henry V. Tony Bell and Vince Leigh are also highlighted in the Henry V casting, while Robert Hands, Richard Dempsey and Nicholas Asbury are mentioned specifically in regards to The Winter's Tale. The preview also includes the press release summaries of the plays and mentions that six new actors have joined Propeller, including Karl Davies.

Looking Ahead

While casting has yet to be announced, Propeller's next tour is receiving some attention in the press. Playbill has picked up the press release, though international dates have yet to be confirmed, BroadwayWorld.com includes information on the Pocket Productions and WhatsOnStage focuses on the return to the Hampstead.  [e]

To Germany!

This post is mostly for posterity's sake, as I can tell you very little about this item from the Shakespeare Festival in Germany's homepage. From what I can gather reading the hilariously Google-translated version, it is a nice little introduction of Propeller and a look at the pairing/history of Comedy and Richard III. I apologize on behalf of Google to all German speakers.

-cs
[who almost asked the frail old German lady at her office to translate]

Some Quick Notes

Another blog review of Comedy of Errors thinks the production could do with a "touch of restraint", but is still "great fun" and recommended as an introduction to Shakespeare. Special mention is given to Dugald Bruce-Lockhart, Sam Swainsbury, Jon Trenchard, and Richard Frame for being "well-matched twins", and Robert Hands and David Newman as the "delicious" Adriana and Luciana.

(This blog post has since become unavailable  [e])

Richard III and Comedy of Errors are briefly mentioned in Lyn Gardner's theatre tips, in a round-up of shows you may have missed, and again in a short piece about the Galway Arts Festival in the Irish Times.

-cs

Not All Black and White

The boys head to Ireland for the Galway Arts festival later this month, and to prepare, The Connacht Tribune brings us a conversation with director Edward Hall. While mostly focusing on Richard III--the politics of the piece, and the notion of Richard not being a total "baddie"--the article does explore Hall's pairing of a comedy and a tragedy, noting that with these two particular plays, "you hardly think it's the same writer".

-cs

Getting Ready for Galway

After Propeller's London stay, they will head to the Galway Arts Festival. The Box Office opened yesterday, but previews from the Galway Advertiser and Irish Times have been in the air for awhile.

The Boys in Beantown

Propeller's double header makes Boston.com's to-do list, and BU Today has loads of nice things to say about the company in its preview of the two shows.