Performance

VenueThe Young Vic
Other spaces: Maria/Clare
TownWest End
CountyGreater London
From16th February 2012
Opened23rd February 2012
To31st March 2012
When19:30. Wed, Sat Mats 14:30 (not Feb 18/22)
PricesFrom £10.00. To £29.50.
What is currently on at The Young Vic (V245)

Bingo

BingoT1164035807
William Shakespeare is in the last days of his life. Shakespeare is faced with the prospect of losing the land he bought with the money made from his plays. Suddenly he finds himself in the same situation as one of his greatest characters, Lear. Using contemporary documents and what is known of him as a writer and a man, Bond shows that the contradictions of Shakespeare's life and time are uncannily close to those of our own. He, too, lives in crisis. Big local landowners are enclosing land on a heath outside Stratford-on-Avon. Shakespeare owns some of it. The landowners intend to drive off the tenants. Then Shakespeare will lose the rents on which he lives. He is old and the inspiration to write has gone so he cannot make his money again. The prospect of poverty terrifies him. The town people want him to help them fight the enclosures. But the landowners offer to protect his income if he refuses to help the town. They present him with a guarantee to sign - and Shakespeare signs. The tenants are driven off the land and reduced to poverty. Riots break out. Houses and barns burn. Beggars are whipped and hanged. And Ben Jonson, seething with jealousy of Shakespeare, arrives with the news that the Globe Theatre has burned down. The uprising intensifies, spreading from town to the countryside. Shakespeare witnesses at first hand the people's sufferings. He wanders on the heath as Lear had done before him, facing his own guilt. And suddenly the poetry returns, driving him to his last fateful decision.
Author Edward Bond


Archive :: production:T1164035807, play:S01227204140, venue:V245

Production details

Special Performances


  • 29 Mar 11 Captioned
  • 31 Mar 11 Audio Described
  • 29 Mar 12 Captioned
  • 31 Mar 12 Audio Described

Reviews

No current ratings on UKTW, why not be the first to vote!

Add a Review


The name you give will be stored and displayed with this review


Company

Corporate Sponsor Coutts
Producer Young Vic
Producer Chichester Festival Theatre
Director Angus Jackson
Design Robert Innes Hopkins
Lighting Tim Mitchell
Music Stephen Warbeck
Sound Ian Dickinson (for Autograph)
Performer Patrick Stewart (William Shakespeare)
Performer Richard McCabe (Ben Jonson)
Performer Matthew Marsh
Performer Catherine Cusack
Performer Tom Godwin
Performer Ellie Haddington
Performer Joanne Howarth
Performer Kieron Jecchinis
Performer John McEnery
Performer Alex Price
Performer Michelle Tate
CORONAVIRUS: All UK venues closed on 16th March 2020, restrictions were lifted on 19th July 2021. Please note that iUKTDb archive listings between March 2020 and July 2021 may not be accurate as we did not receive details of all rescheduled and cancelled shows.

Listings powered by Dynamic Listing Ltd
Mastodon X - Twitter Multidomain certificate installed
© Dynamic Listing Ltd, UK. 1995-2024