Theatre review: All's Well That Ends Well(Sam Wanamaker Playhouse)

The latest winter season at Shakespeare's Globe will include a major playwright who's never appeared in the Swanamaker before, but first two Shakespeares both of which have already made a previous appearance in the candlelit Playhouse; and from my own experience All's Well That Ends Well for one certainly seems to work better indoors than outdoors. Chelsea Walker's production is an edited, speedy one that comes in at a little over two hours, and if it loses anything in clarity of storytelling it gains in clarity of character development. It doesn't make the leads any less icky, but it does eliminate some of the tonal whiplash in the way they're portrayed. Helen (Ruby Bentall) is the daughter of a recently-deceased doctor, who travels to Paris to treat the dying King (Richard Katz) with one of the miracle cures she inherited from him.

Theatre review: Titus Andronicus(Sam Wanamaker Playhouse)

Going into the Swanamaker's tenth year, creatives haven't yet got over the novelty of the candlelit playhouse and the idea of using it as a theme in their productions. Usually it's the unique way light and darkness work in there that provide the inspiration, but in Jude Christian's new production it's the physical candles and wax that take on a new significance. And the play is Titus Andronicus so that significance is, obviously, connected to death and maiming. In the first production I saw, Katy Stephens played Tamora, Titus' nemesis. In this all-female cast she gets to switch places to the title role: In this completely invented chapter of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Titus is a decorated general, most of whose 25 sons have died defending Rome. The remainder, as well as his sole daughter Lavinia (Georgia-Mae Myers) become collateral damage in a more personal battle, after he sacrifices the eldest son of defeated Goth queen Tamora (Kirsten Foster.)