Tuesday 12 May 2015

Shakespeare in the Garden: Henry V


Today I once again went to Brighton for another of the Fringe events. This time it was 'Shakespeare in the Garden', and Dad came along with me.

The Shakespeare in the Garden event is being run 12-13 and 15th May, with all productions by The BRIT School. Today the performance was Henry V, though according to the Fringe brochure, they will also be performing Coriolanus and A Comedy of Errors.

As the pictures show, this performance was open air, at the Pavilion Gardens Cafe. The Royal Pavilion in the background gave the play a great setting, although background noise from nearby roads made it difficult to hear (especially sirens!) Being half-deaf, I had trouble hearing some of the dialogue, which wasn't helped by people not watching the play but talking loudly just behind! I was very glad that another audience member turned around and told the loud people to be quiet!


Regarding the performance itself, it seemed well put together. The actors were very expressive and had great line delivery. Even not being able to hear the occasional piece of dialogue (thanks to noisy people or background noise), I could still follow what was happening.

The cast deserve a hearty pat on the back not only for their performance, but also for their professional attitudes during the play--it can't have been easy to remain in character and not get distracted when there were sirens echoing around the area, or people walking past seeming completely oblivious to the fact there was a play happening!

My main reasons for going to see this were that I am massively ignorant when it comes to Shakespeare, and his work is usually beyond me. I hated studying it at school! Watching a Shakespeare play, rather than reading one in a book, made it much clearer and more enjoyable.

There are two more Shakespeare performances from The BRIT School during Fringe: 13th and 15th May. You can find the information here.

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