The Tempest

by William Shakespeare

seen at the Donmar King's Cross Theatre on 15 December 2016

Harriet Walter plays Prospero in this production directed by Phyllida Lloyd and designed by Chloe Lamford. It forms the third of a trilogy (the first two being Julius Caesar and Henry IV, a conflation of Shakespeare's two Henry IV plays) with all-female casts, purported to be performed by the inmates of a women's prison. The first two plays were performed in the Donmar Warehouse in 2014 and 2015, and have been revived at the temporary King's Cross site in conjunction with The Tempest. I have not revisited the two earlier productions, although it would have been instructive to see them all as there are intriguing correspondences between the Shakespearean parts played and the characters of the prisoners that the actors have developed in consultation with the Prison Partnership Project.

Death of a Salesman

by Arthur Miller

seen at the Duke of Yorks Theatre on 4 July 2015

The play, directed by Gregory Doran, and designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis, stars Anthony Sher as Willy Loman, Harriet Walter as Linda, Alex Hassell as Biff, Sam Marks as Happy and Guy Paul as Ben. It is an RSC transfer from Stratford.

The set mainly shows the Loman household, with bedroom and dining room adjoining (the kitchen and bathroom notionally behind), and the boys' bedroom in an attic space above. All around, the apartment blocks are represented as flat walls encroaching on the garden (as Willy several times complains); but at moments of stress they become mere frames of netting when lit from behind. Other scenes such as Willy's hotel room when travelling, the office and a restaurant, are played in front of the house space. This is an extremely effective way of visualising the claustrophobic nature of Willy's world.

Boa

by Clara Brennan

seen at Trafalgar Studios Two on 3 March 2015

This is a two-handed play starring Harriet Walter as Boa, a British dancer and choreographer, and Guy Paul as her husband Louis, an American war journalist. It is directed by Hannah Price.

In the extremely intimate space of the Trafalgar Studio's second theatre a couple reflect on their lives together, charting the history of a long relationship in a mixture of reminiscence and re-enactment that is wise, reflective, at times amusing and at times deeply sad.