TITUS ANDRONICUS (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGPmIG1CEA

Available until: Unknown

Content warning: Murder, rape, violence, mutilation, blood, gore, cannibalism… not for the squeamish

This isn’t one of Shakespeare’s easy plays. It’s not usually seen as one of the problem plays, probably because it’s very obvious that the characters are awful and we’re not expected to sympathise with them. It’s more one where you sit back and enjoy the horror – and if you like horror, there’s plenty to enjoy. Cal commented in another review that Shakespeare was very cheeky with his humour (and he wasn’t referring to the cheeks on your face) and Shakespeare was also not averse to writing dark, nasty stories of murder and mutilation. He could basically do anything and he writes this one with relish!

LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST (Shakespeare Happy Hours)****

 

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3e38CvjFsY

Available until: Unknown

Everyone talks about the sexism of the past (as well as of the present) and they are so right to do that because a lot of things are very wrong. But Shakespeare has written some really great female roles that show women as being intelligent and enterprising and 100% capable of taking care of themselves and the men too.

THE WITCH (Shakespeare Happy Hours/Rude Grooms/Seven Stages Shakespeare Company)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veSOknIgBf0

Available until: Unknown

Warnings: 16+ Love, loss and desire. Rape, incest, child sexual abuse, anorexia, drug addiction, mental instability, murder, suicide.

This is a bit crazy but definitely fun. It’s written by Thomas Middleton, who was a contemporary of Shakespeare’s (Middleton is younger, but there is an overlap), and there are similarities in the language, though I don’t feel it’s on Shakespeare’s level. Nothing really jumped out at me in the way Shakespeare’s language does. But it’s fun.

HENRY VIII (Shakespeare Happy Hours)****

 

By Alan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNeM7RF90bk

Available until: Indefinitely

Henry VIII isn’t performed very often. A lot of big Shakespeare fans have never seen or read it and they’re surprised when they do. Henry VIII is known for having six wives but in this play he only has two wives. Katharine (of Aragon) who he is married to at the start and Anne Bullen (names in Shakespeare’s time had lots of different spellings) who he marries after he has divorced Katharine.

There are a lot of things about the play that aren’t accurate. Anne is written as a gentle, kind character. The real Anne was very well spoken but she did cause a lot of trouble by saying things she shouldn’t have said.

RICHARD II (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

 

By Alan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_qTG5eLMk

Available until: indefinitely

I don’t really enjoy Richard II as much as the other history plays. Maybe it’s because it’s not very historically accurate – the War of the Roses wasn’t really all Richard II’s fault and I’m not sure who the Queen is supposed to be. His first wife Anne died 16 years before the time when the play starts and his second ‘wife’ Isabella was eight years old. So she can’t really be either of them but there isn’t anyone else she could be. Invented characters aren’t all bad because I like Falstaff but he really added something and he might not be completely invented as he is thought to be based on several real people.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (Shakespeare Happy Hours)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO1ovy_vvNY

Available until: indefinitely

Someone once told me The Comedy of Errors was a ‘romp’. It’s fair to say I misinterpreted what they meant slightly but I really can’t say this play was a disappointment the first time I saw it.

It wasn’t a disappointment this time either. It is a bit silly so you don’t want to take it too seriously but it’s also a lot of fun. So just sit back, enjoy it, don’t think too hard and you’ll have a great time. As always, Shakespeare Happy Hours know exactly how to pitch the play and the humour to ensure their audience has a great time.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKmAomr2XP4

Available until: till someone decides to delete it

Why do I always seem to be reviewing plays I don’t like? Sometimes I wonder if I just don’t like plays, but I think I just like moaning.

The Taming of the Shrew is a difficult play. If you don’t enjoy it, you’re miserable because you haven’t had a good time. If you do enjoy it, you’re miserable because you can’t help thinking you shouldn’t have enjoyed it. That’s not in any way a problem for me because I get the most profound satisfaction from being miserable, but some people just don’t see the value of a good whine unless you take the h out.

ROMEO & JULIET (Shakespeare Happy Hours)****

 By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnZ7L3H2LaE

Available until: Indefinitely

I love this play. You can actually get personalised versions from Ustar Novels and my adoptive mum gave me Romeo & Romeo, a gay personalised version about my now-fiancé and me. Our names don’t scan brilliantly, but it’s special to me because I loved seeing our names together like that (the ending wasn’t ideal, but it was a choice of either that or Hamlet) and also, it got me into Shakespeare!

PERICLES (Shakespeare Happy Hours)*****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGXGo3aR08

Available until: Forever, I hope

Pericles is a really difficult play and I’m not sure if I understand it properly yet but I really love it! There are bad things and bad people but then there’s a happy ending and it’s really lovely.

I thought it was quite like a fairy tale. I wasn’t going to write that in case it sounded silly but then one of the actors said that after the show so I don’t feel silly now. Joel Colodner plays Gower who is like a narrator and he tells bits of the story and the way he tells it feels like I’m having a bedtime story and even though bad things happened, every time I saw Gower I felt like everything would be all right in the end.

TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfaCDK9Py0I&t=10s

Available until: Indefinitely

This is a really difficult and challenging play – for the actors and production team and for the audience. A lot of the things in the play make it seem like a comedy (two men falling in love with the same girl, girls dressing up as boys, characters getting hold of other characters’ rings) and it is usually included as one of Shakespeare’s comedies. This is probably because, in Shakespeare’s time, a comedy meant a play that had a happy ending, even if it wasn’t funny.

HENRY V (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

 

By Alan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WF_PiT_fe8

Available until: indefinitely

Once upon a time there was a young king named Henry, the fifth in England to bear this name. At first he was reluctant to become king but having gained the throne, he wanted to be the best king he could be. He knew that he might also have some claim to the French throne and sought to find out the truth about his heritage. But France already had a king who was far from happy to hear of Henry’s aspirations …

THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52zWz0WsGjY

Available until: Indefinitely

I don’t think I’d want to live in Shakespeare’s time. It probably wasn’t as hard for the people as it seems to us now, but if I’d lived in Shakespeare’s time, my family wouldn’t have adopted me, I couldn’t marry my boyfriend (except maybe if one of us was as adept at cross-dressing as Viola and Rosalind), my brother Angel would probably have died when he was a baby and my sister Megan would be disabled and couldn’t have learned to dance. We really are very lucky in modern times, though of course not everyone has been as lucky as us. I really hope that, in the future, a lot more people will be lucky. It’s true that in 2020, we are fighting against disease, prejudice and very questionable political decisions, but all that happened in Shakespeare’s time too. We know that from his plays.

KING HENRY VI Parts I, II and III (Shakespeare Happy Hours)****

 

By Alan

Link to Part I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm1Dmjl0s6o

Link to Part II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6e7I5QEmfs

Link to Part III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F8GuMuKJxQ

Available until: indefinitely

Once upon a time there was a king and a queen who had a baby boy called Henry. For nine months they were happy but then Henry’s father died, leaving Henry as king. Henry’s mother Catherine was French and the English nobles did not trust her and she was not allowed to look after him. Henry had lots of help with ruling his kingdom but when he finally became king on his own when he was fifteen he did not find the duties easy. He was a quiet man and had trouble making decisions. Also a man named Richard believed should be king rather than Henry. All he could do was trust his friends to help him but what if his friends weren’t as trustworthy as he thought?

MACBETH (Shakespeare Happy Hours)****

 

by Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPsSTIClIdA

Available until: Indefinitely

A lot of skill goes into the Shakespeare Happy Hours productions. I’ve heard and read about The Show Must Go Online, who are rightly lauded for their excellent and innovative productions, but they’re not the only online Shakespeare company and they all have something unique to bring to the world of Zoom productions.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Shakespeare Happy Hours)*****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVJWYHxajHs

Available until: Indefinitely

I enjoy all the Zoom productions I have seen in lockdown, but one thing which makes Shakespeare Happy Hours special is the fact they cast their plays from the same small group of actors. Not all the actors are in every production, but they all seem to perform regularly. It is really nice that I can watch the opening credits and see who’s playing who and get excited because I remember them from a previous role.

RICHARD III (Shakespeare Happy Hours)*****

 

By Alan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHFFPTmZkP8

Available till: indefinitely

Once upon a time there was a man called Richard who really wanted to be king. Richard would do anything in order to bring him closer to the crown, whether that meant picking up wives at funerals or killing anyone who happened to be in his way. When his brother, King Edward IV, fell ill to natural causes, Richard’s dream finally seemed to be within his grasp. But it is very difficult to cause so much suffering without making enemies and Richard needs to watch out…

I really liked this performance of Richard III. Colin Hurley plays Richard as a gentle man in public and his opening speech is quite chatty. But he smiles like a politician and that puts me right off. He’s really a vicious man and some people can see it but some people can’t.

HENRY IV PARTS 1 & 2 (SHAKESPEARE HAPPY HOURS)****

 

By Alan

Link for Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_PC19kJl2Q&t=5s

Link for Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=584RluWxGts

Available until: Indefinitely

Once upon a time there was a Prince named Hal. His father was the King and as Hal was the oldest son he would become king when his father died. However Hal did not want to be king. He was far too busy drinking in taverns and playing tricks upon his friends to have any interest in ruling a whole country. King Henry IV despaired of his son and his undesirable friends but he had other matters to command his attention. His old enemy Hotspur was leading a rebellion against Henry IV so the king had to gather his Arsenal against him – and he also had to fight a battle wish himself when his health began to fail.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

                              

By Imogen

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfeUxcIOW68&t=2012s

Available until: Indefinitely

Shakespeare Happy Hours is a very good idea because it cuts all the Shakespeare plays down to an hour and a half. I think that’s quite enough. Who wants to sit through four hours of talking? Of course, when I play Portia I want to do the longest possible version so I get paid more but if I’m watching I prefer it to be as short as possible.