BEING SHAKESPEARE (The Shows Must Go On/Trafalgar Studios)*****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=megvDyy3Wsk

Available until: Monday 9^th November 2020

Shakespeare has told lots of stories (exactly how many depends on who you talk to but he wrote somewhere between 36 and 44 plays) but one story I didn’t know much about is the story of Shakespeare. I knew who he married and what his twins were called. I knew he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. I knew he’d worked as an actor. I knew Queen Elizabeth I liked him and he liked her. And of course I knew he was a very very good writer. But I didn’t know very much else.

GHOSTS (Almeida Theatre/Trafalgar Studios/Digital Theatre)****

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.digitaltheatre.com/consumer/production/ghosts Rent for £7.99 or sign up for monthly subscription

Available until: Unknown

I used to love this play. I loved Henrik Ibsen’s presentation of mental health problems. I thought Oswald had some sort of neurological problem that affected his mental health and eventually led to insanity. Then I grew up a bit and realised that the play was actually about venereal disease and that the neurological problems were a result of the physical problems, and the mental health problems were what anyone would feel in that situation. So I went off it a little bit, not so much because of the subject matter but because it wasn’t the play I thought it was. I loved the idea of the ‘worm-eaten’ mind. That is exactly how mental health can be. Negative thoughts burrow their way into your brain and eat it from the inside out… actually, I won’t continue this totally gross metaphor, but I’m sure you get the idea.