Shakespeare – The Man from Stratford (Tour – Oxford)

Some productions are always going to be pretty much critic-proof. Combine one of the country’s greatest Shakespeare experts with one of the country’s greatest acting forces – and you get Shakespeare – The Man from Stratford. Jonathan Bate’s books line my shelves just as Simon Callow’s performances form part of my DVD collection. Here they combine to weave the life of the Bard with key extracts from his plays (and those of his contemporaries).

There is no denying that it is a tour-de-force performance from Callow, who seems to have devoted himself to compilation events such as this – having made huge successes of his recreations of Dickens and Wilde over the years. Callow tackles a wide range of characters from Launce from The Two Gentleman of Verona to King Lear. Each role is clearly delineated and well-nuanced – a masterclass in the power of an actor to create vivid characters in a matter of a few lines.

The performance makes me ache to see Callow take on some of the great roles in their entirety. His Malvolio, Falstaff, Bottom or Jaques would be hilarious, his Lear or Prospero would be deeply, deeply moving. We need our national companies to find the right vehicle to tempt him back to the stage in a full role. This production whets our appetite for more.

Bate certainly knows his stuff – the script provides a few titbits of detail from Shakespeare’s life which will surprise even the most well-read of scholars. He is also adept at selecting appropriate gobbets from the texts that reflect the biographical details perfectly. Perhaps the decision to base it all around the famous ‘All the World’s a Stage’ speech from As You Like It is a little predictable – but it certainly works.

I have two minor gripes about the production. Too often, the script asserts biographic details that are highly speculative as facts. Unfortunately we know too little about much of Shakespeare’s life – yet the doubts and theories of his life are somewhat swept aside. Also I would prefer a simpler presentation. Callow has enough charisma to command the audience’s attention without fancy projection or flames rising from the stage. At times the effects are a distraction rather than a support to the action.

This quibbles aside, this is a class act. A great script, an exemplary performance and unparallelled source material. Go!