Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company

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RSC
Royal Opera House
Rambert Dance Company
Royal National Theatre
DV8
Knee High Theatre
Frantic Assembly

ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE

The Royal National Theatre was founded in 1976 by Laurence Olivier and is one of three of the UK's most well-known publicly funded performing arts venues and companies in the UK, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. They are most well-known for making the theatre adaptations of War Horse and One Man, Two Guv'nors. There are eight theatres owned by the National theatre, the three most well-known theatres all situated at South Bank in London. These three being the Olivier Theatre, the Lyttelton Theatre and the Dorfman Theatre. The Olivier Theatre (named after Lawrence Olivier) is the largest theatre owned by the National Theatre. It seats 1,150 people on an open stage. A recent production include This House and War Horse. Another theatre owned by The National Theatre is called the Lyttelton Theatre. Named after Oliver Lyttelton, can seat 890 and can fit an orchestra of up to 20 musicians, or make it an open stage, or add a forestage for the actors onstage to move around and interact with the audience. The last theatre is called The Dorfman Theatre. This particular theatre is used for new productions that can shown to audiences up to 450 people, that ascends in height as the seats go up in numbers. Others include the New London theatre, currently playing WAR HORSE, starring James Backway and Ben Murray, the Wyndham's Theatre, currently playing THE FATHER starring Kenneth Cranham and Claire Skinner and the Gielgud Theatre, currently playing THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, starring Sion Daniel Young and Rebecca Lacey. They tend to produce plays and stories written in a book, such as War Horse, written by Michael Morpurgo and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time written by Mark Haddon, and in this case not aimed for a more younger target audience. I would say the target audience for the type of shows produced by the National Theatre would be teenagers to middle aged audiences. I believe viewers from a younger audience might find these type of shows boring, or they might not understand the purposes of the shows.

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company based in Stratford, England. It has employed over 700 staff and produces a massive 20 shows a year. The company has recently been re-developed as part of a 'Transformation' project, costing 112.8 billion pounds, involving its two main theatres in which they perform in: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre and The Swan Theatre in 2010. The company normally produces the works of William Shakespeare (hence Royal SHAKESPEARE Company). His works include Henry V, which is currently being played at the Barbican Theatre in London, but the Royal Shakespeare Company produces new productions made by artists of a modern era, or from a time much further on from Shakespeare, such as Wendy and Peter Pan, currently being played at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Love for Love, currently being played at the Swan Theatre. The Royal Shakespeare Company has two permanent theatres in Stratford. Their main theatre being the Royal Shakespeare theatre (originally named Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) which re-opened in 2010 after the 112.8 billion pound 'Transformation' project. It can hold over 1,000 people (1,060 to be exact) and is currently playing Wendy and Peter Pan, written by Ella Hickson. The other theatre is named the Swan Theatre, opened in 1986, a slightly smaller theatre, holding over 400 people (461) and is currently playing Love for Love, written by William Congreve (1670 - 1729) and Queen Anne, written by Helen Edmundson. It also has another theatre named The Courtyard Theatre, based in Stratford. It seats over 1,000 people and hosted performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company between August 2006 and 2010, when both the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Swan Theatre were both being re-developed between 2007 and 2010. The kind of productions this company puts on are the works on William Shakespeare and his plays, including Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. But the Royal Shakespeare Company also produces new work from living artists with theatre-makers from around the world, including The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, written by Charles Dickens and adapted to the stage by David Edgar and also Matilda The Musical by Dennis Kelly (book) and Tim Minchin (music and lyrics) based on the tale 'Matilda' by Roald Dahl. Compared to the Royal Shakespeare Company, I believe the target audience for these type of productions have varied over the years. The majority of these productions are aimed at adults aged between 20-60, who are interested in the works of Shakespeare or its famous actors involved in a production familiar with Royal Shakespeare Company, for example David Tennant (Hamlet, Richard II) and Patrick Stewart (Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, A Christmas Carol), which is similar to Royal National Theatre. The difference between these two is that throughout the years, the productions of Royal Shakespeare Company have appealed more to a younger audience, aged between 6-8, with the release of Matilda the Musical in 2012, compared to the Royal Shakespeare Company which produces stage-shows that are aimed at more of a older audience, aged 16-40.      

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_National_Theatre - Royal National Theatre

http://www.warhorseonstage.com/about/cast-creatives/ - Cast and Creatives of War Horse

http://www.curiousonstage.com/cast-creative/ - Cast and Creatives of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/venue/olivier-theatre - Olivier Theatre

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/venue/lyttelton-theatre - Lyttelton Theatre

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/venue/dorfman-theatre - Dorfman Theatre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Shakespeare_Company - Royal Shakespeare Company

https://www.rsc.org.uk - List of shows that are currently being played at Royal Shakespeare theatres

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_actors_in_Royal_Shakespeare_Company_productions - Actors that have played various parts in Royal Shakespeare Company productions

Musician's Union and services near Sanderstead, Croydon and Casting Agencies

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Musician's Union represents mainly musicians, these types can range from singers to those in a orchestra pit and bands, such as drummers, guitarists, pianists, composers and a whole load more.


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The Merchant of Venice - Shylock's 'I Am A Jew' speech

To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else,
it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and
hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses,
mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my
bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine
enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath
not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as
a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian,
what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian
wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by
Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you
teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I
will better the instruction.   

Research into Shakespeare and Shylock's monologue from The Merchant of Venice

Definition of SHYLOCK. 1. capitalized : the Jewish usurer and antagonist of Antonio in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. : loan shark.

The Merchant of Venice was probably written in either 1596 or 1597, after Shakespeare had written such plays as Romeo and Juliet and Richard III, but before he penned the great tragedies of his later years. Its basic plot outline, with the characters of the merchant, the poor suitor, the fair lady, and the villainous Jew, is found in a number of contemporary Italian story collections, and Shakespeare borrowed several details, such the choice of caskets that Portia inflicts on all her suitors, from preexisting sources. The Merchant of Venice’s Italian setting and marriage plot are typical of Shakespeare’s earlier comedies, but the characters of Portia, Shakespeare’s first great heroine, and the unforgettable villain Shylock elevate this play to a new level.

Shylock’s cries for a pound of flesh have made him one of literature’s most memorable villains, but many readers and playgoers have found him a compelling and sympathetic figure. The question of whether or not Shakespeare endorses the anti-Semitism of the Christian characters in the play has been much debated. Jews in Shakespeare’s England were a marginalized group, and Shakespeare’s contemporaries would have been very familiar with portrayals of Jews as villains and objects of mockery. For example, Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta,a bloody farce about a murderous Jewish villain, was a great popular success and would have been fresh in Shakespeare’s mind as he set about creating his own Jewish character. Shakespeare certainly draws on this anti-Semitic tradition in portraying Shylock, exploiting Jewish stereotypes for comic effect. But Shylock is a more complex character than the Jew in Marlowe’s play, and Shakespeare makes him seem more human by showing that his hatred is born of the mistreatment he has suffered in a Christian society. Shakespeare’s character includes an element of pathos as well as comedy, meaning that he elicits from readers and audiences pity and compassion, rather than simply scorn and derision.

Shylock

Although critics tend to agree that Shylock is The Merchant of Venice’s most noteworthy figure, no consensus has been reached on whether to read him as a bloodthirsty bogeyman, a clownish Jewish stereotype, or a tragic figure whose sense of decency has been fractured by the persecution he endures. Certainly, Shylock is the play’s antagonist, and he is menacing enough to seriously imperil the happiness of Venice’s businessmen and young lovers alike. Shylock is also, however, a creation of circumstance; even in his single-minded pursuit of a pound of flesh, his frequent mentions of the cruelty he has endured at Christian hands make it hard for us to label him a natural born monster. In one of Shakespeare’s most famous monologues, for example, Shylock argues that Jews are humans and calls his quest for vengeance the product of lessons taught to him by the cruelty of Venetian citizens. On the other hand, Shylock’s coldly calculated attempt to revenge the wrongs done to him by murdering his persecutor, Antonio, prevents us from viewing him in a primarily positive light. Shakespeare gives us unmistakably human moments, but he often steers us against Shylock as well, painting him as a miserly, cruel, and prosaic figure.

Shylock is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In the play[edit] In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio, setting the security at a pound of Antonio's flesh.

Antonio, a Venetian merchant, complains to his friends of a melancholy that he cannot explain. His friend Bassanio is desperately in need of money to court Portia, a wealthy heiress who lives in the city of Belmont. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan in order to travel in style to Portia’s estate. Antonio agrees, but is unable to make the loan himself because his own money is all invested in a number of trade ships that are still at sea. Antonio suggests that Bassanio secure the loan from one of the city’s moneylenders and name Antonio as the loan’s guarantor. In Belmont, Portia expresses sadness over the terms of her father’s will, which stipulates that she must marry the man who correctly chooses one of three caskets. None of Portia’s current suitors are to her liking, and she and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa, fondly remember a visit paid some time before by Bassanio.

In Venice, Antonio and Bassanio approach Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, for a loan. Shylock nurses a long-standing grudge against Antonio, who has made a habit of berating Shylock and other Jews for their usury, the practice of loaning money at exorbitant rates of interest, and who undermines their business by offering interest-free loans. Although Antonio refuses to apologize for his behavior, Shylock acts agreeably and offers to lend Bassanio three thousand ducats with no interest. Shylock adds, however, that should the loan go unpaid, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of Antonio’s own flesh. Despite Bassanio’s warnings, Antonio agrees. In Shylock’s own household, his servant Launcelot decides to leave Shylock’s service to work for Bassanio, and Shylock’s daughter Jessica schemes to elope with Antonio’s friend Lorenzo. That night, the streets of Venice fill up with revelers, and Jessica escapes with Lorenzo by dressing as his page. After a night of celebration, Bassanio and his friend Gratiano leave for Belmont, where Bassanio intends to win Portia’s hand.

In Belmont, Portia welcomes the prince of Morocco, who has come in an attempt to choose the right casket to marry her. The prince studies the inscriptions on the three caskets and chooses the gold one, which proves to be an incorrect choice. In Venice, Shylock is furious to find that his daughter has run away, but rejoices in the fact that Antonio’s ships are rumored to have been wrecked and that he will soon be able to claim his debt. In Belmont, the prince of Arragon also visits Portia. He, too, studies the caskets carefully, but he picks the silver one, which is also incorrect. Bassanio arrives at Portia’s estate, and they declare their love for one another. Despite Portia’s request that he wait before choosing, Bassanio immediately picks the correct casket, which is made of lead. He and Portia rejoice, and Gratiano confesses that he has fallen in love with Nerissa. The couples decide on a double wedding. Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a token of love, and makes him swear that under no circumstances will he part with it. They are joined, unexpectedly, by Lorenzo and Jessica. The celebration, however, is cut short by the news that Antonio has indeed lost his ships, and that he has forfeited his bond to Shylock. Bassanio and Gratiano immediately travel to Venice to try and save Antonio’s life. After they leave, Portia tells Nerissa that they will go to Venice disguised as men.

Shylock ignores the many pleas to spare Antonio’s life, and a trial is called to decide the matter. The duke of Venice, who presides over the trial, announces that he has sent for a legal expert, who turns out to be Portia disguised as a young man of law. Portia asks Shylock to show mercy, but he remains inflexible and insists the pound of flesh is rightfully his. Bassanio offers Shylock twice the money due him, but Shylock insists on collecting the bond as it is written. Portia examines the contract and, finding it legally binding, declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchant’s flesh. Shylock ecstatically praises her wisdom, but as he is on the verge of collecting his due, Portia reminds him that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed, as the contract does not entitle him to any blood. Trapped by this logic, Shylock hastily agrees to take Bassanio’s money instead, but Portia insists that Shylock take his bond as written, or nothing at all. Portia informs Shylock that he is guilty of conspiring against the life of a Venetian citizen, which means he must turn over half of his property to the state and the other half to Antonio. The duke spares Shylock’s life and takes a fine instead of Shylock’s property. Antonio also forgoes his half of Shylock’s wealth on two conditions: first, Shylock must convert to Christianity, and second, he must will the entirety of his estate to Lorenzo and Jessica upon his death. Shylock agrees and takes his leave.

Bassanio, who does not see through Portia’s disguise, showers the young law clerk with thanks, and is eventually pressured into giving Portia the ring with which he promised never to part. Gratiano gives Nerissa, who is disguised as Portia’s clerk, his ring. The two women return to Belmont, where they find Lorenzo and Jessica declaring their love to each other under the moonlight. When Bassanio and Gratiano arrive the next day, their wives accuse them of faithlessly giving their rings to other women. Before the deception goes too far, however, Portia reveals that she was, in fact, the law clerk, and both she and Nerissa reconcile with their husbands. Lorenzo and Jessica are pleased to learn of their inheritance from Shylock, and the joyful news arrives that Antonio’s ships have in fact made it back safely. The group celebrates its good fortune.

Analysis of Shylock's monologue, I am a Jew

There are perhaps fewer disturbing lines in all of Shakespeare than Shylock’s promise to Solanio and Salarino in Act III, scene i, that he will outdo the evil that has been done to him. Shylock begins by eloquently reminding the Venetians that all people, even those who are not part of the majority culture, are human. A Jew, he reasons, is equipped with the same faculties as a Christian, and is therefore subject to feeling the same pains and comforts and emotions. The speech, however, is not a celebration of shared experience or even an invitation for the Venetians to acknowledge their enemy’s humanity. Instead of using reason to elevate himself above his Venetian tormenters, Shylock delivers a monologue that allows him to sink to their level: he will, he vows, behave as villainously as they have. The speech is remarkable in that it summons a range of emotional responses to Shylock. At first, we doubtlessly sympathize with the Jew, whose right to fair and decent treatment has been so neglected by the Venetians that he must remind them that he has “hands, organs, dimensions, senses” similar to theirs (III.i.50). But Shylock’s pledge to behave as badly as they, and, moreover, to “better the instruction,” casts him in a less sympathetic light (III.i.61). While we understand his motivation, we cannot excuse the endless perpetuation of such villainy.

Composer: Rogers and Hammenstein

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Rodgers and Hammerstein

Rodgers and Hammerstein were a musical duo that changed the world of musical theatre and inspired many more modern composers. Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein (1895 - 1960) joined forces in 1943 to create over 10 musicals, OKLAHOMA! being the first.

List of shows they have written/composed/responsible for

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) Review

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007)

Director: Tim Burton
Music composed by: Stephen Sondheim
Playwright: Patrick Quentin
Adapted from: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

CAST

Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd
Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett
Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin
Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony
Sacha Baron Cohen as Adolfo Pirelli
Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford
Ed Sanders as Tobias Ragg
Jayne Wisener as Johanna

SYNOPSIS

Judge Turpin (played by Alan Rickman) lusts for the wife of London barber, Benjamin Barker, later known as Sweeney Todd (played by Johnny Depp). Turpin then transports Sweeney Todd him to Australia for a crime he did not commit. 15 years later, Barker returns with a new name in Sweeney Todd, a mad-man vowing revenge and applying his sharp tools to unlucky customers and he then shuts them down to Mrs. Lovett (played by Helena Bonham-Carter), who uses the bodies to make pies in her shop. Todd's ultimate aim is to not just kill many innocent souls but to, one day, slit Turpin's throat.

REVIEW

MY FRIENDS

PRETTY WOMEN

EPIPHANY

At the beginning of the film, we get introduced to Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony on a ship to London, explaining the positives of what it must be like living in London. Then we get introduced to Johnny Depp as the main character, Sweeney Todd, talking about his experiences of London and his previous life before being captured by Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin and sent away to Australia for 15 years for a crime he didn't commit. I believe this was a very good introduction to Sweeney Todd, as this gave me information about the character and what their objective are. In this case, Sweeney Todd's objective is to cut Judge Turpin's throat, after her captured his wife. My favourite scene and song in the show would be when Sweeney Todd is reunited with his utensils for shaving. The song featured in this scene is 'My Friends'. As it is almost said in the title, it showed a reunion between so-called 'friends' with Sweeney Todd and his utensils after it appeared he hasn't seen these tools for quite some time. Also in this scene, it appears that Helena Bonham Carter's character named Mrs. Lovett has a love passion for Sweeney Todd, not only said in the words but in the actions she used, like touching his shoulders and her head resting on his shoulders as well.

Chicago (2002) Review

CHICAGO (2002)

Director: Rob Marshall
Story by: Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb and Maurine Dallas Watkins
Adapted from: Chicago The Musical

CAST

Renee Zellweger as Roxie Hart
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly
Richard Gere as Billy Flynn
Queen Latifah as Matron 'Mama' Morton
John C. Reilly as Amos Hart
Taye Diggs as The Bandleader
Christine Baranski as Mary Sunshine
Lucy Liu as Kitty Baxter

SYNOPSIS

When nightclub star, Velma Kelly (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) kills her husband, a lawyer in Chicago, Billy Flynn (played by Richard Gere) defends her. But when Roxie Hart (played by Renee Zellweger) winds up in the same prison as her, Billy takes on her case. This created tension between th two and they then fight each other and the public for fame.

REVIEW

ALL THAT JAZZ

CELL BLOCK TANGO

WHEN YOU GOOD TO MAMA

Near the beginning of the film, we had Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly singing the musical's most famous songs, All That Jazz. During this song, we saw Renee Zellweger as Roxie Hart, getting up close and personal with Fred Kasely, played by Dominic West. This was a very good introduction to the film as it introduced our two main female characters, Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart. This also is one of my favourite scenes in the movie as it engages the audience into what's going to happen next. One of my favourite characters in the film was Matron 'Mama' Morton, played by Queen Latifah. I liked how she has two identities, from one being the boss and showing she is a very powerful lady in the jail cell to being quite a revealing, innocent woman during when she was performing her song 'When You're Good to Mama' on stage. This shows a contrast in her character from being quite an innocent, confused girl to a more controlling woman who doesn't liked to get double-crossed by anyone else. This scene is also important because it showed that when she was jail, she changed her personality as well.