Here is a fact that just might come in handy one day for all the trivia fans out there: One in ten of the words Shakespeare used were coined by him. In effect, ten percent of what he wrote was made-up words. The fact that "Hamlet" was the recent winner of a poll by Penguin to find the greatest literary work in the English language, and that even today Shakespeare is still one of, if not the most widely performed playwrights in the world, only shows what an influence he has had on the English language and theatre as a whole. The problem with all those lovely new words he used, of course, are that most of them are seen today as being difficult to understand, and in the past Shakespeare's work has suffered in popularity as a result of being hard to follow for people who don't read lots of his plays. This is where companies like Shakespeare at The Tobacco Factory come in. When they were formed in 1999, their brief was to bring the plays of Stratford's favourite son to life in a more intimate, friendly atmosphere than in a "proper" theatre, and they've managed it admirably.

       The first production of the third season, "The Winter's Tale" Begins in Sicilia, where the King of that island suspects his wife of having a child with his own best childhood friend, the King of Bohemia. The child is to be taken and left in the wilds of the latter country to meet whatever fate may come her way, the wife runs out of the court and dies, and a proclamation from The Oracle arrives, stating that the wife was never guilty, and that the gods will not rest until they see this sorry turn of events put straight. As with the vast majority of Shakespeare's work (and, to be fair, most other playwrights of the time), it is somebody else's story, in this case Robert Greene's, but the RSC's "Man of the Millenium" (which of course he would be) has reworked it more than a little to provide a bit of comedy and a few nice twists in the final scene...

       The set, as with all the Tobacco Factory's productions, is right up close to the audience - this is the whole point of the theatre's layout. There is no scenery at all, and only necessary furniture, such as chairs and a desk for the court scene, is used. This sounds a little sparse, especially for an unabridged performance of a three-and-a-half-hour play, but it serves two very good purposes - it means that the actors can be seen from all four sides in the audience, and it focusses attention even more on them than it should already be. The lighting does a god job of bringing the mood up and down, and at this distance it even drags the audience right into the space around the actors during the soliloquies - combined with the often declamatory manner of Shakespeare's speech, this really makes the audience feel part of the performance.

       The acting itself cannot be seriously faulted, although the boy playing the King's son in the first act often did not project his voice very well. For such a young child this is perhaps being a little too nit-picking, and it didn't really detract from the meaning of the story at all, but it would have been nice, perhaps, to have heard those two lines.

       Normally with reviews from Bristol's non-touring venues (ie the Tobacco Factory and Old Vic), we would discuss the merits and demerits of the playwright, and, if he or she is a new writer, what kind of standard we can expect in the future. In the case of this play, however, I feel the author has already done rather well for himself, and in any case, it seems to make more sense to point out that considering the direction many companies go with Shakespeare - elaborate costumes, scenery and lighting, melodramatic acting and generally inaccessible staging - it is nice to see someone staging it in the same way as the rest of the theatre put on at this lovely little venue. I don't think it's an exaggeration at all to say that Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory can rival, if not better, the RSC, if not in terms of profit then certainly in terms of how well the production is done. Moreover, it's a testimony to Shakespeare's work that it can still stand up to more "modern" staging concepts and can still speak to a modern audience, even if a lot of the language may sound a little strange at first. An admirable effort, and one that fully deserves to have full houses right the way through such a long run - as indeed it has.

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Story

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Overall

(4 1/2 out of 5)

Performance Time:
7.30pm
2:30pm on Thursday 21st Feb 2002

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