Cathy's Art Diary

Disappointing e xhibition  at the National Army Museum looking at Shakespeare and war. I say disappointing because, although the narrative was set out clearly, the vast majority of items on the show were reproductions and photographs of works. The show looked not only at how Shakespeare wrote about war but how it has been used in times of conflict from the English Civil War to contemporary readings. I was fascinated to read that Charles I had a copy of the folio which he was reading as he waited trial which he annotated. The Napoleonic wars were mainly represented by satirical prints often using Shakespearean quotes and the First World War section included a copy of the complete works which were given to wounded and sick soldiers. It was an interesting idea to add contemporary productions which included a video of the National Theatre Othello which had had a military adviser who had been head of the armed forces in Iraq. Closed 1 September 2024

Useful lecture at the British Library on Shakespeare’s First Folio to mark the 400th anniversary of its publication. Adrian Edward’s from the library led us through the history of the publication and, in particular, of the library’s five copies. Due to corrections as the work was printed no two copies are the same and he took us through those varieties as well as showing differences due to their use and history. It was very special to then pop to their Treasures gallery to view one of their copies, once owned by Dr Johnson, and with a replacement front page which has been hand drawn as a perfect copy.    

Lovely little display at the National Maritime Museum showcasing Dulwich College's copy Shakespeare's First Folio as part of the Folio 400 celebrations. This was a lovely example of how a museum can tell a story quickly and clearly with just a few objects. They had the two volumes of the folio open on sections which related to the sea, the opening page of The Tempest and a section from Richard II which Clarence dreams about shipwrecks. These were cleverly paired two other documents or the school, a handwritten play script from about 1605 to show what the plays would have looked like before they were published and a petition   to the Lord High admiral from Thames watermen from around 1590 asking for the Rose Theatre to be reopened probably after a plague as they were losing money. It's well worth popping into the Maritime London gallery at the museum if you are there to see it. Closes 24 September 2023    

Nice little exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery using their portraits to focus on the Plantagenet plays of William Shakespeare. Although most of the pictures weren’t contemporary ones but later representations the commentaries were excellent and pointed out themes in the plays I’d not thought about before. It showed how they were commentaries on the politics of the times they were written in as well as being histories. They reflect the uncertainty of who would succeed Elizabeth and examined the nature of kingship. There was a good timeline of the Plantagenet kings alongside another of the plays. I’d not realised that the Wars of the Rose set of plays was written before the chronologically earlier set. Closes on 10 December 2019

Fantastic exhibition at the British Library to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare. The show took the novel approach of focusing on ten performances which showed different aspects of the development of the performance and influence of the plays. As a prologue it had some amazing documents from the handwritten accusations against Christopher Marlowe, a First Folio and various editions of the plays published in his lifetime. Two of the performances were from Shakespeare’s time, the first Hamlet at the Globe and the first play he wrote specifically for the Blackfriars indoor theatre, The Tempest. The Hamlet gave them the chance to look at different actor’s interpretation of the character. It also looked at the actors of the day and their stories. The Tempest section featured props from the Sam Wannamaker Theatre which I love. Other sections used specific performances to investigate themes. One looked at the first Hamlet to be performed outside Europe,...

Interesting exhibition at the National Theatre looking at the five productions of Hamlet they have put on from Peter O’Toole in 1963 to Rory Kinnear in 2010. There were nice displays of costume and set designs as well as programmes and posters. There were also recordings of some of the shows via headphones displays on red skulls. I loved the sections from Peter Hall’s diaries on directing the play including the wonderful quote about he was having the usual problems with the practicalities like “Where do you keep the spade?”

Brilliant exhibition at Kings College London at Somerset House organised by the National Archives and featuring nine original documents looking at Shakespeare’s life in London. The show is only small but it is very well presented with the documents in side rooms organised into four themes. They are explained well without overwhelming you with information. If you want to see the full transcript the attendants in each room have copies. I loved the AV display at the end recapping the exhibition using a map of London and some good animations. The first document is a bill of complaint of how company stole a theatre in Shoreditch and moved it to Southwark, rebuilding it as the Globe. Another room looked at documents concerning the performance of Richard II staged on the Eve of the Essex Rebellion at the instigation of the rebels. I love the fact that the actors wanted 40 shillings more because they said the play was old fashioned or maybe because they knew the performance might ...

Magical small exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at how Shakespeare’s plays have been performed down the ages. The star of the show was a video installation in a pagoda in the middle of the room with a fascinating film of modern actors, directors and designers talking about how they approach the plays. While you watched you realised that set into one side of the pagoda was a copy of the First Folio and around you were things like Henry Irvin’s shoes in which he played Richard III, tickets issue by Garrick to an anniversary show, Ellen Terry’s Desdemona handkerchief and much more. There weren’t a lot of things in this show but what there these were the right things. Adding the voices of contemporary actors was the best way of showing the power that Shakespeare still has.

Sumptuous exhibition at the British Museum looking at the world of Shakespeare, putting the plays into the context of their times. Themes covered included the histories, the classical plays, Arcadia and the place of Venice. It was particularly strong in the later sections and placing the works within Jacobean politics. I must admit as I know the period quite well I could have guessed most of the objects and pictures which might be in it. However one revelation to me was the diptych showing views of old St Paul's which was owned by John Donne. Two wonderfully detailed pictures  which even included a tiny choir in one scene. The use of text was good with quotes from the plays by most objects and good records of speeches. As ever St Crispin's day brought a tear to the eye but best was Brutus's speech with the actor holding a Roman medal commemorating the plot. It was a shame that at times the spoken word from other displays interrupted as well as the tinny s...