Helpful productions of A Level syllabus Shakespeare

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Hamlet

• ACS Random.  Park Theatre, London, 2 – 14 December (020 7870 6876). http://www.acsrandom.co.uk/ACS_Random/Home.html 
• Sonia Friedman Productions.  Directed by Lyndsey Turner.  Benedict Cumberbatch as (Hamlet). Barbican, London, 5 August – 31 October 2015 (0845 120 7550)

Henry IV, pt.1

• Royal Shakespeare Company. Directed by Gregory Doran. Antony Sher (Falstaff)
  • Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, 28 October - 1 November (01274 432 000)
  • Theatre Royal, Bath, 4 November -  8 November (01225 448 844)
  • Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, 11 November - 15 November (01227 787 787)
  • Barbican Centre, London, 29 November - 24 January 2015 (0845 120 7550). www.rsc.org.uk [P]
• Donmar Warehouse.  Directed by Phyllida Lloyd.  Harriet Walter (Henry IV).  Donmar Warehouse, London, 3 October – 29 November (0844 871 7624). http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/ [P]
• Pleasance, Inner London. 26 Nov – 4 Dec. (0207 609 1800). www.pleasance.co.uk [P]

King Lear

• Crescent Theatre Company. Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, 8 – 15 November (0121 643 5858). www.crescent-theatre.co.uk [A]

Macbeth

• National Youth Theatre.  Directed by Ed Hughes. Ambassador Theatre, London, 19 September – 26 November (08448 112 334).  http://www.nyt.org.uk/ [A]
• Brixham Theatre, Devon. 19 November. (01803 852 829) www.uktw.co.uk/Brixham/Brixham-Theatre/V884/ [P]
• Sharnbrook Mill Theatre Trust, Sharnbrook Mill Theatre, Bedford, 15-20 September 2015 www.sharnbrookmilltheatre.co.uk [A]
• Macbeth – in pitch black.
  • St George’s Theatre, Great Yarmouth, 1 November (01493 745 461) www.stgeorgestheatre.com
  • Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax, 16 November (01422 349 422) www.squarechapel.co.uk [P]

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

• Questor’s Theatre, Ealing, London, 11 – 15 November (020 8567 5184). www.questors.org.uk [P]

Othello

• Frantic Assembly.  Directed by Scott Graham.  http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/  [P]
  • The Curve, Leicester, 28 October - 1 November (0116 242 3595)
  • CAST, Doncaster, 4 - 8 November (01302 303 959)
  • REP, Birmingham, 12 - 15 November (0121 236 4455)
  • The Lowry (Quays), Salford, 18 - 29 November (0843 208 6000)
  • Lyric Hammersmith, London, 13 January 2015 - 7 February 2015 (020 8741 6850).  
• Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Directed by Iqbal Khan. 4 June – 28 August 2015. (0870 609 1110) www.rsc.org.uk [P]

Richard III

• Theatre Collection, Upstairs at the Lord Stanley, London. 10 October – 2 November. www.theatrecollection.net  [P]
• Theatre Royal, Norwich. 11 – 13 December. (01603 630 000) www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk [P]
• The Cotswold Arcadians. Directed by David Sherratt. Hatherop Castle School, Gloucestershire, 20 - 25 July 2015. Open-air production. www.arcadians.org [A]

The Tempest

• The Apollo Theatre, Newport, Isle of Wight, 15 – 23 May 2015 (01983 527 267).
• This Last Tempest.  (adaptation) Uninvited Guests & Fuel.
  • Festival Theatre, Malvern, 4 – 5 November (01684 892 277)
  • Quarterhouse, Folkestone, 7 – 8 November (01303 858 500)
  • Cambridge Junction, Cambridge, 26 November (01223 511 511)
  • Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, 27 November (01206 873 261)
  • Theatre Royal, Margate, 28 – 29 November (0845 130 1786). 

Twelfth Night

• English Touring Theatre (ETT). Directed by Jonathan Munby. 
  • Grand Theatre, Blackpool, 28 August – 1 November
  • Watford Palace Theatre, 4 – 8 November
  • Cambridge Arts Theatre, 11 – 15 November
  • Hall for Cornwall, 18 – 22 November
  • Richmond Theatre, London, 18 – 22 November (0870 060 6651)
  • Theatre Royal, Brighton, 25 – 29 November (08700 606 650). www.ett.org.uk 
• Watermill Young Company. Directed by Seamus Allen. Watermill Theatre, Newbury, 12 – 15 November (01635 46044). www.watermill.org.uk  [A]
• Brighton Little Theatre,  
  • Brighton, 23 - 27 June 2015 (0844 888 0432)
  • Lewes Castle, Lewes, 2 – 5 July 2015 (01273 486 290).  www.brightonlittletheatre.com  [A]

The Winter’s Tale

• Lion and Unicorn Theatre, London, 9 December 2014 – 3 January 2015 (08444 771 000).  www.giantolive.com [P]

Here to help with Advanced English

Starting out

Welcome to all who are starting a new course in English at AS / A2 / Undergraduate Level! Many of you are sixth-formers, a month into your new course and probably already experiencing the significant change of academic rigour compared to your studies so far. It’s about this time that the first AS/A2 essays are being set and the rubber really hits the road!

To help you make the huge step up from GCSE, if you go to Successful study you will find lots of helpful guidance about getting to grips with different genres and advice about how to approach A Level standard essay writing.

You will also know by now what set texts you are studying and may find a range of them covered at Detailed text guides.

Here’s what one A level student wrote to a member of the Xref team this summer:

I remembered your email about Crossref-it and I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for pointing me in that direction, it's been SUCH a huge help. I emailed my class and teacher saying how useful it had been, and that they might like to look at it, and they all emailed back saying it was a complete life saver. 

I used The White Devil and Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. The context sections were AMAZING because they really related to the texts in a way that you could use the information to illustrate a point in the exam. Also, everything was so concise and well-worded that I didn't have to spend ages trying to figure out what in particular they were referring to and how that tied in with themes etc.

Sharing the good news is just what we like, so please be as generous as this student was in letting your mates know that they don’t have to struggle alone.

Going further

Meanwhile, many undergrads are just about recovering from Freshers’ Week and now engaging with their first lectures and seminars. Crossref-it material isn’t designed to sustain you as you develop your critical faculties at degree level, but for first year undergrads it can be a life saver!

Suddenly you are expected to make sense of texts in just one week rather than a term of teaching, and to have a grasp of a much wider literary scene. That’s when the Crossref-it.info Aspects of Literature and Writers in context sections really give you a head start.

As another student told us:

Great for studying. So much information. Wish I had discovered it earlier! Will continue to use it all throughout university. :)

We’re sure he won’t be the only one!