The Play’s the Thing

A Level Shakespeare texts on stage

If you live within reach of one of the following productions, which are all on exam board syllabuses, do try and get to see ‘your’ play acted live. Some productions are soon to end their run, but others are listed to book for 2014. It is the best way to make the most of the bard’s drama:

Antony and Cleopatra

• RSC Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 7 – 30 November (0870 6091110).    www.rsc.org.uk
• Southend Shakespeare Company, Dixon Studio, Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea, 20 - 30 November (01702 351 135).   http://eskape.brinkster.net/home/index.asp

As You Like It

• Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory. The Tobacco Factory, Bristol, 13 Feb - 22 March 2014 (0117 902 0344).

Coriolanus

• Donmar Warehouse. London, 6 December – 8 February 2014 (0844 871 7624).   www.donmarwarehouse.com

Hamlet

• The Faction.  The New Diorama Theatre, London, 4 January – 22 February 2014 (0844 2090344).   www.thefaction.org.uk

Henry IV, pt.1

• RSC. Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 18 March – 16 September 2014 (0844 800 1110).  www.rsc.org.uk

King Lear

• Chichester Festival.  Minerva Theatre, Chichester, 31 October – 30 November (01243 781 312).    http://www.cft.org.uk/
• National Theatre. Olivier Theatre, from January 2014 (dates TBA) (020 7452 3000).   www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

• Propeller. Theatre Royal, Bath, 19 – 23 November (01225 448844); Swan Theatre, High Wycombe (01494 512 000); Lyceum, Sheffield, 23 January - 1 February 2014 (0114 249 6000); Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, 11 - 15 February (024 7655 3055); Theatre Royal, Manchester, 18 - 22 February (0115 989 5555); The Lowry, the Lyric, Salford, 26 February - 1 March (0843 208 6000); The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, 4 - 8 March (01227 787787); Rose Theatre, Kingston, week of 10 March 2014 (08444 821 556); Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, week of 17 March 2014 (01242 572573); Theatre Royal, Norwich, 25 - 29 March (01603 63 00 00); Theatre Royal, Newcastle, 1 - 5 April (08448 11 21 21); King's Theatre, Edinburgh, 16 - 19 April (0131 529 6000); Theatre Royal, Plymouth, week of 5 May 2014 (01752 267222).   http://propeller.org.uk
• Brewery Arts.  The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, 28 – 30 November  (01539 725 133).   www.breweryarts.co.uk
• London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Pleasance Theatre, Islington, London, 28 November – 5 December (020 7609 1800).  www.lamda.org.uk

Othello

• The Icarus Theatre Collective. Weston Auditorium, Hatfield, 2 December   (01707 281127);   Mumford Theatre, Cambridge, 3 – 4 December  (01223 352932); Millfield Theatre, London, 27 – 28 January 2014 (0208 8076680); Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales, 30 January 2014  (01492 872000); Braintree Arts Theatre, 1 February 2014 (01376 556354); Buxton Opera House, 6 – 7 February 2014 (0845 1272190); Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, 10 – 11 Feburary  2014 (01743 281281); Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, 17 March  2014 (01293 553636); Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield, 19 March 2014 (01246 345222); The Atkinson, Southport, 20 – 21 March 2014 (01704 533333); Stafford Gatehouse, 24 March 2014 (01785 254653); Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre, 25 March 2014 (01429 890000); Queen's Hall, Hexham, 26 March 2014 (01434 652477); Customs House, South Shields, 27 March 2014 (0191 4541234); Harpenden Public Halls, 7 April 2014 (01582 767525).   http://www.icarustheatre.org/

Richard II

• RSC.  The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 10 October – 16 December; Barbican, London, 9 December – 25 January 2014 (0870 6091110).    www.rsc.org.uk

Richard III

• Nottingham Playhouse and York Theatre Royal. York Theatre Royal, 19 – 30 November (01904 623 568).   www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
• Cambridge University European Theatre Group. ADC Theatre, Cambridge, 14 – 18 January 2014  (01223 300085).   http://www.adctheatre.com
• Bournemouth Shakespeare Players. Priory House Garden, Christchurch, 15 – 19, and 22- 26 July 2014 (01202 534779)  http://www.bshakespearep.org/

The White Devil brought to life

Book now!

Like buses, productions of Hamlet come and go quite frequently. If you miss one, there’s likely to be another fairly soon. The same cannot be said for productions of John Webster’s The White Devil. This gutsy Jacobean tragedy is full of passion, violence and spectacle but performed only infrequently. This is a shame, as it’s a great play, as well as being a set text on the following syllabuses:

• AQA English Literature B
• OCR English Literature
• Cambridge Pre U

As anybody knows, when you are trying to grapple with a printed play text, the best thing you can do is see it brought to life on stage.

Today you have the chance, as booking has just opened for a new production of The White Devil by the RSC. The run is from the end of August to the start of October, which means that realistically a student group can only book between 3rd Sep – 3rd October. If you are studying the play, do let your teacher know, as tickets are likely to run out very quickly. Go to http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats- on/the-white-devil/ for details.

A vivid interpretation

One of the reasons the RSC are staging Webster’s revenge tragedy is because it features two feisty female roles in Vittoria and her maid, Zanche. These women are prepared to defy convention and fight for their rights within a controlling patriarchal society. The play is part of a season focusing on strong women in Jacobean drama.

Judging from the reviews of other recent productions by director, Maria Aberg, you can be confident that she will provide an engaging and powerful drama, full of fresh ways of understanding Webster’s world.

Be prepared

Before seeing it on stage, it really helps to be familiar with the plot of The White Devil. If you want a quick way in to the text, the synopses provided here will quickly give you a handle on the action.

There is much more detail available for when you delve into the play more fully and don’t forget that Crossref-it.info for Google Chrome also has a handy revision/study plan to help you collate everything you know about the text ready for examination.

Gatsby for the Facebook generation

Surface success

Facebook is a competitive environment:

> How rapidly can you update your status and how prestigious can you make it?

> How many friends can you boast of?

> How many wacky photos can you post to prove you’re having fun?

If it had been around in this era, Jay Gatsby (hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby) would have been a social media success. His blog would have been followed, his Tweets would trend. Where he was, was where the world gathered.

Of course, Gatsby had the ultimate Facebook profile, presenting the glamorous identity in which he wanted people to believe. But, like many Facebook profiles, it wasn’t entirely genuine. Charismatic Jay’s surprising backstory was that of itinerant Jimmy Gatz from North Dakota.

And just like the insubstantiality of today’s Facebook friends, Gatsby’s death demonstrated how hollow his relationships actually were. Even the idol of Gatsby’s enduring passion – Daisy Fay/Buchanan – could not withstand the weight of real engagement. Like much internet dating, their relationship thrived best at a distance.

Understanding Gatsby’s world

Launched this week is a new A Level study guide on The Great Gatsby. It will help you understand the world Fitzgerald was writing within and the symbolism by which he translated this into his novel. It deals with the Jazz Age’s quest for self-definition and the outworking of its hedonism. Characterisation and narrative are discussed in depth, whilst handy synopses and chapter commentaries will guide you through the text, also online at texts.crossref-it.info/text/the-great-gatsby. And if you need help with coursework assignments or exam prep, you’ll find it.

The Great Gatsby certainly provides a window into 1920s society, but Fitzgerald’s slim novel also provides a perspective on ours.

A fresh start and a new resource!

KS5 - a steep climb 

So – you’ve been back a couple of weeks and the first major assignments are rolling in. The reality of studying English Literature and Language at Advanced / Higher Level is starting to bite…

It has been said for years that the academic jump required between the demands of GCSE and A Level is greater than that between A Level and Undergraduate study, so don’t worry if you are starting KS5 and feeling somewhat swamped – everybody is at this stage!

We do hope that, if your mates and teachers don’t yet know about how Crossrefit.info can help with your A Level studies, you will have mercy on them and share the good news that help is at hand (yes, even teachers need help sometimes!).

Even better, we are about to launch a major new development which will support anyone approaching Literature from a thematic basis, using comparative texts.

‘Only Connect’

E M Forster’s famous adage ‘Only Connect’ (from his novel, Howards End) heads up a new section of the Cross Reference website. In it we have taken a unifying theme and then looked at how that runs through various texts featured onsite.

Most A Level syllabuses have a section where they want you to understand how different writers have dealt with similar ideas, be it the experience of war, the handling of romantic love or the portrayal of ageing. But where to start when there are so many texts and aspects to choose from?

In Only Connect the Crossref-it team have done a lot of the hard work for you, providing hundreds of helpful links to a variety of onsite sources. From next week you can access the following themed collections:

• Parents and children
• Women finding a voice
• Love, lust and marriage

Thereafter a new theme will appear every other month. Look out for ‘Attitudes to death’ and ‘The impact of location’ as term unfolds.

Meanwhile, keep writing, keep reading and above all, however challenging A Level English might seem right now, KEEP GOING!

It’s a boy!

The new prince has arrived at last. Such a tiny scrap of humanity, and yet already people are predicting what his life will be like. A huge weight of expectation rests on his tiny shoulders – how will he measure up?

Judging others & being judged

It doesn’t seem fair that so many judgements are passed on people in the public arena, yet they are. Indeed, we do it all the time ourselves. Often about others, but sometimes about ourselves too.
Perhaps you are waiting for exam results which will let you see how you compare to others. For good or bad, how we think we’ve done doesn’t always tally with how we are assessed by others!

A perspective from Shakespeare

In many of his dramas, Shakespeare examines the gaps between how people see themselves and how others perceive them; at a character’s public presentation of themselves and the reality. This theme is particularly foregrounded in Shakespeare’s ‘problem’ play, Measure for Measure.

Angelo lays down the law, but doesn’t bear examination himself. Can his hypocrisy be shown up by the virtues of Isabella? Is anyone able to shine light into the dark recesses of his heart? At a deeper level the play questions whether any of us have the right to judge another?

Measure for Measure productions

This summer you can still catch some productions of Measure for Measure (see below). If you are studying the play at A Level, there’s also a handy new Measure for Measure study plan (as part of the Crossref-it.info English Literature app for the Google Chrome browser) to help you work through the plot and the issues it presents.

After engaging with the play we might just hold back a little more from criticising or condemning those we know, or those in the public eye. We might just give Baby Cambridge a chance….

Productions

• Steam Industry in association with the Union Theatre and Rosendale Productions. Union Theatre, Southwark, 2 - 27 July.  www.uniontheatre.biz
• Bournemouth Shakespeare Players. Priory House Garden, Christchurch, 16 – 27 July (01202 534779) www.bshakespearep.btinternet.co.uk
• Cotswold Arcadians. Hatherop Castle, Gloucestershire, 29 July – 3 August (01285 898 019). www.arcadians.org
• Oxford Theatre Guild. North Wall Theatre, Oxford, 23 – 26 October (check website for ticket information).  www.oxfordtheatreguild.com

We have a winner!

Who’s won the Nexus 7?

For the last few weeks, whenever you’ve visited Crossref-it.info you will have been given the opportunity to win a Nexus 7 by answering a few brief questions. The competition has now closed and we are thrilled to announce that Lucy from Eastleigh was the lucky winner selected at random to receive the prize. With the summer holidays soon upon us, we hope Lucy can while away her leisure hours exploring the fantastic range of features the Nexus offers. Of course, the mobile version of Crossref-it.info also works beautifully on the Nexus!

A chance to improve

Meanwhile, we will be busy looking at the feedback to the questions we asked. We know people use Crossref-it all round the world to help them make the most of their reading. We want to work out which features of the site you find are most helpful, what you’d like to see developed or expanded and how the information we provide makes a difference. Of course, it’s always nice to find out what we’re doing right too!

Everybody’s response will be noted – we want to make sure that over the coming months we offer all the features you might be looking for as you delve into the riches of English Lit. or the complexities of the English Language.

Let us know

Even if you didn’t take part in our survey, we’d love to hear from you. Whether it’s about your experience of Crossref-it or what you are getting out of your reading, just leave us a comment. And if there’s any info you think we need to know (a brilliant drama production, a helpful web page or cultural event) do share it with us!

Austen’s mature work

What’s your favourite?

For anyone who is hoping to read English at university, a typical interview question may be to ask which your favourite texts are and why. (Handy hint for those who will be facing interviews next term, or who might encounter them in clearing: the interviewee hopes you are going to have engaged with more than just the works you studied for A Level!)

When I was applying to study English, my response about favourites would at some point include the works of Jane Austen. I had read them all over the years and particularly enjoyed Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, though struggled with the passivity of Fanny in Mansfield Park.

But which, questioned the interviewer on one occasion, did I think might have been Austen’s personal favourite? Hmmm.

Austen’s favourite?

Doubtless she was proud of all her output, but it seemed to me then, as it does now, that Jane Austen would most favour the endeavors of Anne Elliot in Persuasion. Anne, who is overlooked, has lost her dreams and is getting to the critical position of being ‘on the shelf’ in Regency society, yet who is wise, generous, quiet fun and astute in her assessment of others.

Anne is surrounded by the family from hell yet makes the best of it. She is fussed over by good friends but not taken in by them. She knows that she’s losing the charm of youth yet sees through the flattery that someone else in her situation might cling to.

Above all Persuasion is a story of hope and romance, played out by characters who have ‘been around the block’ and know what is worth holding on to. It is conjectured that Austen herself was engaged in a romance with a family connection, Tom Lefroy, that ultimately faltered. Persuasion could be seen as a literary re-write: one where the heroine does not have to sacrifice her personality in order to wine society’s prize: a story that allows a gentle - yet perceptive, under-confident - yet radiant, older woman to finally attain the man of her dreams.

Why not remind yourself?

This month’s Persuasion revision plan release from Crossref-it.info will guide you through Austen’s slim novel. If you think you remember it well, why not try out your skills on the quiz? Alternatively, you might be trying to gather together the thoughts and notes from a year of studying and would really benefit from seeing how it all fits together in a variety of essay plans. However you approach it, why not try Persuasion for yourself and see if you agree that Austen might have liked it best?