handcrafted film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
This news is two weeks old, so it might be moot at this point (though I suspect not), but readers of the fan site David Tennant The Site are raising money to endow a seat in his name in the new theater under construction at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s home base in Stratford-upon-Avon. All the … more…
Take a break from work: watch a TV trailer… I can’t wait to see this again, though I don’t imagine it can possibly capture the energy and the immediacy it had on stage. I hope it comes close. For those just tuning in, I saw this production in Stratford-upon-Avon last year, and loved it; my … more…
[previous] On Tuesday, it was all touring through the Cotswolds and an evening of theater: Nigel the Charity Pig had himself a stroke of luck when he ran into me. He could have been picked up by a grubby six-year-old and ended up thrown out the car window onto the side of the M40 covered … more…
[previous] Yesterday, Nigel the Charity Pig joined me and my pal Bonnie at the Stratford Festival of Food: What you see there are the remains of a rabbit, venison, and pheasant pie — no pigs were harmed in the making of it. (Nigel remained safely in my bag while we sampled all the many delicious … more…
We picked up Nigel in a Welcome Break rest area off the M40 when we arrived in England on Wednesday. He was sitting there all forlorn at the register when I went to pay for my coffee, surrounded by a bunch of stuffed frogs, who are — as everyone knows — absolutely the worst conversationalists, … more…
I’m heading off to Stratford-upon-Avon again for a reprise of the trip I took this same time last year. I leave on Tuesday night, arrive Wednesday morning, and return back to New York on Sunday, October 4. Last year’s trip was such a blast that my travel buddy Bonnie and I decided to do it … more…
obsession: the plays of William Shakespeare (cuz he never goes out of style) boyfriend: Peter Davison in The Last Detective at the moment (but pretty much forever in anything) psyched: absolutely nothing (the next month or so is a movie wasteland) dreading: Knowing (see above about cinematic wastelands) enemy: everyone responsible for Fired Up! (for … more…
As reader BillM (and others) noted in comments, David Tennant has had to drop out of West End performances of Hamlet through at least Christmas. At first it was just a nonspecified “back injury” that forced him to miss one performance, then a second, then it was “out for weeks to recover from surgery for … more…
Please don’t consider this a review. I saw the very first preview of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. This was the very first time the company was performing the play in front of an audience, and it was obvious, at least to someone like me, with experience not just as … more…
The RSC’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost — starring David Tennant as Berowne — debuts with its first preview on Thursday night. And I will be there. Where I was last night was at the Dirty Duck, the RSC’s hangout pub down the street from the Courtyard Theatre… and also there for dinner, at the … more…
