“The bones and guts are on display”: Behind the sound and stage design of The Tempest
“The isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears” (3.2.148) The first time I heard about the upcoming Oxford Playhouse production of The Tempest, directed by Costi Levy, was during an int
Shakespeare and Shoes
As a schoolboy in Cape Town in the 1960s, I lapped up books by the American satirical writer, Richard Armour, the author who once reminded us that libraries are “places where you lower your voice and raise your mind”. Although the racially-segregated libraries of apartheid South Africa symboli
The Fault, Dear Brutus, is Not in Our Students
First, a confession: I’m a second year English student, but aged sixteen, I couldn’t stand Shakespeare. I know, I know. It’s the kind of blasphemy which ignites witch-hunts and kicks academia into uproar. I’ll hasten to point out that I do like Shakespeare now. And my transformation in opini
