News
November News
This month we have entered another couple of years from the archive, so now everything from 1981 to 1983 is now fully searchable. It's interesting to see what names come up such as, Tilda Swinton and Judi Dench. We'll continue entering the data and we're on track to enter the whole archive by next summer. It will be a wonderful addition to Theatre Record.
Thank you to all of you who have suggested ideas to improve Theatre Record, and we will implement them as we go along. One of the things we will be doing is to create a way to put the 'What's On' listings into alphabetical order. We'll also be tidying up the listings page. If you have any more suggestions, we'd love to hear them. Suggestions are always welcome to editor@theatrerecord.com.
Enjoy any shows you manage to see this month and as always, thank you for subscribing to Theatre Record.
Sun 01 Oct 2023
October
I hope some of you have managed to catch some outdoor theatre and have been lucky with the weather. I managed to catch a reworking of 'The Tempest' outside at Portland Bill, here in Dorset. It was part of the b-side Festival fringe and was created by professional actors and writers working with local people and local actors. I loved it, and thought it was a great piece of community theatre, set in a dramatic location to add to the atmosphere. Costumes were created by local designers and students of Bournemouth University, and the music and singing came from Portland's Island Voices Community Choir. A great collaboration. Well done to all involved.
The last time I saw 'The Tempest' was in the early 90's, again an outdoor production set in the grounds of Corfe Castle here in Dorset. I didn't really think anything at the time, but in the lead role was a young Mark Rylance. Again, a fantastic, atmospheric production.
I've been busy inputting the data for the search engine of Theatre Record from 1981 this week. It has been interesting to see names come up from then, and I saw that Mark Rylance was in a production of Eastward Ho! in 1981 at the Mermaid Theatre. Another young actress in the same production being Anita Dobson.
As I reflect on the career of another great, Sir Michael Gambon, I read the reviews form the 1981 production of Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre, where he played Benedick.
As I continue to add all the 40 plus years of information from Theatre Record, it's so interesting to see where some of these famous names started out. I hope once I've finished inputting all the data that Theatre Record will be a comprehensive, essential resource and the database will increase with time.
As always, please pass on any comments or suggestions to editor@theatrerecord.com.
Thank you
Fri 01 Sep 2023
September
Edinburgh Fringe and International festivals are over for another year and I hope you enjoyed them if you managed to go. Most reviews are in now, and you can now see the listings on the 2023 archive page. We managed to cover 590 productions with 1328 reviews so far. There were nearly 3000 cast involved and almost 1700 creatives. What an achievement for everyone and I'm sure it was a great experience for those first timers.
We're still working on adding the back catalogue and this month we will be adding 1982 and 1983, so they will then be fully searchable. It's interesting to see some names back in the 80's issues as people were just starting out or working mostly in theatre such as Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Tessa Peake Jones and David Bradley.
We'll continue to bring you all the reviews and as always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know at editor@theatrerecord.com