BEAUTIFUL This, to me unexpectedly, was the most beautiful single hour in a theatre yet. Visually, musically, and in its majesty and depth of speech impossible to fault, it’s a little piece of perfection. I came to hear Simon Russell Beale narrate, from a chair , this long, wild, erotic and romantic poem about the goddess Venus and her pursuit of the mortal Adonis. I came too for the pleasure of seeing him directed with Greg Doran’s invariably thoughtful judgement of Shakespeare’s clarity, pace and meaning. I had vaguely heard that there was also an elegant set and some puppets, and Nick Lee with atmospheric guitar for mood and period. But I did not expect the power and small-scale grandeur of Robert Jones’ design – an intricate gilded and draped theatre frame, with shadow-puppetry and tiny figures deep behind drawing you into the mythical dream as the first doves pull Venus’ flying carriage through the blue distance. And I certainly had not appreciated in advance the brilliance of…
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