Royal Shakespeare Recensioni 

I rarely write reviews but on this occasion, I feel motivated to do so.
My grandson is doing is GCSEs this coming year; they started Macbeth last year and it will continue to be one of their GCSE texts this year. I thought I would take him and three friends to see a live performance. We live in a London suburb and I am aware Macbeth is coming to the Globe in October, but I have been attending RSC productions for years and never been disappointed so I thought we would travel to Stratford and make a night of it. We had a quiz during the car journey and I was impressed how well they knew and understood the play.
So, to the production. I love the RSC. This is the first time my grandson has attended a live production.
Reviewer Katy Roberts, in the Central Drama Review, uses the word self-indulgent. Absolutely. My own view is that this production is for the director/ producer and whoever else decided on the approach. It is not for the audience.

Instead of just over two hours, over three hours in length.
The pace of the play failed.
We have Queen Duncan. She then appears at the end as a different character.
Banquo is also played by a woman. A Scottish female playing the part of Banquo might have worked but not when she alters Banquo's character. At certain moments Banquo resembled a Scottish comedian, who is no doubt very funny BUT Banquo is not funny.
Malcolm and Donalbain are also played by women; also they do not present the characters in a way that as either my grandson and friends, or I, could recognise.
Lady Macbeth was weak and did not present as the ambitious, driving force I have understood her to be.
As for the Porter's scene - had I been at Comedy Central or the Apollo then it would have been appropriate.
Finally, the fight between Macbeth and Macduff at the end - on and on, with all the effectiveness of a wrestling match.
I am a retired educator. My message to pupils when they were writing a story etc. was to remember to consider their audience. I would agree with the term - self-indulgent. I was very disappointed.

Appaling seating in swan theatre -hard and unstable - moves everytime someone in the same row moves
Little cushioning in seat base
Now have back pain the next day
And these are a replacement to the previous seating which was just as bad

We as a pensioner and daughter went to see the production of As You Like It on the 1st August 23 at the RSC Stratford on Avon.
On the RSC website there is no facility for the public to leave reviews of their plays, hence leaving one here.
Never having seen 'As You Like It' we had no idea what to expect. The actors were in casual clothes with no set, almost as though it was a rehearsal. We had no idea what was happening, there appeared no story that was followable, the whole production was rather bizarre and disjointed.
So disappointed we left at the interval. Thankfully as local residents we only paid £20 for two tickets.
As a first visit to a RSC production it was awful.

Unfortunately I didn't watch a play as the one showing was not suitable for those under 14.

We had a lovely time in the cafe and wandering about. Cannot fault the courtesy and knowledge of staff but this was spoilt by the policy not to accept cash. How many are budgeting and having to use cash but now can't access the many wonderful books, games etc in there. You have excluded some individuals by this policy I hope it is overturned when you come to discuss it again.

We have been to many performances at this theatre over the years but this was our first time doing the 'behind the scenes' tour.

Just amazing the work, commitment and passion that everyone puts in to enabling these performances

A friendly, knowledgeable guide, with an obvious passion for the theatre showed us 'behind the velvet curtain' to see costumes, lighting, sound and stage and we had a rare visit to the wings that made this a trip to remember!

Not to mention the Shakespeare museum with its interactive displays and a rare original copy of the 2nd portfolio... Just a tremendous hour that even engaged our teenage children.

Just a shame there are only 5 stars to give!

We watched a good performance of Alls Well That Ends Well. The actors were great and the staff were friendly.

We were also able to take a tour of the theatre from knowledgeable tourguides and look around the museum which was really interesting.

There is also a shop which was full of lovely items I wanted to buy.

The only disappoinment was the food from the cafe, which wasn't the best. Hopefully this was a one off and would be better on another visit.

So disappointing. Cancelled the performance a few days before we were due to visit, too late to cancel trains and hotel etc. - refunded ticket price but ignored several messages when trying to raise a complaint on the matter. Clearly don’t care about the customers.

If this is due to Covid 19 I understand but customer service certainly leaving something to be desired.

Really great experience and friendly staff

If you visit Stratford-Upon-Avon set aside a couple of hours to visit the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to see any productions but had a coffee and a wander around the place. No charge to go in, large gift shop, two coffee shops and a bar, lovely.