by Annette Rubery | Nov 25, 2023 | Shakespeare
King Lear, Wyndham's Theatre, London, 2023. I was excited to finally see Kenneth Branagh in King Lear at Wyndham’s Theatre last night, having booked months ago. I last saw him live in a Shakespeare play (Hamlet) in 1992, so was nostalgic about his return to the...
by Annette Rubery | Nov 12, 2023 | Opera, Theatre History
"Little Whig" in the front garden of a law office on Bedford Row. I had read there was an important relic of John Vanbrugh’s Italian opera house in the Haymarket to be seen in Bedford Row. The first Haymarket theatre was co-managed, at least in the first...
by Annette Rubery | Nov 11, 2023 | History
The Hercules Pillars pub: between Holborn and Covent Garden, London. Last night we went to see Handel’s Jephtha at Covent Garden. On the way, we stopped for a drink at the Hercules Pillars. On August 7th 1718, Sir John Vanbrugh wrote to the Duke of Newcastle: I...
by Annette Rubery | Nov 8, 2023 | Shakespeare
An edition of the First Folio (London, 1623) seen at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, April 23rd 2023. Today marks the culmination of the 400th birthday celebrations of the First Folio: one of the most influential books ever to have been published. We travelled to...
by Annette Rubery | Nov 4, 2023 | Architecture, History
As we were in Oxford, we thought we’d have a look at a building on St Michael’s Street, close to the Oxford Union, that had the reputation of being by Sir John Vanbrugh. It probably isn’t, but it’s an intriguing bit of Baroque architecture that...
