"Edgy". The word renders my teeth so. Humour puffed-up as "edgy" makes me think of Woody Allen's quip about satire not being as effective as bricks and baseball bats. English satire on the BBC, of which I tire, encourages us, say, in the face of Murdoch influence in the police and at No10, to snigger, sneer and have another pint. When Jonathan Swift reached for his pen, it became a baseball bat, and 'Gulliver's Travels' was being read 'from the Cabinet Office to the nursery'. Such is the…

Go. This production gives the spectator a chance to witness the power of Shakespeare in unique new ways, and, as with all productions which align themselves to serve his talent, Shakespeare emerges as the glittering star of the evening. Some of Bertold Brecht's adaptation is in there somewhere, in the simplified language of the citizens.

This was my second Shakespeare of the week. As with the Wooster Group's foray into 'Troilus and Cressida', there was a serious attempt to…

I had, in the past, considered going to New York to see the Wooster Group. I made the commitment to drive back home late at night from the Swan Theatre In Stratford on Avon to save me an air fare. I managed to get one of the last remaining tickets for one of the previews. In a co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company, they have created a production of Shakespeare’s ‘Troilus and Cressida’, having rehearsed separately for a time, and joining together for final and production…