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In A Nutshell
In A Nutshell
Produced by Bell Shakespeare
Director Peter Evans
Cast: Peter Evans, Blazey Best, Eleni Cassimatis, James Evans, Harriet Gordon-Anderson. Robert Menzies, Toby Schmitz
The Neilson Nutshell, Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP
It was a delight to attend the first performance at Bell Shakespeare’s new home.
In In A Nutshell, the cast explains and demonstrates how and why The Bard has had us entertained, interested and intrigued for more than 400 years.
Even if you’re a Shakespeare fan, you’ll learn some new facts from this production. I found out that “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?” doesn’t mean what I thought it meant. Also, sixteen of Shakespeare’s plays might have been lost if not for the quick thinking of one man.
So many Shakespearean quotes are part of our everyday dialogue. “Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark”, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, “To be or not to be; that is the question”, “All the world’s a stage”, “All that glisters is not gold”, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears”, “Brevity is the soul of wit”, “What light through yonder window breaks”, “It was Greek to me” and “Off with his head!” are all familiar sayings.
All cast members are outstanding, and Harriet Gordon-Anderson probably had less to learn than the other actors after her impressive performance as Hamlet a few months ago.
Bell Shakespeare moved into its new facility this year at Pier 2/3 at the award-winning Walsh Bay Arts Precinct. The company occupies 1,700sqm of space over three levels, including the multipurpose studio and theatre space. The Neilson Nutshell is used for performances, rehearsals and events, with 357sqm of floor space. Featuring a fully flexible seating system with capacity for up to 296 people in multiple configurations, it has direct views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Luna Park.
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