About me –

I’m over sixty now (how did that happen?) and wearing well apart for a couple of dodgy knees. I’m retired, but used to be in computing – other jobs have included sales assistant, laundry worker and life model. Steve and I spend a lot of our time visiting theatres (no surprise there) and going to concerts (we’re heavily into folk rock – Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, etc) or football (dare I say we’re Brighton supporters?). Lots of TV gets watched in our house, too, from documentaries on all subjects through sport to crime drama and sci-fi, with some comedy thrown into the mix as well. When I get the time I enjoy reading crime fiction, especially the historical variety. Rumour has it that there’s such a thing as housework..???

About these notes –

I started writing these notes for the RSC Complete Works Festival, as I knew from past history that I’d forget far too much of the experience if I didn’t. I’ve found it a great help: even though I can read some of my early notes and not have a clue what I’m talking about, on the whole the memories are much stronger and fresher because they’ve been written down.

I take the ‘cultivated ignorance’ approach to Shakespeare, and a lot of other theatre too – I really don’t know what the plays are about, which version is ‘correct’, etc., and this leaves me open to enjoy a wide range of interpretations. What I’m interested in is the new things I can learn about the plays through the diverse productions, and although I find some directorial ideas or performance styles don’t work so well for me, I can usually glean some nugget of insight from each version.

Copyright –

All text ©2006-23 Sheila Evans at ilovetheatre.me unless otherwise stated. Text in double quotes is taken from the relevant playtext.

I’m happy for others to use my work for educational and other non-commercial purposes, and the theatre companies and theatres mentioned in my notes are free to use my material for publicity and to include a copy in their own archives. Please credit the work appropriately: e.g notes by Sheila Evans at ilovetheatre.me. For any commercial purposes, and if I have inadvertently breached anyone else’s copyright, please contact me at the email address below.

I can be contacted on sheilaj.theatre@live.co.uk

Have fun.