Bringing Down the House
by Chloe Rabinowitz | Broadway World | July 11, 2024
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre presented Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year – Live on Monday night. Damian Lewis wowed fans with a reprise of his Hamlet, as well as bringing the house down as Henry V with an extended kiss with award winning stage actor Paul Chahidi dressed as a woman to play French Princess Katherine. Earlier in the evening, Bridgerton heartthrob Luke Thompson performed a speech from Shakespeare’s Loves Labours Lost as the rain poured down on his white shirt in a scene reminiscent of Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice.
Tracey Ann Oberman was electric as Shylock from the Merchant of Venice, delivering an eviscerating speech about antisemitism, while elsewhere Ted Lasso star Toheeb Jimoh and Enola Holmes star Susan Wokoma duetted in the famous Romeo and Juliet balcony scene.
The biggest laugh of the night came from Blackadder star Tony Robinson performing the Porter from Macbeth and the clown Malvolio from Twelfth Night. Other stars who gave heartrending performances included Stephen Mangan (Green Wing), Danny Sapani (Killing Eve, Black Panther), Samantha Spiro (Sex Education), Samuel West (Slow Horses) and Olivia Williams (The Crown).
Despite torrential rain, a sold-out audience of 1300 turned out for the one-off night of Shakespeare poetry performance organised by the UK’s queen of poetry Allie Esiri, whose popular poetry anthologies account for 20% of the UK’s poetry book market.
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