Frankenstein, An inspector Calls, Macbeth..theatre showings?

[jenthehen]

My son is studying the above for his GCSE's and would love to take him to see some live productions of the above plays but Google searches have drawn a blank. Does anybody know where they are running?

Macbeth showing in Stratford starring Christopher Eccleston from March - live show in Cinema 11th April

www.rsc.org.uk/macbeth/tickets

I think the National are doing Macbeth next year as well.

thanks that's really helpful. Stratford may be a bit too far but a cinema showing would be possible.

Does anyone know of any Frankenstein or Inspector Calls productions, even amateur ones? Thanks

I would avoid a stage production of Frankenstein- it will probably cut/interpret too much of the book. There was an excellent touring production of AIC last year-not sure if it'still on anywhere?

The National had a production of An Inspector Calls that was touring recently - not sure if it still is?

It's worth looking at productions that have been released on DVD as well. You'll certainly get a Globe and an RSC Macbeth. It's not as good as seeing it live, but the cinematography is so good that you lose less than I thought you would and you really get a sense of the staging.

Sorry - cross post with Bertrand about the touring production....!

I've always wondered why local theatres don't schedule GCSE texts each year. It seems to me that there would be a good market for school trips and you could use it as an opportunity for recent drama students so could presumably run it at equity minimum fees.

Macbeth is on digitaltheatre.com

Your son's school will be able to access National Theatre on demand for free to show both versions of Danny Boyle's Frankenstein (Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch switch roles between the monster and Dr F). There are also lots of supporting video resources on this site.

Rory Kinnear comes to the National Theatre in Spring 2018 in Macbeth, which will be broadcast live at some point during the run.

I was about to say that The National's Frankenstein (both castings) is available through nationaltheatre.org.uk/schools

RSC Macbeth with Christopher Ecclestone is being broadcast live to cinemas on 11th April.

National Macbeth with Rory Kinnear opens in March, not booking yet, though.

There was an amazing BBC production of Inspector Calls with David Thewlis. Possibly available through BBC Store?

Ds's teacher said last year that they shouldn't watch the David Thewis production- it was too far away from the text. No idea if that's right or not.......

Thanks everyone, I was a bit concerned how accurate the stage productions would be to the text so there's some really useful information here. Thanks for all taking the trouble to reply.

Really sad there isn't a recording of the Stephen Daldry NT Inspector Calls. Its last revival (finished last April...) was amazing. Nearly as good as when I saw it back in '92.

DS is doing Macbeth, so we are aiming to see either the NT or RSC one - perfect timing for Easter hols revision.

The David Thewlis one (Inspector Calls) is quite a bit different from the text, it has flashbacks and recreations, but it is very good. Available from ebay etc on dvd. DD said she thought it helped her to understand the play as a whole and the characters.

This adaptation of Frankenstein is amazing:

www.arrowsandtraps.com/home-page

It's on at some small London venues. It interweaves the story of the book with the story of Mary Shelley herself. Very cleverly adapted and yes, it is very different from the book, but very true to the spirit of it. I think a different adaptation provides a lot of food for thought for students and this one also really useful for context and background of when it was written. Can't recommend highly enough.

Also agree the NT one is good and your son's school can access for free.

Thanks qumquat : )

The BBC Inspector Calls removes the ambiguity about Daisy Renton/Eva Smith because of the flashbacks so I would avoid it.

Ok, thanks Eviltwins.