What I liked
This was the most captivating, informative, artisitc, and personal piece of theatre I saw throughout the whole of the festival.
Every single piece of this show worked perfectly with each other, and brought the whole of the audience into the world of the show. The premise of the play was unique – Shakespeare when writing his will is visted again by his Muse to prove to the world that he is in fact the writer and alive in the plays and poems that he wrote – but wholely entrancing to each and every one of us sitting in the audience, as the message of hope and finding oneself by being true to their art is a universal constant – and from within does truth flow out.
Art is a gift, and the job of an actor is to tell the story magnificently to an audience; these are two of the most phenomenally talented classical actors at the peak of their craft, yet with still so much room to grow and to acheive even greater heights.
Regardless of your familiarity or knowledge of Shakespeares works, this is a story worth seeing, a creative partnership worth experiencing, and a truth worth discovering for yourself, as Shakespeare workds transcend time and space to speak to you in your own unique way. The Complete Works of William Shakepeare are universal in their applications and how they speak to an audience, and “Not Without Right” proves that from the very first moment, as only the greatest writer who ever lived could create something that could acheive that level of acclaim.
What I didn't like
The only thing that can be improved is that it needs to be longer, because I desperately wanted more by the time the show was over. I was captivated from the moment I sat in my seat, and by the end, I didn’t want to leave.
My overall impression
“To thine own self be true…” has never been rung more clearly and truthfully than in the very works of the man who coined the phrase: William Shakespeare. “Not Without Right” is a thorough text analysis and character study of Shakepeare as a man, writer, and artist utilizing the whole of his text as a means of proving that the Complete Works could not have been written by any other person other than himself. Add in a Greek Muse to bounce off of and breathe new life to text in ways that one would never think of and help further prove Will is who he says he is in his writing, Colin Cox and Alessandra Manon put on a master class on the nature of truth, what it means to pursue a dream, and how art can only be created by someone pouring their very self into their work.
