Steve Purcell

What made Troilus and Cressida so relevant to audiences who had lived through two world wars?

Why did it speak to the 'angry young men' of the post-war era and to the countercultural movements of the 1960s?

Find out here 👇
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526103574/
@stevetpurcell.bsky.social

Thanks so much! I've been working on it since 2015, so I'm excited that it's finally (nearly) out in the world!

Hamlet – Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden, Shakespeare North Playhouse - North West End UK Director Steve Purcell is to be praised for his heavily abridged adaptation which, coming in at less than half the length of the full text, focuses on the family drama at the heart of the play, bringi...

Another great review! “Hamlet may have lost all his mirth, but the quality of tonight’s performance took The Pantaloons to another level altogether.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
@thepantaloons.bsky.social
northwestend.com/hamlet-sir-k...

A lovely write-up of @thepantaloons.bsky.social Hamlet from the St Albans Times - we even made the front page!
issuu.com/stalbanstime...
Full tour dates are here: thepantaloons.co.uk/hamlet/

Very excited to be contributing to this!

You may well have done if you’ve seen The Pantaloons before! The one with the lute is Alex Hargreaves, the one with the guitar is Christopher Smart. Both multi-talented chaps!

Nearing the end of a busy and exciting week opening @thepantaloons.bsky.social Hamlet at St Albans Roman Theatre! Full tour dates are here: thepantaloons.co.uk/hamlet/

It's opening night for Hamlet! This has been a very special one to work on. Opening in St Albans before a UK-wide tour: thepantaloons.co.uk/hamlet/

Hamlet opens tonight at St Albans Roman Theatre where it runs for a week before heading off on tour! Here's some rehearsal photos of our fantastic cast: new Pantaloons Laura Cooper-Jones and Tamsin Lynes with 'loon veterans Martin Gibbons and Richard Lessen.

Free workshop on “Talking to the audience in Hamlet” with me and the cast of @thepantaloons.bsky.social Hamlet! Information and booking here: ovo.org.uk/shows/talkin...

It was great fun workshopping scenes from Hamlet with @thepantaloons.bsky.social today at the @bsashakespeare.bsky.social conference on the beautiful University of York campus!

Best of luck to the cast of @thepantaloons.bsky.social Robin Hood, opening this weekend! Full tour dates are here: thepantaloons.co.uk/robin-hood/

Best of luck to the cast of @thepantaloons.bsky.social Sense and Sensibility, which opens this evening! Tour details are here: thepantaloons.co.uk/sense/

At Jackson's Lane today doing auditions for @thepantaloons.bsky.social Hamlet!

Spent a lovely afternoon at the leafy University of Buckingham, talking to English Literature postgraduates about the performance history of Troilus and Cressida (what else?). Here’s John Barton directing Patrick Stewart and Sebastian Shaw in the play in 1968.

It does, however, appear to confirm that William Shakespeare was an intransigent skinflint.

Shakespeare did not leave his wife Anne in Stratford, letter fragment suggests Professor says text shows Hathaway lived with playwright in London, upending the established idea of an unhappy marriage

One of the things I love about the discovery reported in today’s Guardian is that it puts paid to the prejudice you see in a lot of biofiction that Anne Shakespeare/Hathaway would have been illiterate. Nope!
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

I’m pleased to say that we’re advertising an open ended lectureship in Early Modern English Literature at Glasgow. Details here, and please share:

www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer...

Had a great afternoon at the Shakespeare Institute talking about homosexuality in postwar productions of Troilus and Cressida. Here are Charles Gray as Achilles, Jeremy Brett as Patroclus and Paul Rogers as Pandarus in Tyrone Guthrie’s 1956 production at the Old Vic.

My book has a cover! A history of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida in performance, from John Dryden's Restoration adaptation to the rediscovery of the play in the twentieth century.
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526103574/

Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house…

Making a willow cabin today at Peace Cottage Community Hub, Hoddesdon.

Claire van Kampen: a world-class theatre composer and bright star of Shakespeare’s Globe The pianist, director and playwright of Farinelli and the King, which starred her husband Mark Rylance, is remembered by the Globe’s former artistic director

Such a wonderful and brilliantly written tribute to Claire van Kampen from the Globe’s former artistic director Dominic Dromgoole

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...

Director and composer Claire van Kampen dies aged 71 Wife of actor Mark Rylance had worked in various roles at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre and had been diagnosed with cancer

This is such sad news. Claire van Kampen was a remarkable artist whose work had a huge impact on modern theatre. I was fortunate enough to meet her a few times, and she was a lovely person, too. Sending condolences to all those whose lives she touched.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...

Call for Participation, second round:  - British Shakespeare Association Practising Shakespeare: new collaborations, expanding horizons British Shakespeare Association Conference Wednesday 25 – Saturday 28 June 2025 School of Arts and Creative Technologies, University of Y...

This year’s #BSA2025 in York is shaping up to be a fantastic conference for lovers of all things #shakespeare & #performance. Click to join the conversation here: www.britishshakespeare.ws/call-for-par... then we can all go hit up the snickelways in June!

Churchill's play Love and Information was broadcast on @BBCRadio3 last year and was brilliant. If you don't know what all the fuss is about, treat yourself to a great 80 minutes: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
And do sign the petition: www.change.org/p/save-audio...

Congratulations! I think a lot of people (me included) will want to read this!

A statistical breakdown of the lyrics to We Wish You a Merry Christmas…

Feeling very Christmassy after seeing @thepantaloons.bsky.social perform A Christmas Carol at the Southern Maltings, Ware. Catch it if you can!

The Merry Wives of Windsor – Shakespeare North Playhouse - North West End UK If Shakespeare chose a modern company to perform his work then it would undoubtedly be The Pantaloons; I’m equally sure he would be thrilled with director Steve Purcell’s adaptation of a play that had...

A lovely ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for our The Pantaloons’ touring production of The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare North Playhouse yesterday!
northwestend.com/the-merry-wi...
Full tour dates here: thepantaloons.co.uk/merry-wives/

Shakespeare Special issue on 'Shakespeare in Action', guest-edited by Eleanor Rycroft and Maria Shmygol. Volume 20, Issue 2 of Shakespeare

Really delighted to share my and Maria Shmygol's special issue of Shakespeare on 'Shakespeare in Action' with outstanding contributions from our authors. Hope that you enjoy!
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rshk20/2...