Every week thousands of people visit this site for reviews and information about theatre, in and around, Stratford.

Below are the most popular shows review, by page views, on the site for the period Monday, June 15 – Sunday, June 21, 2015.
1 – Carousel
2 – The Taming of the Shrew
3 – Hamlet

This is the previous week’s list.
1 – The Taming of the Shrew
2 – Hamlet
3 – Carousel

Insight

For two weeks in a row these shows have made the list. It’s rare that the page views are consistent week to to week.

1 – The success and interest in “Carousel” remains tied to the show’s widespread popularity. In 1999, Time magazine named “Carousel” the best musical of the 20th century.

But now, critics and viewers alike are asking the question how does a director make the musical’s book relevant in the 21st century?

2 – Director Chris Abraham, on the other hand, has shed new light on “The Taming of the Shrew” as he compels audiences to revisit the classic with his thought provoking interpretation.

3 – Shakespeare Rules. As I noted in a previous blog post, in 2014, overall sales to the works of William Shakespeare were up 24% over 2013, and 43 per cent over 2012.

Therefore it’s no surprise that “The Adventures of Pericles” was 4th on the list of most popular shows last week.

For the past two weeks three out of four of the most popular shows on this website are by Shakespeare. I can’t say if this is reflected at the box office but it does illustrate a sizeable interest in critical perspectives on imaginative productions.

The most popular blog post last week was:
Win Tickets to see Ben Vereen – you can still enter!

Last year at this time the most popular show was:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream