Mike has seen the two new Shakespeare productions and Dr Faustus this summer of 2011 and has reviewed them. The 2011 season was called "The Word is God" which was described by Dominic Dromgoole as "... celebrating the word, and man's capacity to make a god of language, and to make a god out of language". It is four hundred years since the King James Bible was published.

Theatre was not invented in England, but during the latter half of the 16th century, while the first Elizabeth was on the throne, modern theatre suddenly blossomed in England, changing over a few decades from crude Mediaeval mystery plays on roving pageant wagons, to sophisticated human-scale dramas in permanent playhouses. A major contribution to this revolution was the emergence of a new breed of playwright including Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and Shakespeare. People flocked to the new playhouses to be amused, moved to tears, terrified or shocked; made to sigh at lovers, jeer at villains, or cheer on heroes. Best of all were the plays that encouraged their audiences to identify with the characters on stage; to recognise themselves or someone they knew, and make them consider their own lives and actions in the context of these fictions.

"...playgoers are still looking for the same rewards from theatre"

Four hundred years later playgoers are still looking for the same rewards from theatre because human nature does not change. The best playwrights of the latter half of the 20^th century and start of the 21^st challenge us to examine our own lives evoking humour, shock and all our emotions to stimulate us into thinking about what it is to be human.