16 - Richard II, Tobacco Factory Bristol

I love adaptations of Shakespare, but it is nice to know some companies are still producing productions which concentrate on and showcase the language and poetry of the plays.

This deceptively simple staging was cleverly blocked for a theatre with audience sitting on all sides. The simple set consisted of a few pieces of set bought on for some scenes with a wooden throne like the one in the best known picture of Richard II framed from behind by a lovely stained glass set of doors. The setting was dressed by the fabulous costumes, flowing coats, authentic-looking fabrics and each person had a distinctively different outfit.

This was a very strong cast, we particularly enjoyed Benjamin Whitrow's performance as John of Gaunt chastising the King on his death bed, and he returned in the second half to give another engaging performance as the gardener.

The real star of the show of was Richard II, played by John Heffernan. Before his deposition he strode around the stage like a spoiled child, occasionally throwing a hilarious tantrum. But when he realised his kingdom had been won from him, we felt genuinely sorry for him. I felt like he was a young man who had been cruelly deceived into thinking his position as king was divinely appointed and therefore unshakable and watching him disillusioned was very affecting. When he wasn't on stage, although the other actors were all great, I felt eager for him to appear again and he represented a complicated character with a wide range.

It was a bit of a shock to find the play didn't seem to have been cut at all. I didn't expect to be emerging from the theatre at 11.20 and if the length was a little bit much for me it was certainly a killer for the large group of young girls sitting around us who I think were on a school or college trip. One of them fell asleep half way through the second half and while they were well behaved and polite they were certainly getting restless by the end, as was I. By the time Richard's moving speech in the tower came up and he proclaimed "I wasted time, and now doth time waste me" my immediate reaction was "tell me about it!"

That aside it was lovely to see the play in a way which showcased the beautiful language and I'd definately recommend this production to Shakespeare fans.

13 and 14 - Comedy of Errors and Richard III, Propeller

You haven't seen Shakespeare adapted until you've seen Propeller. My friend Marianne, a long-time Propeller groupie who introduced me to them, prompted her friend Charlie and I to travel to Cheltenham with her to see both the plays they're touring this season - Comedy of Errors and Richard III.

Propeller are an all male company who perform modern, high energy, accessible, addictive Shakespeare. They tour two plays at once and this is the first time I've had the chance to see both on the same day. If you love Shakespeare, theatre, comedy or slasher horror or if you have any plans to study or perform Shakespeare at any point in the future EVER I can't recommend enough that you do the same.

Comedy of Errors seems to be performed all over the place at the moment. It's a ridiculous play, not one but two sets of identical twins separated as children in a storm at sea. For some reason each ends up with the same name as their twin, years later Antipholus and his servant Dromio stumble into a strange town where everyone seems to know who they are and confusion and hilarity ensues. Propeller recognises the ridiculousness of the play and instead of trying to make the series of events seem plausible, adds more ridiculousness. So the slapstick in the play is accompanied by comedy musical sound effects, the camp policeman is straight out of the YMCA and his leather trousers squeak when he walks. The Abbess wears a short nun’s habit with fishnets and purple suede boots and we are even treated to the sight of Tony Bell running bollock naked through the audience with a lit sparkler sticking out his behind.

To the uninitiated this kind of interpretation might sound like a lack of respect for Shakespeare's work. But Propeller's productions work where others fail because they understand the plays inside out and a real love of Shakespeare is what comes across. They just want the plays to be as vibrant and relevant to today's audience as they would have been to an Elizabethan audience. We laughed all the way through, and so did the rest of the packed audience.

After laughing until our stomachs ached at the vibrant, colourful spectacular, we returned after dinner to see Richard III after dinner in a merry mood. We were not prepared for the same company to come back and rip out our stomachs, leaving the three of us speechless and for a good ten minutes afterwards feeling, as I eventually managed to comment to Marianne, a bit like we'd been mentally raped.

With the same cast and similar innovation, it was as if Richard III was a dark and distorted mirror version of Comedy of Errors. Like a photographic negative, the Hyde to the friendly and funny Jekyll. We were confronted with a stage decked out like a bleak mental asylum, actors staring out at us from masks that looked like bandaged faces. This bleak chorus shifted medical screens around to reveal characters, held victims down and threw around the ever increasing pile of body bags. And the bodies don't half stack up. The plot of Richard III is basically a list of murders and here every one was more creative, we saw disembowelling, chainsaws, a mother crying over heads in a jar. And behind it all the horrific but charismatic character of Richard himself played by Richard Clothier. It's a masterful performance, there's the classic repellent villainy, but you can also see how King Richard manipulates the world around him to climb to the top. He's somehow magnetic, enigmatic. He's also at points hilariously funny. The production doesn't shy away from black comedy and this was what really added depth to both the title character and the production as a whole.

It's not just me who loved this; critics are saying the variety in Clothier's performance makes his Richard III better than Laurence Olivier's. Edward Hall is a genius and this is the most riveting Shakespeare you are ever likely to see. If you can only see one of the plays, see Richard III. But DON'T do that, see them both or once you have seen one you will wish you had tickets for the other, sell your grandmother, sell your house, travel to Madrid just BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW. Here you, go here are the tour dates. I'm going to go again and I still have 38 other plays to see this year!