Monthly Archives: September 2011

Shakespeare and Doctor Who

    Doctor Who is a quintessentially English, science fiction TV programme which was first screened in 1963. To date eleven actors have played the part of the eccentric time-traveller.  A few weeks ago there was a jokey suggestion in … Continue reading

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Ralph Fiennes and Coriolanus on film

In the UK we’re in party conference season, where the political parties have their annual meetings: there’s much jostling for position while leaders try to reaffirm their dominance. And in the USA, although there’s over a year to go until … Continue reading

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The Parnassus Plays: our fellow Shakespeare

I’ve referred a couple of times in my blogs to the Parnassus plays. This trilogy of student dramas are usually relegated to the footnotes in Shakespeare biographies so I decided to do look at them in a bit more detail. … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s plays in his lifetime: the Cambridge Conference

One of the sessions in the recent Cambridge Shakespeare Conference was on Shakespeare’s Plays in his Lifetime. Frustratingly little is known about the performance of Shakespeare’s plays and how they were originally received so I looked forward to hearing from people … Continue reading

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World Shakespeare Festival: is all the world a stage?

The plans for the biggest Shakespeare Festival ever to be staged have just been released. The World Shakespeare Festival will run from 23 April until September 2012, bringing artists from all over the world together in a UK-wide festival in … Continue reading

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Treasures of St John’s, Cambridge

  From 9-11 September Heritage Open Days all over the country celebrated the history, architecture, art and gardens of the UK.  The City of Cambridge opened up many of its historic sites, and while staying in the city I visited … Continue reading

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Michael Rosen and Shakespeare for children

I recently spent a day at the Cambridge Shakespeare Conference, its theme Shakespeare: sources and adaptations.  It opened with a thought-provoking lecture by Michael Rosen, Children’s Laureate 2007-2009 and Shakespeare enthusiast. To an audience who needed no convincing of the … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s magical island in The Tempest

Where is the unnamed isle in The Tempest? The literal-minded will say that it’s obviously in the Mediterranean, where a ship headed from Tunis to Italy might have foundered.  Those who know Shakespeare’s written sources will mention Strachey’s 1610 letter … Continue reading

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Simon Forman, Shakespeare and the stage

12 September 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the death of the colourful astrologer-cum-physician Simon Forman – or perhaps it was 11 September, or even 5 September, accounts vary.  Whichever is correct, Forman was a well-known, even notorious figure in Shakespeare’s … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and the Internet series

I’ve recently contributed a post to a new series of blogs published by James Harriman-Smith at Open Shakespeare, part of the Open Knowledge Foundation. The subject of the series is Shakespeare and the internet and my post, called Finding Needles … Continue reading

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