Monthly Archives: October 2011

Recording Shakespeare’s town: documents of the Stratford-upon-Avon Corporation

After experiencing Hollywood’s wildly inaccurate version of history in the film Anonymous I’ve returned with relief to a book which looks at the reality. Dr Robert Bearman has continued the task, begun in the 1920s, of transcribing and editing the … Continue reading

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Why Shakespeare was Shakespeare, Mr Emmerich

Roland Emmerich, aiming to promote his film Anonymous, has now come up with a video giving 10 reasons why he believes that Shakespeare wasn’t Shakespeare. I’ve been trying to ignore the hype over this film, but I couldn’t resist answering … Continue reading

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Stephen Fry and the English language

Stephen Fry has just reached the end of his five-part series Fry’s Planet Word, in praise of the English language. Saving the best until last Fry looked at English story-telling through poetry, drama, fiction and even songwriting. It’s available now on … Continue reading

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What next for the Royal Shakespeare Company?

A few days away from mobile phones, TV and radio combined with the aftermath of a cold have played havoc with posts to my blog. Now back on track, I find that not only has Michael Boyd announced that he … Continue reading

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Stratford-upon-Avon in autumn

Autumn is really on its way now, and although it’s a beautiful time of year there’s always a feeling of sadness because summer’s past and the cold harsh days of winter are on the way.  Shakespeare’s most often-quoted passage about … Continue reading

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Very like a whale: Adventures in the far North, Part 2

In Part 1 I looked at some of Shakespeare’s references to whales, and the history of whaling in Spitsbergen. This time I’m looking at the stories of adventurers who headed north.  The very first English trading company was established by … Continue reading

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Stratford-upon-Avon’s Mop Fair

For a few days every October the residents of Stratford-upon-Avon have the history of the town brought home to them. The centre of the town literally comes to a standstill, all the cars, buses and lorries that pound the streets … Continue reading

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Very like a whale: Adventures in the far North, Part 1

Most people are familiar with the phrase “very like a whale”, used nowadays to indicate a mocking disbelief. It is, of course, Shakespeare, from the scene in which Hamlet, in his antic disposition, taunts the “tedious old fool” Polonius by … Continue reading

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Paul Robeson, Othello and Mixed Britannia

The BBC has just begun a mixed race season, examining how over the past 100 years Britain has come to be a country in which inter-racial partnerships are commonplace. The first documentary in the series Mixed Britannia looked at the … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and National Poetry Day

Thursday 6 October is National Poetry Day in the UK. With so much economic gloom in the news, and to mark the day, here are a couple of pieces of Shakespeare’s most beautiful poetry.  The first one comes from near … Continue reading

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