Monthly Archives: August 2012

Opening the Olympics: Danny Boyle’s debt to William Blake

Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening ceremony has set off so much discussion that John Wyver of Illuminations has now posted three blog posts each listing ten different pieces that have appeared in the press looking at the event from different viewpoints. Here’s the … Continue reading

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Round the globe with Much Ado About Nothing

What are we learning from the World Shakespeare Festival? A few weeks ago Sonia Massai headed a panel entitled Global Shakespeares. In her subsequent post on the RSC’s MyShakespeare site she says “‘Global Shakespeares’ can only be understood in relation … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and the Olympic arts of war

Although all sport is competitive, many of those which feature in the modern Olympics began as a way of training for warfare. Shakespeare brings several of them into his plays, including wrestling, archery and fencing. Self-defence sports wrestling and boxing date back to … Continue reading

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Shakespearean voices

I’ve written several times about how much I love hearing Shakespeare spoken well, but what exactly does that mean? There are many aspects to speaking Shakespeare, and theatre companies now employ specialist voice coaches to help actors deal with the challenges. … Continue reading

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