Monthly Archives: July 2011

Shakespeare’s Avon, Act 6: Royal Shakespeare Theatre

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre sits right on the bank of the River Avon in Stratford. When the idea of a permanent memorial to Shakespeare in his town was first suggested in the aftermath of the 1864 Tercentenary Celebrations, it was … Continue reading

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The News of the World and Shakespeare’s Venice #NOTW

On the evening the News of the World’s closure was announced, I went to Rupert Goold’s RSC production of The Merchant of Venice. During the interval a friend and I wondered which of Shakespeare’s plays was most relevant to the … Continue reading

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Blackadder and Shakespeare

My all-time favourite TV comedies are the 1980s Blackadder series, best of all the second in which the unpleasant and incompetent Edmund morphed into the clever but surrounded-by-idiots Edmund, dazzlingly glamorous in ruff and thigh-length boots, set in the Elizabethan … Continue reading

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: Shakespeare’s Lost Years

This week’s Start the Week on BBC Radio 4, broadcast on 4 July, asked how much we need to know about writers’ lives in order to fully appreciate their works. Contributors included a specialist on the medieval poet Dante and … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and honour in All’s Well That Ends Well

  All’s Well That Ends Well  has recently been described as “one of Shakespeare’s least loved and least performed comedies” (Daily Telegraph) but with current productions at both the Globe Theatre in London and in New York’s Central Park as … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s Avon, Act 5: was Shakespeare an angler?

The River Avon is the centre of attention for visitors to Stratford this weekend, with the Stratford River Festival  entertaining people with lots of  events on and by the water. It probably won’t be the best weekend though for those wanting … Continue reading

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Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments