Yearly Archives: 2011

Seeking out Shakespeare’s villains

The series of blogs about Shakespeare’s villains posted by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust at Blogging Shakespeare and Finding Shakespeare, has raised interesting questions about what that word “villain”means. The dictionary definition is a “person guilty or capable of great wickedness, … Continue reading

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream on stage

When diarist Samuel Pepys went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1662 he was not impressed. “I had never seen before nor shall ever again, for it is the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my … Continue reading

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Disorder, riot, and unweeded gardens

 Bill Bratton, the supercop who’s credited with successfully cutting gang crime in New York and Los Angeles, is going to be consulted by the UK prime minister about how to solve the issue of the recent riots in English cities. … Continue reading

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After the riots: Shakespeare’s tragic fathers and sons

Over the past few days we’ve witnessed the inspirational dignity and grace of Tariq Jahan, the father of one of the young men killed during the riots in Winson Green, Birmingham.  For any of you who haven’t seen it, you’ll … Continue reading

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Asian Shakespeare brought “to the far West” in Edinburgh

It’s Festival time again in Edinburgh. The Fringe Festival is already in full swing and on 12 August the official International Festival will begin. The scale is vast: at the Fringe alone 41,689 acts are being performed. This year the … Continue reading

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Riots and Shakespeare’s ragged multitude

The riots that are currently spreading through UK cities are unprecedented. Mike Butcher, interviewed this morning on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme spoke of how mobile phones have become “weaponised”, and in an interesting turn of phrase he stated “thugs … Continue reading

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Ben Jonson and Anne Hathaways’s shared anniversaries

I couldn’t let the 6 August go by without mentioning that it’s the anniversary of the death of two of the people most important to Shakespeare.   Ben Jonson Ben Jonson’s relationship with Shakespeare spanned almost twenty years, beginning, according to … Continue reading

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I’ll write it straight: The Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450-1700

This is the second post looking at the subjects raised by the 29 July conference launching the new online Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450-1700.   The first paper was contributed by the prolific writer and academic Germaine Greer. Ever since the publication of … Continue reading

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Living monuments: Shakespeare’s epitaphs

I’d never heard of the little village of Tong and its church until recently when some visiting relatives mentioned its Shakespeare connections. So I paid a visit to this tiny village in Shropshire to find out more.  The church is sometimes … Continue reading

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Shakespeare writing fair: The Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450-1700

Last Friday I attended a conference organised by the University of London School of Advanced Study to celebrate the imminent launch of a great new online resource, the Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450-1700. This will supersede the printed Index … Continue reading

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