Subscribe to the blog
Search the site
-
Latest posts
Categories
- Legacy (699)
- Plays and Poems (174)
- Shakespeare on Stage (302)
- Shakespeare's World (328)
- Sources (43)
- Stratford-upon-Avon (331)
- Uncategorized (2)
Recent comments
- Richard Morris on King Charles III, Shakespeare, and coronations
- Roger Gregory on A sad farewell to Peter Brook
- mary beth shipley on Shakespeare’s Come Home!
Tags
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- As You Like it
- BBC
- Ben Jonson
- British Library
- British Museum
- Christmas
- David Garrick
- education
- Edwards' Boys
- First Folio
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Gregory Doran
- Hamlet
- Henry V
- Holy Trinity Church
- Jonathan Bate
- Julius Caesar
- Kenneth Branagh
- King Edward VI School
- King Lear
- London
- Love's Labour's Lost
- Macbeth
- music
- National Theatre
- Othello
- Peter Brook
- Richard II
- Richard III
- Romeo and Juliet
- Royal Shakespeare Company
- Shakespeare
- Shakespeare's Globe
- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
- Shakespeare Club
- Shakespeare Club of Stratford-upon-Avon
- Shakespeare Institute
- Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
- Simon Russell Beale
- spring
- Stratford-upon-Avon
- The Merchant of Venice
- The Tempest
- The Winter's Tale
More blog posts
- May 2023
- February 2023
- September 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- August 2021
- April 2021
- February 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
Monthly Archives: October 2012
Shakespeare and Hallowe’en: not just Macbeth
The Elizabethan and Jacobeans had superstitions covering almost every area of life. Supernatural explanations for natural phenomena were widely accepted: the appearance of a comet in 1577 caused public alarm, and even historian John Stow believed the story that the striking … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World
Tagged conjuration, Duchess of Gloucester, Hallowe''en, Henry VI Part 2, Macbeth, magic, supernatural, superstition
1 Comment
When Hollywood came to Stratford: Claire Luce’s Cleopatra
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Lionel Bradley, an ordinary man who lived through the second world war in London, recording his thoughts about not the blitz but the concerts which he and other Londoners attended: a … Continue reading
Shakespeare and our restless world
In 2010 the British Museum collaborated with the BBC to create The History of the World in 100 Objects, radio broadcasts linked with a website and book of the same name. It focused on items from the Museum’s collection ranging … Continue reading
Linking Shakespeare’s Theatre and his Church: Bensonian actor Frank Rodney
When I wrote my piece about the Benson memorial windows in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, I received a comment about the memorial to Bensonian actor Frank Rodney that stands in Holy Trinity Church. Stratford’s Church probably contains more memorials to … Continue reading
Posted in Shakespeare on Stage, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Benson Windows, Ellen Terry, Frank Rodney, Henry VIII, Holy Trinity Church
9 Comments
Macbeth from stage to film
Macbeth is one of the most-filmed of Shakespeare’s plays, and no wonder. According to Daniel Rosenthal in his book Shakespeare on Screen, “From its supernatural opening to its gruesome climax, Macbeth is the Shakespeare play that reads most like a … Continue reading
“Trivial fond records” of wartime performance
Regular readers will know of my interest in the history of Shakespeare on stage, in particular the ways in which productions have been recorded. Many members of the audience choose to keep autographed programmes, posters or even their tickets, but … Continue reading
Shakespeare’s rhyming couplets
We all know that in order to get to grips with Shakespeare’s writing, you have to understand blank verse, most crucially the unrhymed iambic pentameter. Students often struggle with the theory, though in practice it’s not so tough: one of … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Patrick Spottiswoode, poetry, rhyme, Shakespeare Club, Shakespeare's Globe
Comments Off on Shakespeare’s rhyming couplets
Black History Month: telling the story of Ira Aldridge, the African Roscius
Until only a few years ago the nineteenth-century actor Ira Aldridge was a little-known curiosity in the long history of the theatre. He was the first (probably the only) “gentleman of colour” of any note to appear on the English … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage
Tagged Adrian Lester, African Roscius, Black History Month, Ira Aldridge, Othello, Red Velvet, slavery, Tricycle Theatre
Comments Off on Black History Month: telling the story of Ira Aldridge, the African Roscius
Fairs, pedlars, and Shakespeare’s Stratford
October is fair-time in Stratford-upon-Avon and the surrounding towns as the travelling rides, the prize stalls and the hot dog stands fill the town’s streets. The traditional pig roast is still part of the Mop fair as is the fortune-teller’s … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Autolycus, British Museum, Mop Fair, Shakespeare: staging the world, The Winter's Tale
Comments Off on Fairs, pedlars, and Shakespeare’s Stratford
New online resources for Shakespeare
I’ve written before about the many great online resources that exist for those interested in Shakespeare in performance on stage and screen, but just recently several new ones have been launched specially for teachers. One of the best of the … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy
Tagged BFI, BUFVC, Globe to Globe, Routledge Performance Archive, RSC, Shakespearience for IPad, Teaching Shakespeare, The Space, TRILT
Comments Off on New online resources for Shakespeare