Monthly Archives: June 2014

Shakespeare and the Warwick Pageant

I’ve recently listened to an illustrated podcast of a talk given by Professor Michael Dobson in September 2012 at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford, entitled  A boy from Stratford 1769-1916, freely available on the Backdoor Broadcasting site. The lecture was … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Thomas Heywood’s women

About a week ago I wrote about the extraordinary playwright, poet, prose writer and actor Thomas Heywood whose work is being investigated at the Shakespeare Institute’s Heywood Marathon. This reaches its conclusion on Saturday with Love’s Mistress, Amphrisa, the forsaken shepherdess, … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Thomas Heywood’s women

Kenneth Branagh: from Henry V to Macbeth

Now for a treat: a whole hour of video of Kenneth Branagh, Alex Kingston and Rob Ashford discussing with US journalist Charlie Rose the production of Macbeth which has been playing at the Park Avenue Armoury in New York. The … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Kenneth Branagh: from Henry V to Macbeth

Shakespeare and the UNESCO Memory of the World

The good news has been announced that the Shakespeare documents held by the National Archives and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust have been accepted onto the UNESCO Memory of the World UK register, recognising their national and international significance.  This is … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Remembering Buzz Goodbody at The Other Place

This week the Royal Shakespeare Company has been celebrating the opening of what is being called The Other Place at the Courtyard Theatre, a temporary re-imagining of the studio theatre which was once called “the most productive tin hut in … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Remembering Buzz Goodbody at The Other Place

Great Shakespeare performances: David Garrick’s Richard III

Few dates in the history of Shakespeare on stage are as significant at 19 October 1741. Then the young David Garrick (billed as “A gentlemen who never appeared on any stage”) performed the part of Richard III at Goodman’s Fields … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Shakespeare on Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Great Shakespeare performances: David Garrick’s Richard III

Reading Thomas Heywood

Down at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon the students are holding another marathon playreading. In 2013 it was Beaumont and Fletcher, with a tally of 53 plays and 1 masque. This year, between 9 and 28 June they are taking … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Reading Thomas Heywood

Shakespeare for children: Charles and Mary Lamb

In a recent survey of childrens’ favourite books A A Milne’s much-loved Winnie the Pooh, written in 1926 came top. Second, perhaps more surprisingly, came the even older and quirkier Alice in Wonderland, published in 1865. Given that most of … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare for children: Charles and Mary Lamb

Shakespeare and the alchemists

I’ve recently been investigating a website that allows us to get a close look at the medical world of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. The Casebooks Project “aims to make available the astrological records of Simon Forman and Richard Napier — … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Shakespeare's World | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shakespeare’s vision of apocalypse: King Lear at the National Theatre

As I write this on the afternoon of 6 June the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy are taking place. President Hollande, speaking into a microphone, has been talking about peace in Europe, in front … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment