Monthly Archives: June 2015

When Parliament almost came to Stratford-upon-Avon

On 18 June 2015 a report was published concerning the need for major restoration on the Houses of Parliament in London. It outlines a number of possible options for the work and for what might happen to Parliament in the mean … Continue reading

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Is King John Shakespeare’s most unloved play?

This weekend the Globe’s production of King John (co-produced with Royal & Derngate, Northampton, directed by James Dacre), closes. It’s the very last play in the canon to be produced by the Globe (though it has been staged there).  This … Continue reading

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Julie Taymor’s phantasmagoric film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Julie Taymor’s film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was released in the UK, perhaps predictably, on Sunday 21 June 2015. And from the trailer, it looks amazing (see the end of this post). As a director she’s worked around the world … Continue reading

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Not Shakespeare, and not Blackfriars

It’s always tempting to speculate on what might have happened if things had been different, and in the Artsnight programme Not Shakespeare, broadcast on 19 June Andrew Marr looked at the world of the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, and what … Continue reading

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John Gerarde’s History of Plants and other herbals

A valuable aspect of the debate about the proposed new lifetime portrait of Shakespeare is the interest it has raised in John Gerarde’s Herball. The previous Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Roger Pringle, and his wife Marian (Senior Librarian … Continue reading

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David Suchet, Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare

Next week a production of Oscar Wilde’s most famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest, opens in the West End of London. The production stars one of best-loved actors, David Suchet, in the leading role of Lady Bracknell. A few … Continue reading

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British Shakespeare Association Education Network

It’s been a while since I wrote about the British Shakespeare Association, and in particular its Education Network. Membership of the Association usually drops a bit between the organisation’s biennial conferences (the 2016 conference will be at the University of … Continue reading

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The James Shirley Marathon

Next week, beginning on 15 June, the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon is embarking on another marathon reading of the complete work of a playwright of the sixteenth or early seventeenth century. Last year it was Thomas Heywood, the year before it … Continue reading

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Anticipating Macbeth on film

It doesn’t often happen that a Shakespeare film is dubbed “The “Most Anticipated Film” of the year, but this is how the adaptation of Macbeth directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard has been described. The … Continue reading

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Shakespeare Conferences

Summer has arrived right on cue in Stratford-upon-Avon, with blue skies and warm temperatures encouraging people to picnic on the grass and take out boats on the Avon. Walking by the river late on Thursday afternoon I watched people learning … Continue reading

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