Author Archives: Sylvia Morris

Fred J Kormis’s Everyman in Stratford-upon-Avon

Passing the jewellery shop at the top of Sheep Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, I’ve often wondered about the statue of a young man who looks across the road towards the Town Hall. I had always assumed it must have a Shakespeare … Continue reading

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Shakespeare with a twist

Shakespeare in Stratford isn’t just about the RSC and in fact the town has a number of venues, and several theatre groups, performing a wide range of drama including some by our very own playwright. Sometimes, too, we see plays … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson

Today, Monday 10 August 2015 , an exhibition opens at Dr Johnson’s House in London to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Samuel Johnson’s edition of William Shakespeare’s works published in 1765. In the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Johnson is … Continue reading

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Jumping through the hoop: Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet

By the time this post goes live, the latest production of Hamlet to be staged in London will have received its first two performances. I’m writing of course about Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre. It was to be … Continue reading

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The legend of Shakespeare’s crabtree

I recently wrote about the doggerel rhyme, alleged to have been written by Shakespeare, naming several of the villages near Stratford. The rhyme relates to Shakespeare’s Crab, an old crab-apple tree under which Shakespeare is supposed to have slept, which … Continue reading

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Talking about race again: playing Iago

When Hugh Quarshie’s taking of the role of Othello was first announced, it was this casting that drew the media attention. He had, some decades ago, apparently burned this particular boat by declaring, in print, that Othello should not be … Continue reading

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Ben Jonson, Shakespeare and Burbage: Volpone on stage

When Ben Jonson delivered his new comedy Volpone to the King’s Men in early 1606, Richard Burbage must have cheered. Jonson would have written the leading role with Burbage in mind, as Shakespeare also wrote roles for his most popular … Continue reading

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Bidford-on-Avon and the Shakespeare legend

Back in June 2015 a farm vehicle struck the fifteenth-century stone bridge at Bidford-on-Avon, a few miles downstream from Stratford. Bidford was once, as Stratford still is, a market town and its bridge marks a crossing that goes back to … Continue reading

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Alas, poor Yorick: the spell of Hamlet

On 26 July 1602 Shakespeare’s play Hamlet was registered with the Stationers’ Company in London. It’s an important date, but has done little to settle the burning question of when Shakespeare’s most famous play was first written and first performed. … Continue reading

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Shakespeare: fighting history

This summer Tate Britain is mounting an exhibition entitled Fighting History, on the subject of history painting, a rather unfashionable and neglected genre.   From Ancient Rome to recent political upheavals, Fighting History looks at how artists have transformed significant events into … Continue reading

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