Author Archives: Sylvia Morris

Shakespeare and Easter

Over the Easter weekend we’ve probably all eaten too many Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. As the first festival of spring, it’s also traditionally our first opportunity for getting outdoors after the cold, dark days of winter, when we enjoy the return … Continue reading

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“The best bit of Shakespeareana ever penned” Washington Irving and Stratford

3rd April 1783 was the birthday of the great American writer Washington Irving,  one of the first tourists to Stratford-upon-Avon to describe his visit in detail. While living in England he made several visits to the town to see the sites … Continue reading

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Stratford’s alehouses: the Dirty Duck

In 1556 John Shakespeare’s first official appointment in Stratford was as ale-taster, requiring him to check the measures, prices and quality of beer provided by inn-keepers. As a market-town, Stratford always provided refreshment to visitors, locals and traders, and by … Continue reading

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Celebrating Shakespeare with Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh is best known as one of his generation’s finest Shakespearean actors and directors for both stage and film, so his latest project, a sweetly traditional film of the fairy tale Cinderella, comes as something of a surprise. It … Continue reading

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Museums of the future, engaging with the past

This week, 23-29 March 2015, Museums have been celebrating Museums Week, and promoting their collections and services. By coincidence the big news for lovers of culture has been the reburial of the remains of King Richard III, making a strong … Continue reading

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Still looking for the truth about Richard III: who did kill the princes in the tower?

Like many thousands of others I visited Leicester on Monday 23 March 2015 to file past the coffined remains of Richard III before they are reinterred in the Cathedral on Thursday. People waited up to four hours, and many in … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and the Greeks

Every few years the tragedies of ancient Greece seem to come back into fashion, and just now, in 2015, several theatres are staging revivals or adaptations of these powerful ancient plays. On 24 March the Almeida’s new season goes on … Continue reading

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“These late eclipses”: the moon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and happiness

On the morning of Friday 20 March the UK will experience a near-total eclipse of the sun. Even where skies are not clear, the sky will darken and we will experience a sort of twilight. The birds will fall silent until … Continue reading

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Shakespeare Week 2015

We’re right in the middle of Shakespeare Week, running from 16-22 March. There have been Shakespeare weeks before, but last year, in 2014, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust embarked on a mission to give primary school children a great first encounter … Continue reading

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Votes for women: Shakespeare and the suffragettes

Last time I looked at the suffrage movement in Stratford, and its connections with the Shakespeare festivals. Both in Stratford and elsewhere in the early twentieth century Shakespeare’s plays provoked discussion about the suffragette cause. Not all of Shakespeare’s women … Continue reading

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