Author Archives: Sylvia Morris

Stratford-upon-Avon’s historic Town Hall

Standing at the busy junction of Sheep Street, Chapel Street, Ely Street and High Street is Stratford’s Town Hall. From the outside it’s a dignified building built of Cotswold stone and facing towards the High Street, in a niche, is … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and the Bake-Off

The final of the Great British Bake-Off screens on the evening of 8 October. Watching this immensely popular series over the last few weeks I wondered how much Shakespeare knew about how his food was produced, and whether he ever … Continue reading

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Presenting Shakespeare’s Venice on stage

The RSC recently announced its Summer 2015 season, beginning in March. They’ll be focusing on the Italian city Venice, with three plays that are fully or partly set there: The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Ben Jonson’s Volpone. It’s sure … Continue reading

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Cross-gender casting for Hamlet and Henry IV

Gender issues in the performance of Shakespeare’s plays are being discussed in the press again with Maxine Peake playing Hamlet in a production at the Manchester Royal Exchange. Here is the review from the Observer by Susannah Clapp, and that … Continue reading

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The Secret Life of Shakespeare’s First Folio

Shakespeare’s First Folio is back in the news again, with a documentary presented by actor Simon Russell Beale having been broadcast on 9 September. It’s part of the series The Secret Life of Books, a fascinating look at the process of creative … Continue reading

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Two Shakespeareans remembered: Donald Sinden and Jeffery Dench

I was sorry to hear of the death on 11 September 2014 of Donald Sinden, like Jeffery Dench who died in March an actor who had made a considerable contribution to productions of Shakespeare’s plays in Stratford-upon-Avon. Both men will … Continue reading

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If music be the food of love, play on! Music Notes at the RSC

Music and theatre have always been closely associated. You might not always be aware of it when you visit a theatre, but it is often created live by a team of largely unseen musicians.  The RSC, after its formation, insisted … Continue reading

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Thomas Platter’s visit to Shakespeare’s theatre

On 21 September 1599 a Swiss tourist, Thomas Platter, visiting London, went to the newly-opened Globe Theatre to see a play. As it happened, he saw Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The occasion made quite an impression on him, so much so … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and Education

Recently the Huffington Post published an article written by a teenager about how Shakespeare should be taught, specifically to ten-year olds. She remembered her own experience “when I moved up to secondary school I was thrown into the deep end; … Continue reading

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Robert Bell Wheler, “the historian of Stratford”

2014 is being celebrated as the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, but in Stratford there is also another significant anniversary this year. It is just 200 years since Robert Bell Wheler published his Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon. Aged 21, Wheler had … Continue reading

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