Author Archives: Sylvia Morris

New online resources for Shakespeare

I’ve written before about the many great online resources that exist for those interested in Shakespeare in performance on stage and screen, but just recently several new ones have been launched specially for teachers. One of the best of the … Continue reading

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Putting a girdle round about the globe: Shakespeare clubs and societies

What makes a group of like-minded Shakespeare-lovers turn themselves into a formal club or society? According to Nick Walton, it’s when the provision of refreshments, particularly biscuits, becomes an issue. Is the occupation of discussing or reading Shakespeare so exhausting that … Continue reading

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Stratford-upon-Avon’s celebration of Shakespeare on Film

Most people get their first introduction to Shakespeare in performance by watching not a live theatre production but a film. And the viewing figures for a Shakespeare film far outnumber even the most successful stage production. So the Shakespeare Film … Continue reading

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Stephen Fry’s Shakespeare: from Cambridge Footlights to Twelfth Night at Shakespeare’s Globe

It seems Stephen Fry can do no wrong. Whether he’s fronting his comedy series QI, writing both fiction and factual books, tweeting, creating radio and TV documentaries or acting, his status as national treasure is assured. Speaking openly about the … Continue reading

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Black History month: communities and visitors in Tudor England

October is Black History month, and this year’s focus on Shakespeare has included a number of discussions of the presence of non-white people in England in the early modern period. Historian Michael Wood’s piece suggests there was a black community in London, … Continue reading

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Stratford’s Band of Brothers: the Bensonian Company

One of the most significant events in the early years of the theatre in Stratford was the appointment of Frank Benson to run the festivals. From 1879 to 1885 the Memorial Theatre had been a receiving house for companies bringing … Continue reading

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Mapping Shakespeare’s imagined world

I recently visited the British Museum’s exhibition, Shakespeare: staging the World. It’s an amazing display of objects relating to the world Shakespeare knew, seen alongside video extracts of actors performing speeches from the plays, all arranged around a number of … Continue reading

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Restoration in Shakespeare’s church: the Clopton Chapel

Most visitors to Holy Trinity Church make a beeline for the monument to Shakespeare in the chancel. It’s not surprising, but doing so means visitors miss a number of other things in the church which have a Shakespeare connection. One … 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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All the world’s a cinema

Summer’s drawing to a close, but there are still lots of Shakespeare treats to enjoy, though not perhaps out of doors. No matter where you live, your local cinema may be able to provide you with a fix of stage performance. … Continue reading

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