Author Archives: Sylvia Morris

Shakespeare’s daughter

David Tennant as Jack Lane, Teresa Banham as Susanna, in The Herbal Bed, RSC 1996 May 26 is the anniversary of the baptism of Shakespeare’s first daughter, Susanna. The only fact that most people know about her is that she … Continue reading

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Flowers and history in Stratford’s Guild Chapel

Chelsea’s not the only festival of flowers that’s going on this week. Over the weekend Stratford-upon-Avon has its own flower festival. Every year the little jewel of a building, the Guild Chapel, is decorated by the Avon Evening Flower Club. … Continue reading

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The death of kings

The 21st May is the anniversary of the murder of Henry VI, according to Shakespeare committed by Richard Duke of Gloucester, later to be Richard III. And 22nd May is the anniversary of capture of Henry VI by the Yorkists. … Continue reading

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Setting Shakespeare’s drama in context

I’ve been looking at  the first volume of a new reference work, British Drama 1533-1642: A Catalogue. Volume 1, 1533-1566, and recently met with its author Dr Martin Wiggins, Senior Lecturer and Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s a … Continue reading

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Memory, forgetting, and performance

Rebekah Brooks and others testifying to the Leveson Inquiry claim to have staggeringly poor memories of events. Zoe Williams, in her Guardian article of 11 May commented “You couldn’t live a life with this bad a memory. Never mind that you’d … Continue reading

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Nine Men’s Morris and the English weather

Last week I was contacted by a reader of this blog with a query about the Nine Men’s Morris in the Theatre Gardens in Stratford-upon-Avon. How old, he wondered, was it? I should explain. Nine Men’s Morris is an ancient … Continue reading

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The Comedy of Errors

The RSC’s Shipwreck trilogy is subtitled “What country friends is this?” and in the production of The Comedy of Errors directed by the Palestinian Amir Nizar Zuabi, it’s a question that the audience might easily find themselves asking. Set in … Continue reading

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Painting the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery influenced how many people visualised Shakespeare’s plays for most of the nineteenth century, and I’m going to look at some of the images, following up my post on 20 April. The gallery of images is at … Continue reading

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Shakespeare, Italy and the theatre

With so much going on in the World Shakespeare Festival at the moment it’s hard to keep up. I spent last week away, with no TV or internet access and just catching programmes I missed is quite a job.  One that … Continue reading

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Remembering Shakespeare at Yale

I know I’ve written about it before, but if you’re interested in the history of Shakespeare in print you really should take a look at the blog attached to Yale University’s current exhibition Remembering Shakespeare.  The University’s Beinecke Library contains … Continue reading

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