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Category Archives: Plays and Poems
Shakespeare’s plays in his lifetime: the Cambridge Conference
One of the sessions in the recent Cambridge Shakespeare Conference was on Shakespeare’s Plays in his Lifetime. Frustratingly little is known about the performance of Shakespeare’s plays and how they were originally received so I looked forward to hearing from people … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World
Tagged Cambridge Shakespeare Conference, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Pericles, Shakespeare, The War of the Theatres
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Michael Rosen and Shakespeare for children
I recently spent a day at the Cambridge Shakespeare Conference, its theme Shakespeare: sources and adaptations. It opened with a thought-provoking lecture by Michael Rosen, Children’s Laureate 2007-2009 and Shakespeare enthusiast. To an audience who needed no convincing of the … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage
Tagged Cambridge, education, Michael Rosen, poetry, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, Such Tweet Sorrow, Tim Crouch
7 Comments
Shakespeare’s magical island in The Tempest
Where is the unnamed isle in The Tempest? The literal-minded will say that it’s obviously in the Mediterranean, where a ship headed from Tunis to Italy might have foundered. Those who know Shakespeare’s written sources will mention Strachey’s 1610 letter … Continue reading
Simon Forman, Shakespeare and the stage
12 September 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the death of the colourful astrologer-cum-physician Simon Forman – or perhaps it was 11 September, or even 5 September, accounts vary. Whichever is correct, Forman was a well-known, even notorious figure in Shakespeare’s … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World
Tagged astrology, Ben Jonson, Casebook Project, John Dee, John Hall, Macbeth, medicine, science, Simon Forman, The Alchemist
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Shakespeare’s mothers and sons
Towards the end of Shakespeare’s life, early September must have been a sad time, not just because it signalled the end of summer. Both parents died at this time of year: his father was buried on 8 September 1601, and … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged death, King John, Mary Arden, mothers, Shakespeare, Snitterfield, The Winter's Tale, Wilmcote
4 Comments
The curse of Macbeth strikes again
Poor Jonathan Slinger, the RSC’s current Macbeth, seems to be the latest casualty of the so-called “curse of Macbeth”. He didn’t acquire his broken arm during any of his dangerous onstage moves but, rather prosaically, by being knocked off his … Continue reading
One-man shows and Shakespeare’s theatre
Last week I saw Eduardo de Filippo’s play The Syndicate, currently touring UK towns and cities. It stars two great Shakespearean actors, Ian McKellen and Michael Pennington. Watching them in this subtle play it occurred to me that the last … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage, Shakespeare's World
Tagged Acting Shakespeare, Ages of Man, Being Shakespeare, Ellen Terry, Ian McKellen, John Gielgud, Judi Dench, Michael Pennington, Roger Rees, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, Shakespeare in Love, Shakespeare's Heroines, Simon Callow, Sweet William, The Syndicate, What You Will
5 Comments
Henry V, star of England
31 August is the anniversary of the death of that “star of England”, King Henry V. He died in France, where he had been on a military campaign to capture more of the country, in 1422 aged only 35. If … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage, Sources
Tagged Adrian Lester, Henry V, Henry VI Part 1, Holinshed, Kenneth Branagh, Laurence Olivier, Shakespeare
4 Comments
Much Ado about David Tennant
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actor having more fun onstage than I did on Monday night when I went to Much Ado About Nothing at Wyndham’s Theatre London. From his first entrance in a ridiculous golf buggy right … Continue reading
Shakespeare and the Jacobethans at the Swan
This year the Royal Shakespeare Company is celebrating 50 years of existence by staging a series of events marking some of its key moments of theatremaking. Exactly half way through this half-century, in 1986, the RSC opened the Swan theatre … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Antony Sher, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Gregory Doran, John Fletcher, John Webster, Michael Reardon, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare, Swan Theatre, Thomas Middleton
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