Tag Archives: Richard II

“The long day’s task is done, and we must sleep”

With the death of Queen Elizabeth II today, 8 September 2022, we’re now going to live through something that few British people alive can remember as a new monarch succeeds to the throne. Tributes are flooding in, crowds carrying flowers … Continue reading

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Getting creative. Did Shakespeare write King Lear in lockdown?

When lockdown was first imposed, in March 2020, it was pointed out that Shakespeare had written King Lear while under lockdown himself during a period when the theatres were closed because of plague, in 1605-6. James Shapiro discusses this as … Continue reading

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Remembering John Barton, teacher and mentor

In the days since his death on 18 January 2018, tributes have flooded in for theatre director John Barton. He was invited to help form the RSC by Peter Hall in the early sixties and both were hugely influential. While … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and the monarchy

The BBC is currently running a Royal Collection season, focusing on the million or so objects owned by British royalty. Many are priceless artefacts, but the Collection also includes objects with extraordinary symbolic and cultural value to the nation. Some … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and the referendum

The knives have certainly been out since the Referendum vote on 23 June, and in the last week the Shakespearean references have been flying thick and fast, though the whole concept of a referendum would have been completely alien to … Continue reading

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Archaeology: uncovering Shakespeare’s England

I always used to think of archaeologists as people who dug up the remains of Roman settlements and prehistoric burial chambers, but in the last few years they seem to have been examining a much wider range of sites, working … Continue reading

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David Suchet, Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare

Next week a production of Oscar Wilde’s most famous play, The Importance of Being Earnest, opens in the West End of London. The production stars one of best-loved actors, David Suchet, in the leading role of Lady Bracknell. A few … Continue reading

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Remembering Richard Pasco, Shakespearian actor

  On Wednesday 12 November Richard Pasco became the third eminent Shakespeare actor with close associations to Stratford-upon-Avon to die in 2014. Sadly there has been little immediate media interest, unlike that which met the death of Donald Sinden, and, … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s Richard II and the Essex rebellion

On this weekend in early February 1601 Shakespeare’s play Richard II was famously performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in advance of the treacherous Essex rebellion. Just a few days later Augustine Phillips, the spokesman for Shakespeare’s company the Lord … Continue reading

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Ian Richardson and Richard II’s ring

On Friday morning BBC Radio 4’s Today programme included a feature about theatre history relating to David Tennant’s current role as Richard II. On the press night Tennant received a package from Ian Richardson’s widow Maroussia Frank containing the ring … Continue reading

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