Tag Archives: Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man in glass

Glass is the most mysterious of substances, translucent yet intensely colourful, hard but fragile and easily broken. A friend has just celebrated the first firing of her new glass kiln, and over the weekend a group of us crowded into … Continue reading

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Shakespearian stars 2: Paul Scofield as King Lear

In 2004 The Daily Telegraph published a survey in which RSC actors voted for the greatest Shakespeare performance in history. It wasn’t exactly a scientific poll, but the result was clear, and not unexpected. The winner was Paul Scofield in … Continue reading

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Thomas Hardy and Shakespeare

A few days ago, on June 2nd  it was the birthday of the novelist Thomas Hardy, a giant of literature whose long career spanned the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In a discussion on this morning’s Radio 4 Broadcasting House (about 37 … Continue reading

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Much Ado About Tate, Tennant, Best and Edwards

It looks like being a vintage summer for Shakespeare-lovers with lots on offer around the country. In London two productions of Much Ado About Nothing have opened within a week so it’s already possible to see two sets of the … Continue reading

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Greatest Shakespeare speeches?

Thinking about my favourite Shakespeare speeches has been a pleasant diversion for a damp and blowy bank holiday weekend. It started when a neighbour kindly gave me a press cutting about Simon Callow’s new TV series on Sky Arts 1 … Continue reading

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Shakespeare and science fiction

It’s hardly surprising that Shakespeare’s play The Tempest has been used as the basis for science fiction. A ship and its crew are wrecked on a distant, mysterious island, populated only by a man with magical powers, several strange creatures who … Continue reading

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Shakespearian stars 1: Richard Burton as Henry V

This is the first in a series about actors and their greatest Shakespearian parts.  Henry V is a gift of a part for a young actor. It’s a varied role, particularly if  Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, which show … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s Avon, Act 1: Clopton Bridge

 This is the first of a series I’m going to be posting weekly on the subject of the River Avon and its connections with Shakespeare.   Clopton Bridge was built about 100 years before Shakespeare’s time by Sir Hugh Clopton, a … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s First Folio: “read him, … and again and again”

Shakespeare’s First Folio has been in the news again recently due to two new exhibitions featuring this most famous of books.  The Folger Shakespeare Library’s summer exhibition in Washington, DC, will be Fame, Fortune and Theft, looking at the book’s … Continue reading

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A rose by any other word

The scent of roses is in the air already this year. With whole gardens devoted to its many varieties, no flower has a closer association with summertime in England. As national flower, it also has a special link with the … Continue reading

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