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Tag Archives: Shakespeare
Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus and Shakespeare on screen
Shakespeare-lovers are eagerly awaiting the release of the film of Coriolanus directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes may be better known to film audiences as Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, but theatre audiences know that his Shakespeare credentials are … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Plays and Poems
Tagged BBC, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, John Wyver, Ralph Fiennes, Screenplay, Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
3 Comments
How to tame your falcon – and your wife
A few days ago I was in a car travelling along a main road near Stratford-upon-Avon when a bird shot across the road then continued to fly alongside it at the bottom of the hedgerow, at the same speed as the … Continue reading
This learning, what a thing it is! Education and the written word
Tucked away on BBC4 on Thursday evening, under the title A Renaissance Education: the Schooling of Thomas More’s daughter, was what purported to be the story of one of the best-educated women in Tudor England, Margaret More. Even more tucked away … Continue reading
Posted in Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Bible, education, Grammar School, Helen Castor, Johannes Gutenberg, Jonathan Bate, King Edward VI School, Margaret More, Melvyn Bragg, printing, Shakespeare, Stephen Fry
Comments Off on This learning, what a thing it is! Education and the written word
Christmas at court: Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe raided
You’re at work again and everything is getting back to normal. Spare a thought then for those who are busiest at Christmas – those who entertain us. In spite of the more sophisticated offerings available today, people still enjoy pantomimes. … Continue reading
Mourning at the closing of the year
Shakespeare often idealised brotherhood: not just as a literal bond of blood, but also as a relationship of close trust and love. In his own life Shakespeare was one of eight siblings. Infant mortality took its toll, two sisters dying as … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Benson Company, death, Edmond Shakespeare, Frank Benson, funeral, London, prayers, Richard Day, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare, Southwark, stained glass
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Shakespeare and the birds at Christmas
There’s no doubt that Shakespeare loved the birds he saw and heard around him. He refers time and again to their behaviour, and particularly their song. Romeo and Juliet disagree over whether they hear larks or nightingales, in Macbeth, the … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World
Tagged birds, cockerel, Hamlet, robin, Shakespeare, wren
1 Comment
Celebrating Christmas with the Royal Shakespeare Company
At Christmas, the RSC traditionally gets into party mood by putting on a special show. This year the company has two: Matilda in London, after its successful premiere in Stratford last year, and The Heart of Robin Hood, at the … Continue reading
Shakespeare’s Christmas through the eyes of the Victorians
This year I’ve received a Christmas card featuring an engraving dating back to 1846, originally published to illustrate “A Story about a Christmas in the seventeenth century”*. It’s a charming picture, but one thing is certain: Christmas in the seventeenth … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World
Tagged As You Like it, Christmas, Christmas tree, holly, ivy, mistletoe, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare, Thomas Tusser, Victorian, Yule log
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Elizabethan Christmas: carols
Now we’re getting really near to Christmas, let’s have some music to get us in the mood. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania contrasts the long summer evenings with the cosiness of winter round the fire: The human mortals want … Continue reading
Posted in Shakespeare's World
Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, carols, Christmas, Gaudete, music, Shakespeare, Steeleye Span, Thomas Tusser
4 Comments
Lawyers inspiring Shakespeare
Among the beautiful Tudor portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is this one of a dignified elder stateman, Thomas Sackville, painted around 1601 by J de Critz the Elder. The label, as well as detailing his role in government, mentions … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World, Sources
Tagged Gorboduc, Hamlet, Hanery VI Part 3, Inns of court, King Lear, Shakespeare, Thomas Sackville, tragedy
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