Blogging Shakespeare

Birmingham University Ph.D. student Val Brodie explains how she benefitted from The Louis Marder Shakespeare Centre Scholarship: ‘I was thrilled, surprised and delighted to be awarded the Louis Marder Scholarship in 2010. I was just about to start the detailed research at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust on the theatre producer Charles Calvert for Chapter Three [...]

It might seem odd to think about Shakespeare in relation to Richard Wagner, but the nineteenth-century German dramatist read Shakespeare during his formative years, pointing to him as one of his three big influences (the other two being the Greek tragedians and Beethoven). He also made an opera of Measure for Measure, Das Liebesverbot (“The [...]

  My friend Bill Barclay has set himself an interesting challenge – that is to read all 118,406 lines of Shakespeare’s complete works ……in public ……. in different locations …… around the world.  He is also writing a blog diary in which he will reflect upon his engagement with Shakespeare’s works over the coming year [...]

I am about to leave for Los Angeles to attend a Shakespeare Symposium convened by Professor Jonathan Post at the University of California in Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.). The title of the symposium is “Where has all the Verse Gone? Shakespeare’s Poetry on the Page & Stage” (May 13-14) and speakers are among the contributors to [...]

In honor of Shakespeare’s birthday (last Saturday) I have been thinking about what Shakespeare means to me and here are some of my answers.. ..he means a job I love. Working for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust I have realised a number of ambitions and been involved with many interesting projects. No two days are the same here thanks to the [...]

What is important to know about a play before you see it? How it begins? How it ends? How the play has been responded to by critics in the past? Why a particular company has chosen to put the play on now – in this way – with this cast – in this particular space? Should [...]

Human emotion and political intrigue crackle through Richard II. History, politics, and feeling are all made vibrant by its rich poetic dynamic.   It is not surprising that Sir John Gielgud felt strongly that actors should be cast in this play on account of their different vocal qualities. Long stretches of Richard II require sustained [...]

I woke up singing this old song ‘Cherish‘ by Madonna. The chorus of the song, in which Madonna sings about her desire for a long term loving passionate relationship, was running repetitively though my head: “Romeo and Juliet, they never felt this way I bet, so don’t underestimate my point of view.” I started to think [...]

This is a big season for Mariah Gale. She adds Juliet to her illustrious list of Shakespearian heroines she has played at Stratford. I had the pleasure of chairing a question and answer session with her the other day for a group of undergraduates from the University of Tennessee and Georgetown University. It is good [...]