Blogging Shakespeare

In honour of the two world-class sporting events currently taking place, we at the bookshop thought it would be nice to give a brief description of what football and tennis were like in Shakespeare’s time. Roxanne talks, below, about sport and Shakespeare. Untitled from Shakespeare Birthplace Trust on Vimeo. The link to the Brian Blessed […]

As England bows out of the world cup, we have been considering alternative teams that may have served the nation better!  What better than a team made up of Shakespeare’s characters? Who should play in goal? Who should be the manager? There have been several of these doing the rounds here at work but this one […]

It’s not every actor who can speak poetry well. Daring to elevate heightened language so that it rises from the page somewhere between song and naturally spoken word is a risk that many actors choose to avoid. It is not part of drama school training and tends to be skill which is acquired gradually over […]

We’ve had a lovely group of talented actors from Texas with us this week.  They have been participating in one of our ‘Shakespeare Text and Theatre’ courses, whilst also rehearsing and doing research in our archives.  As well as seeing and discussing the RSC’s repertoire, this group also had the chance to see a new […]

I have posted several blogs about Cleopatra but I have said very little about Antony. Antony is as much of a challenge to understand as Cleopatra, described by his soldiers as someone who was at least once heroic, respected by his roman compatriots for his hardiness in battle, and described by the Roman Philo as […]

Roxanne reviews David Bevington’s talk at the Shakespeare Centre and Matt catches up with the author in the bookshop (below). Last Friday, David Bevington came to the Shakespeare Centre to discuss his new book Shakespeare and Biography in conversation with Stanley Wells. Starting with a brief description of his book, he pointed out that not […]

Professor Stanley Wells C.B.E. has just celebrated his 80th birthday. Tributes have poured in from all over the world. And on Saturday 12 June, Shakespeare’s Globe gave him The Sam Wanamaker Award. This is a good moment remind us ourselves of the statement one often hears: that Stanley Wells is our greatest living Shakespearian. We are […]

Can you place this quote? And, for a bonus point, can you recall what it was that the old hermit of Prague actually said? “That that is, is”. Well, there you have it – brevity is the soul of wit. The line is spoken by Feste when disguised as Sir Topas in Twelfth Night – […]

Last Friday I taught a group of 16 year olds about the Taming of the Shrew. This is one of my favourite plays to teach because I am fascinated by the way in which people respond to it. The story is basically that of an angry young woman (Kate) being tamed by her husband (Petruchio) […]

This Friday, 18 June, two of the world’s most renowned Shakespeareans will sit in conversation at the Shakespeare Centre to discuss the phenomenon of Shakespearean biography.  Stanley Wells will be welcoming Professor David Bevington from the University of Chicago, whose latest book comes as part of the Oxford Shakespeare Topics series and explores the history […]