As an English teacher, it's a prerequisite to have (at very minimum) a tolerance, if not a healthy appreciation, or even obsession with Shakespeare. My enjoyment of his works began at a relatively young age when my middle school English teacher gave a small group of us an assignment to write a biography, read summaries of ALL of his tragedies and comedies, and rewrite and stage our favorite over the course of a trimester. As an 8th grader, this was quite the undertaking.
The first play that I had the pleasure of acting in was an abridged version of The Tempest. It was produced in two weeks as part of an acting camp in Tacoma, and really introduced me to the world of performance. While I didn't recognize it at the time, that show was life changing.
It was a great joy to get to see Iris Theatre Company's production of this show on June 30th. Their production took place at St. Paul's Church in Covent Garden, and made use of the gardens, patio, entranceway, and main chapel as the show was presented in a "processional" form, meaning audience members would move to different locations for different acts. While this show did not have the large budget of a West-End production, it was captivating and entertaining all the same.
(P.S. I didn't take pictures of this part because it's rude to take pictures of performances, and I'm not going to post pictures of my students)
The next day, my students and I traveled to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Anne Hathaway's cottage (where she grew up, and where their married life began) and Shakespeare's birthplace. It was fascinating to me to think that these buildings have been around since before our country was founded, and we are still able to identify them as family homes, and they are structurally sound enough that hundreds of tourists are able to walk through them each day. They even know which room in the house Shakespeare was born in! The town of Stratford is much calmer than London proper, and we had a beautiful sunny afternoon to eat lunch, check out the shops, and I also took the opportunity to go visit the church where he and his family are buried. Quite impressive.
 |
| Shakespeare's chair (with initials and family emblem) |
 |
| The Living Room at Anne Hathaway's Cottage |
 |
| His final resting place |
 |
| Shakespeare's Birthplace |
 |
| Aspiring authors would carve their names on a window. |
Our final Shakespearean stop was to The Globe Theatre. While I have pictures of the outside from my first trip to London, I wasn't able to go in, so getting to see the reconstruction of the theatre from the inside was a real treat. The stage was being transitioned into The Twelfth Night set while we were there, so we got to see the space as a functioning theatre, even though we weren't able to see a performance (another thing to put on the list for next time). My students also got to participate in a workshop exploring themes of Romeo and Juliet, and the use of iambic pentameter in storytelling.
 |
| This building is a recreation close to where the original Globe Theatre was. |
No comments:
Post a Comment