Shakespeare's Stratford: I was expecting Stratford-upon Avon to be a tourist hellhole, wrecked by commercialisation and clogged with coaches. I was wrong. Maybe it was still too early in the season, but even on a sunny Saturday in April there were no queues at the major attractions and very few annoying snappers getting in the way of all my photographs. And the town was gorgeous. Trees dripped with blossom, abundant flowers were in bloom and countless swans thronged the riverbank. Even the Pizza Hut in the High Street was tastefully disguised as a genuine half-timbered 17th century townhouse. It's enough to make you wonder why William Shakespeare ever left the place.
Shakespeare's Stratford:Holy Trinity Church Stratford's old parish church on the banks of the river Avon is where William Shakespeare began and ended his life. He was baptised here on 26th April 1564 (his "23rd April" birth date is pure speculation based on this one fact) and buried in the chancel 52 years later. I failed abjectly in my attempts to venture inside to see Will's grave, kept at bay by the Harpenden Choral Society. They'd just started singing Faure's Requiem to an appreciative audience, and it would have been rude to interrupt their recital by trying to sneak past for a quick look at a stone slab and a plaster bust. Lovely singing it was, but damn you Harpenden Choral Society, damn you all the same.
Shakespeare's Stratford:The Royal Shakespeare Company Forget the upstart Globe Theatre down in London, the place to see Shakespeare performed properly is in this big brick building beside the Avon. All the luvvies come here to play their favourite Shakespearean roles, usually something from one of the tragedies because you get to appear more dramatic that way. Sir Ian McKellen and Sylvester McCoy are treading the boards in King Lear at the moment (one's a king, one's a fool), before the Swan Theatre closes down later in the summer for a major refit. The RSC take their Shakespeare seriously, and are as likely to be performing one of his lesser historical plays as a crowd-pleasing romance. One hope they never get tired of playing to full houses of lank-haired GCSE students.
This coming weekend, as part of Stratford's official Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations, the RSC are holding a special Open Day where you can go behind the scenes and take part in workshops and stuff. They've even invited Gyles Brandreth along, should you be so inclined. You really don't get this sort of cultural depth in most minor English market towns, do you? But then, thanks to one single birth here nearly 450 years ago, this is no ordinary English market town.
Shakespeare's Stratford: I was expecting Stratford-upon Avon to be a tourist hellhole, wrecked by commercialisation and clogged with coaches. I was wrong. Maybe it was still too early in the season, but even on a sunny Saturday in April there were no queues at the major attractions and very few annoying snappers getting in the way of all my photographs. And the town was gorgeous. Trees dripped with blossom, abundant flowers were in bloom and countless swans thronged the riverbank. Even the Pizza Hut in the High Street was tastefully disguised as a genuine half-timbered 17th century townhouse. It's enough to make you wonder why William Shakespeare ever left the place.
Forget the upstart Globe Theatre down in London, the place to see Shakespeare performed properly is in this big brick building beside the Avon. All the luvvies come here to play their favourite Shakespearean roles, usually something from one of the tragedies because you get to appear more dramatic that way. Sir Ian McKellen and Sylvester McCoy are treading the boards in King Lear at the moment (one's a king, one's a fool), before the Swan Theatre closes down later in the summer for a major refit. The RSC take their Shakespeare seriously, and are as likely to be performing one of his lesser historical plays as a crowd-pleasing romance. One hope they never get tired of playing to full houses of lank-haired GCSE students.
