William Shakespeare turns 449 on 23rd of April 2013. His birthday is celebrated in thousands of places around the world every year. Next year will be the four hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his birth. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, along with the other major English Shakespeare institutions like the Globe Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare [...]
We are all familiar with a range of Medieval English kings. We know about the fiery, charismatic Bolingbroke who deposed his weak cousin, Richard II, who was indecisive and cowardly. It’s an historical fact that Bolingbroke became Henry IV and we also know that he was an unsuccessful, unfulfilled monarch who spent the last part [...]
There was an interesting article in the UK Newspaper, The Mail, last week, about a research project centered on the reading of literature. The researchers at the University of Liverpool found that the reading of challenging literature, particularly Shakespeare and Wordsworth, has a beneficial effect on the mind, providing a ‘rocket-boost to morale by catching the reader’s [...]
The distinguished Shakespearean actor, Dame Janet Suzman has just published a book entitled Not Hamlet, about the treatment of women in theatre. One of the chapters addresses the Shakespeare conspiracy theory/authorship debate. She takes the traditional scholarly view that it was one Master William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon who wrote the plays. In her book Dame Janet [...]
The conspirary that Shakespeare didn’t write his plays exists in some circles, which leads to the question who wrote Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets? We address the William Shakespeare authorship controversy here, but thought we’d take a closer look at the candidates who may have written Shakespeare’s plays according to the conspiracy theorists. Authorship Candidate 1: [...]
This year, 2012, is probably the biggest year for William Shakespeare in England since his death. Two of the UK’s biggest cultural institutions, the BBC and the Royal Shakespeare Company, have teamed up with the World Shakespeare Festival to provide a huge Shakespeare tapestry covering the country in the media and on stages in Stratford, London, Newcastle, Birmingham, Wales and Scotland. [...]
What’s in a name? Shakespeare by any other name would surely smell as sweet! The big Shakespeare news in the UK yesterday was red faces all round at leading high street retailer Top Shop, when they realised they’d spelled Shakespeare’s name incorrectly on a t-shirt. The women’s fashion item went on sale online and at [...]
We just came across this high-quality documentary on Shakespeare’s Stratford Upon Avon, made by UK film production company Alpha Star Productions. The documentary is a walk through Shakespeare’s life in Stratford - from the house in which he he was born to the church in which he was buried – and explores the life he lived in the [...]
I recently came across a story I wrote some time ago: it was in an anthology of short stories intended for study by GCSE English students in the UK. It was a strange feeling to see it there, accompanied by questions about it and points for discussion. That a story, written for the pleasure and [...]