Goodbye England! Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Today I return to California. The ending is bitter sweet. I shed a few tears last night after several celebratory rounds of drinks with my friends and colleagues. I will miss them all very much. I am looking forward to seeing my folks and having some time to relax over the holidays. It has been a wonderful year. I have met the best people in the world, learned more than I could have imagined, and completed a dream. This has been the best year of my life (so far).

Things I will miss most:

1. My girlfriends

2. Pub Nights

3. The Shakespeare Institute Players

4. The Royal Shakespeare Company

 

5. Walking by the Birthplace every morning

6. Fancy Dress Parties

7. Laura's Antics

8. Cappuccinos at Gusto Ricco's

9. My Flat Mate, Jude

10. History Everywhere I look...



Shakespeare's 448th Birthday!

Today is Shakespeare's official birthday.  However, the town of Stratford-upon-Avon is quiet today.  I suppose the weekends parades, parties, and other festivities has made us all a little tired. We all returned to our work today. I have spent the last 10 hours working on my essays for my Thursday deadline. They are mostly complete, though I need to proof and edit them.

I am still thinking about Saturday, the most magnificent day I have spent here in Stratford so far. Not only am I living my dream - to live and study Shakespeare in England - but I also have the best friends imaginable. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed ice-cream and boat races, in addition to participating in Shakespeare's Birthday Celebrations. I will always remember the 44th birthday of William Shakespeare will fondness.

Happy Birthday William Shakespeare!

Tomorrow, 23 April 2012, is William Shakespeare's 448th birthday! Here in Stratford-upon-Avon we have already started the celebration. Yesterday the community pulled together to kick of the festivities with a birthday procession in honor of Shakespeare. I was blessed to have been chosen as a representative of Birmingham University and the Shakespeare Institute.

We started the day in Town Hall where we were introduced to the Mayor of Stratford. We formerly had our names announce and shook hands.

Here we are in Town Hall with the Institute Head, Michael Dobson.

We then walked from Town Hall down to the river, up Bridge Street to our flag posts along Church Street.

Here we are with the Queen :)

We all carried flowers with us to lay on Shakespeare's grave at the end of the procession.

 Yellow and black balloons were released for remembrance.

We then flew our flag!

Here is our group in front of our flag post. From here we continued on to Holy Trinity Church.

At Holy Trinity we patently waited outside until it was our turn to go in.

When we arrived, we were greeted by these ladies who placed our flowers near Shakespeare's grave.

Shakespeare and me.

The flowers at the end of the day.

Celebrating Shakespeare's birthday in his home-town of Stratford-upon-Avon was a dream come true. They really rolled out he red carpet for him. Not to mention, yesterday was the kick-off of the World Shakespeare Festival.

If you have a story about Shakespeare's Birthday, or would just like to say "Happy birthday Shakespeare" please blog about it. Read about the movement at http://www.happybirthdayshakespeare.com/. 

As You Like It Casting!

I am pleased to announce that I have been cast as Rosalind in The Shakespeare Institute Player’s summer production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It. The production will take place July 19th-21st in the Institute Gardens. This will be my final show with the players, as I will be returing to California in September of this year. I am blessed to play my dream role in Shakespeare's home town and look forward to begining rehearsals at the end of this month.

I have always admired Rosalind because she is intelligent, witty, and an all-around strong woman. She disguises herself as a man in the play, which liberates her to share her female perspectives with her true love, Orlando. I find her very insightful when she speaks about love. She seems incredibly self-aware, embraces love, but is also able to joke about it. She is also the largest female role in the cannon, which presents an additional challenge. I feel honored to play her in Shakespeare’s home town, and during the time of the World Shakespeare Festival. We have our first read-through on April 25^th and I am eager to begin the process.

Halloween Merrymaking

Last night my friend Matt threw a pre-Halloween bash at his flat. Some of us decided to turn the event into a costume night. Here in England they call it "fancy dress". Needless to say, I think we all had a pretty fabulous time!

Stratford-upon-Avon Mop Fair

Today and tomorrow the Mop Fair is in Stratford-upon-Avon. What is a mop faire you ask? Well, to this American it looks like a street carnival. However, apparently there is a deeper meaning:

HISTORY OF MOP FAIRS
Farm workers, labourers, servants and some craftsmen would work for their employer from October to October. At the end of the employment they would attend the Mop Fair dressed in their Sunday best clothes and carrying an item signifying their trade. A servant with no particular skills would carry a mop head – hence the phrase Mop Fair.

Cardenio Amazes at the RSC

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Cardenio is described as "Shakespeare's 'Lost Play' Re-Imagined.” It is the first full-scale new production in the remodeled Swan Theatre. The production is a first adaptation/reinvention of Cardenio at the RSC. The production's 3 sources stem from Cervantes, Shelton and Theobald. To reconstruct the text of Cardenio, texts from Theobald’s Double Falsehood were incorporated with Don Quixote along with new text.

In performance, Cardenio presents dynamic characters, romance, action and intrigue. The relationship between Oliver Rix and Lucy Briggs-Owen as Cardenio and Luscinda gave breath to a sometimes comedic, sometimes tragic romance. Briggs-Owen depicts Lucy as a fidgety young lover, struggling with her inner most desires against the forms of her father and society.

Alex Hassell as Fernando tore at the heartstrings – A character one desires to love and hate in the same instance. He is bold, crass and rash in his decisions – A ruffian who takes what he wants without thought of the consequence. Yet, in all his faults he presents a giddy humor and a naivety that puts his villainess nature into question.

Perhaps the best production at the RSC this season, it is a shame this play calls tonight its closing.

Taming of the Shrew in Performance

In our weekly seminar, we were joined by esteemed director Lucy Bailey, who is set to direct January's production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Shakespeare Company. In order to aid her research of the play, several fellows of the institute lectured on various points concerning the neighboring texts, domestic duties of the 16th century and sources related to the play.

First, Michael Dobson explained the "neighboring texts" of the time - most notably The Taming of A Shrew, The Woman's Prize or The Tamer Tamed (1611), Sauny the Scott or the Taming of the Shrew (1667), A Cure for a Scold (1735), and Catherine and Petruchio (1754).

Next the lovely Tara Hamling spoke a bit about domestic duties of the time and the implication of furniture in the home. What I found most interesting is the concept of a person's bed being symbolic of wealth and representative of a person's life cycle. You are born in bed. You sleep and fornicate in your bed. Ultimately you die in your bed. This is a concept that will be explored the the upcoming RSC production which will include a literal or figurative bed as part of the stage design.

Martin Wiggins finished up the findings with an extensive list of sources Shakespeare likely used to compose The Taming of the Shrew - All of which are a little outside my knowledge base and have prompted me to conduct a massage Google Search on the subject.

This particular topic of the week has sparked my interest and I may investigate how to incorporate such dramaturgy products into my dissertation work.

My New Flat!

Thanks to my lovely new friend and roommate, Jude, I will now have a roof over my head. We secured a flat together in Stratford-upon-Avon on Birmingham Road. It has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a washer! What more could a couple of girls want?

It is unfurnished, so when I arrive I will have to order up some furniture for my bedroom. Jude seems to have a living room set available, but instead of sleeping on her couch the first few nights, I will be staying at a bed and breakfast until I can order myself a bed. The reality is starting to set in and my excitement for the trip is building. I cannot wait to begin the journey.

Announcing Graduate School Acceptance!

I am proud to announce that I have been offered a place to study at Birmingham University’s Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon! In late September I will be leaving my Los Angeles life behind (at least temporarily) to embark on a journey to England. I will spend the following year pursuing my Master of Arts (MA) in Shakespeare Studies. I will be closer to the Bard than ever before! This is truly a dream come true!

This blog will detail my experiences as I make my journey and will be a testament of my love for William Shakespeare.