Due to a massive cancellation on the part of another program, we were offered the opportunity to go to Stratford Upon Avon and RSC production of Cymbeline. Not only that, but it was a beautiful sunny day, the only one in the week. Some in our group were burnt, but all were warmed...and then the sun went down and we all froze on the walk back to our bus. Speaking of the coach, it was a double decker, about the size of a small apartment building. It swayed like a ship under sail as the driver careened around the 200 roundabouts between Grantham and Stratford.
In Stratford, I visited Ann Hathaway's cottage where she lived until she married Shakespeare and moved into town. There is a nice dedicated footpath to the cottage from town which makes a 20 minute walk that is quite pleasant. The cottage has been restored to lovely tourist quality, but a little imagination allows the visitor to see how rough it was to live there 400 years ago.
This beautiful garden was the sheep yard for the family farm. In the early years of the house, there were no chimneys, so one can imagine how smokey it was.
From the Hathaway house, I followed Anne's path to Shakespeare's family home in town where she moved after she got married. The family house is called The Birthplace, but Shakespeare lived there with Anne and everybody else until he bought The New Place; no, really, that is what it's called. Aside from the huge flocks of French school students, it was quite authentic inside, all dark and cramped.
The New Place was evidently really ritzy, in comparison, or so the brochure says. It is currently closed for renovation, but I stood outside the garden and listened to the workmen discuss the Brexit. Their principle observation is, "Well, England is an island nation, innit?"
Here is the front of the New Place. I am guessing that it is ritzier because it has more and bigger windows. So then I continued to follow Anne's path to the family church, Trinity Church, where both Anne and Bill were buried. It is a nice Gothic example of churchiness. The plaque that you see on the lower left indicated Bill's grave, but Anne is right next to him.
Even more interesting is the fact that this church has four, count them four, Green Man faces! They were probably not destroyed because they are gilded.
Finally, we ended the day at the Royal Shakespeare Theater for a production of Cymbeline, a pretty silly example of Shakespeare's work, but the actors were excellent, and costumes were bizarre. Here is the set.
The funniest part of the play was where the Britons and the Romans have a parley, and the Britons serve the Roman legionnaires chocolate digestive biscuits and tea. I'm not sure the actors were supposed to eat their biscuits, but one guy seemed to really enjoy his biscuit.
Then we got back on out rolling apartment complex and sailed back to Grantham. Now, I know that the highways around Cincinnati always have traffic on them, but the motorways back to Grantham were deserted. Each roundabout was like being in one of the tea cup rides at the amusement park.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
In Stratford, I visited Ann Hathaway's cottage where she lived until she married Shakespeare and moved into town. There is a nice dedicated footpath to the cottage from town which makes a 20 minute walk that is quite pleasant. The cottage has been restored to lovely tourist quality, but a little imagination allows the visitor to see how rough it was to live there 400 years ago.
This beautiful garden was the sheep yard for the family farm. In the early years of the house, there were no chimneys, so one can imagine how smokey it was.
From the Hathaway house, I followed Anne's path to Shakespeare's family home in town where she moved after she got married. The family house is called The Birthplace, but Shakespeare lived there with Anne and everybody else until he bought The New Place; no, really, that is what it's called. Aside from the huge flocks of French school students, it was quite authentic inside, all dark and cramped.
Here is the front of the New Place. I am guessing that it is ritzier because it has more and bigger windows. So then I continued to follow Anne's path to the family church, Trinity Church, where both Anne and Bill were buried. It is a nice Gothic example of churchiness. The plaque that you see on the lower left indicated Bill's grave, but Anne is right next to him.
Even more interesting is the fact that this church has four, count them four, Green Man faces! They were probably not destroyed because they are gilded.
Finally, we ended the day at the Royal Shakespeare Theater for a production of Cymbeline, a pretty silly example of Shakespeare's work, but the actors were excellent, and costumes were bizarre. Here is the set.
The funniest part of the play was where the Britons and the Romans have a parley, and the Britons serve the Roman legionnaires chocolate digestive biscuits and tea. I'm not sure the actors were supposed to eat their biscuits, but one guy seemed to really enjoy his biscuit.
Then we got back on out rolling apartment complex and sailed back to Grantham. Now, I know that the highways around Cincinnati always have traffic on them, but the motorways back to Grantham were deserted. Each roundabout was like being in one of the tea cup rides at the amusement park.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
1 comment:
What a lovely tour you all took through Shakespeare Land, but the funniest thing is the vasty bus as a teacup ride! The stage set for the play looked ugly. What?? Was it for horror really? Granny Pris
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