The play’s the thing,” remarked Hamlet, and England’s Royal
Shakespeare Company agrees. Between April 2006 and April 2007 in
Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of the Bard, the RSC is mounting
the first ever Complete Works Festival, presenting productions of
all of William Shakespeare’s writings. Not only Shakespeare’s plays
but his sonnets and longer poems, too, will be performed during the
festival year that features visits from a myriad of guest companies
from around the world.
In addition to the stages of the RSC’s two major theaters the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Swan four other performance
venues have been drafted, including Holy Trinity Church, site of
Shakespeare’s burial place, and the purpose-built Courtyard
Theatre.
Adding to the glamour of festival events will be appearances by
well-known stage and screen actors in some of Shakespeare’s best
known works. Patrick Stewart will be appearing in “Antony and
Cleopatra” and “The Tempest,” and Judi Dench will appear as
Mistress Quickly in a musical production of “The Merry Wives of
Windsor.” In March 2007, Ian McKellen will star in “King Lear” at
the Courtyard Theatre while across town at the Swan, F. Murray
Abraham will take on the role of Shylock in “The Merchant of
Venice.”
Complementing these theatrical riches is an exceptional roster of
special events and exhibitions focusing on the life, work and times
of Stratford’s favorite son. The RSC is presenting a plethora of
options for visitors, from brunch discussions led by notable
writers and artists, to pre- and post-play creative team talks,
where audience participants can question directors and actors about
their approach to the plays. A program called Practicing Theater
offers on-stage workshops involving actors from both the RSC and
visiting companies and gives the audience a glimpse into how actors
prepare a character for performance.
The Shakespeare Trust, the organization which operates Stratford’s
Shakespeare Library has organized a series of one-day courses
focusing on Shakespearian topics and themes, concerts featuring
music from Shakespeare’s plays and a 2007 Poetry Festival that will
feature poems written about Shakespeare’s Stratford. Garden tours
at the area’s Shakespeare houses will focus on Tudor plants and
herbs and there is even a nature walk from Mary Arden’s Wilmcote
cottage featuring views of local birds and wildlife.
The year of the Complete Works Festival is just the beginning of a
major transition period for the RSC. When the festival ends in
April 2007, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the company’s
1,000-seat, 1920’s theater in Stratford, will close for a
three-year, $180-million-plus makeover that will turn it into a
state-of-the-art performance venue.
The play may be the thing, but in Stratford over the next four
years, plays will be just one chapter in the town’s Shakespearian
folio.
Royal Shakespeare Company
44-870-400-8182
www.rsc.org.uk
| WHERE TO STAY
For the complete Shakespeare experience, the four-star,
16th-century Shakespeare Hotel on Chapel Street, only five minutes
walk from the theater, is a comfortable hostelry with bar and
restaurant, low beams, overstuffed sofas and enormous fireplaces
with copper hoods. Although smallish, its 74 rooms have an
Elizabethan air, with en-suite bathrooms and tea-making
equipment. The Shakespeare Hotel
Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon
44-870-400-8182
www.shakespearehotel.net
Doubles: $112-$265; singles: $224-$470
Commission: 8 percent plus VAT discount
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