2016 has been designated “Shakespeare 400”
year, since this year marks his 400th death anniversary. Being a fan of the Bard I have attended a
number of events so far this year.
February
My year commenced on Valentine’s Day (14
February) when I went to the Friends Meeting House in Manchester to watch a
chamber music group called “Small is Beautiful” perform a number of pieces for
violin and piano based on the title “If
Music be the Food of Love” (obviously taken from Twelfth Night).
March
On 1 March I went up to Bury United Reformed
Church to attend Bury Choral Society’s concert “Shakespeare and Cervantes 400 Years On”. On 2 March I went to the Lowry in Salford to
watch Birmingham Royal Ballet perform the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” – which was superb.
My Shakespeare-fest continued on 18 March when
I visited Stockport Garrick to watch a performance of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
Later in March I was due to visit the Lowry again to watch a performance
of the play “The Herbal Bed”. The play is set in the year 1613 and is about
Susanna Hall, daughter of William Shakespeare, who is accused of adultery with
local haberdasher Rafe Smith. Her husband, Dr John Hall, is suspicious of their
relationship, but stands up for his wife when she takes her accuser to court
for slander. Though Susanna's father is regularly mentioned, his name is never
specified and he never appears. The play ends as he is about to enter. Sadly I
was ill, and not well enough to go.
April
April is the month of the Bard’s birthday and
his death – apparently both events occurring on St George’s Day – 23 April. Naturally I went to a number of events to
commemorate Shakespeare 400 this month.
On 1 April I visited the Manchester Central
Library, and they had on display their collection of Shakespeare Folios.
The Anniversary weekend itself was particularly
busy. On Friday 22 April I visited
Manchester Metropolitan University for a multi-media presentation, comprising
drama, poetry and literature, called “Tilting
at Windmills: Cervantes ‘meets’ Shakespeare 400 years on”. On Saturday 23 April I went to a concert at
the Bridgwater Hall entitled “Inspired
by Shakespeare” – there was a performance of incidental music to Romeo and
Juliet in the second half, and the first half was a series of short pieces,
commissioned by the BBC, with inspiration drawn from Shakespeare’s
sonnets. Some were very good, others not
to my taste.
Finally on Sunday 23 April there was rare
matinee performance of “King Lear”
at the Royal Exchange Theatre.
On the Saturday morning I was due to go to the
Bolton Octagon Theatre for a workshop based on their play “The Macbeth Curse” – but this was cancelled due to poor
bookings. The Macbeth Curse seems an apt
name!
To round off April I had an indulgent trip to
London. Travelling First class (it was
only £6 more than Standard class, so a no-brainer really) I first visited the Globe Theatre on the South Bank. There was an exhibition there of the Globe
Theatre in Shakespeare’s time which was interesting. I then visited St Clement Danes church
(famous for the rhyme Oranges and Lemons
{Oranges and Lemons cry the bells of St Clement's}).
The purpose of my extravagant visit was,
however, the Royal Ballet’s performance of “The Winter’s Tale” at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The seat was good (though not excellent due
to the rather large hairdo of the lady in front of me) and expensive … but the
trip was well worth it.
May
On 12 May – which is the Museums At Night evening
in Manchester – I visited the John Rylands Library for their interactive show “Neon Sonnets”. The architecture of the Library really leant
itself the excerpts from Shakespeare, and was a great experience.
Later the same night I visited HOME and watched
Filter Theatre perform “Twelfth Night”
in their innovative way.
On 13 May I viewed the exhibition “Willard Wigan: through the eye of a needle”. These were minute sculptures crafted in the
eye of a knitting needle – it was really fascinating. One of these sculptures was of William
Shakespeare, hence the inclusion in this list.
I also listened to Elgar’s Falstaff: A Symphonic Study, op 68, on You Tube.
June
June was a light month; I suppose it was needed
after all the frenetic activity of the previous few months. I viewed Here’s
what Shakespeare’s plays sounded like with their original English accent on
You Tube, and went on holiday to Inverness where I encountered a bust of the
bard at my guest house.
for the period July to December watch this space ...
No comments:
Post a Comment