Entry 9 – seeing plays in the city

Since so much of what I am doing here, with the class, with the faculty, and alone, involves seeing performances (particularly of Shakespeare), I thought it might make sense just to list the shows I have seen and then to tell just a bit about each.
So far I have seen 13 plays in the 4 weeks here, with two more scheduled for this week. I am not sure I can get tickets or schedule transport to see any others, but we’ll see.

Wed 30 June – Thomas Middleton’s rarely performed Women Beware Women at the National, directed by Marianne Elliott
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/56097/productions/women-beware-women.html

Thurs 1 July – Romeo and Juliet at St. Paul’s Covent Garden, directed by Daniel Winder
http://www.thepublicreviews.com/romeo-juliet-actors-church-covent-garden-london/

Fri 2 July – War Horse at the New London on Drury Lane, directed by Tom Morris and Marianne Elliott
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/warhorse

Tues 6 July – The Tempest at the Old Vic, directed by Sam Mendes
http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=58

Sat 10 July – Morte d’Arthur (directed by Greg Doran) and Antony and Cleopatra (directed by Michael Boyd) at Stratford’s RSC
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7847289/The-RSCs-Morte-DArthur-Stratford-Upon-Avon-review.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/may/11/antony-and-cleopatra-review-theatre

Tues 13 July – Henry 8 at the Globe, directed by Mark Rosenblatt
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/annualtheatreseason/henryviii/

Wed 14 July - Henry 4, parts one and two, at the Globe, directed by Dominic Dromgoole
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/theatre/annualtheatreseason/henryivpart1/

Thurs 15 July – As You Like It at the Old Vic, directed by Sam Mendes

Sat 17 July – The Winter’s Tale at the RSC in Stratford, directed by David Farr
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/5148528/The-Winters-Tale-the-RSC-Stratford-Upon-Avon-theatre-review.html

Mon 19 July - Macbeth, adapted for a young audience, at Regent’s Park Open Air, directed by Steve Marmion
http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/28874/macbeth

Tues 20 July – Comedy of Errors, touring at the Globe, directed by Rebecca Gatward
http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/comedyglobetour-rev.htm

STILL TO COME:
Thurs 22 July – As You Like It at the RSC in Stratford, directed by Michael Boyd
http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/as-you-like-it/reviews.aspx

Sat 24 July – Anne Boleyn by Howard Brenton, at the Globe, directed by John Dove
http://gouk.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=gouk&cdn=travel&tm=22&gps=151_800_1004_580&f=11&tt=13&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.shakespeares-globe.org/

Entry 8 – having fun in the city
As you would expect, our students have been all over London – exploring museums, theatres, churches, palaces, restaurants, clubs, stores, and who knows where else. I will offer below a sample of some of the places that some of us have visited:

At Regent’s Park before Macbeth

The way we get anywhere in London

Curtain call at the Globe after Henry IV

Shopping at Portobello Road, off Notting Hill Gate

St. Paul’s at night

Peter Pan statue in Kensington Park

Dr. Emily Burkhead at the London Olympic Village currently under construction

Westminster Abbey

Churchill statue and Big Ben – Houses of Parliament

Entry 7 – July 13, 2020 – Henry and the Globe

After a week’s preparation, today we headed for one of the academic highlights that I have been anticipating all summer --- our trip to tour the recreated Globe Theatre and to see a play there. The play was the perfect choice, it turned out – The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII – which was performed in traditional Elizabethan-period costumes, with period instruments supplying the music for traditional dances at the end, and in a carefully reconstructed theatre, almost 400 years after the original Globe burned down during an early performance of this very play. That is the burden of a great deal of history. I was reluctant to add this play to the syllabus, having never seen it nor taught it, but the students convinced me two months ago to select it, and now I’m grateful they did. They may be having second thoughts tonight, though, since they are all working now on a paper about what they have learned in London about Henry 8. But all of us could follow and enjoy the performance.

Here is our group inside the Globe preparing to stand as groundlings for three hours.

 

Below is the photographer turned model for once, thanks to Mary Katheryn Howard.

And here are our other two faculty, resting while they can before the command for us all to get on our feet for the performance.

Entry 6 – July 12, 2020 – Important Visits!

Today two or three important, related events occurred – our entire party of faculty and students toured the Houses of Parliament, thanks to a couple of truly important visitors who accompanied the group. After a gulped breakfast and a quick trip on the tubes to Westminster, we were delighted to see two familiar faces at the visitor entrance to the Houses of Parliament, Dr. Betty Webb (Director of International Programs at Meredith) and her husband of twenty years, John Rose (former Clerk of the House of Commons). We split into two small groups for a lengthy and informative tour of the public areas of Westminster, including both houses (Commons and Lords) as well as the Royal Gallery and Queen’s Robing Room, the dedicated spaces reserved for the monarch’s annual visits to Parliament. No photographs were allowed in these spaces – we were not even allowed to let our unsanctified hindquarters touch the Parliamentary seats, so we stood for most of the tour. We were allowed to make photos in the oldest part of the building, Westminster Hall, the sole part remaining from the original palace on this spot built in 1099. Here is a shot of part of our group, with program leader Cathy Rodgers (2nd left), John Rose (center) and International Study director Betty Webb (right).

The entire group gathered outside for another group photo in front of Big Ben:

Later that afternoon Profs. Webb and Rose joined the Sisters of the Assumption of the former Maria Assumpta Centre, where the Meredith students have been housed in London for nearly 30 years. What a delight to listen to their reminiscences.

Entry 5 – July 9, 2010

Today brought another exciting expedition, to the archaeological site of the first theatre in London. Staff from the Museum of London have located and are now exploring the site of The Theatre, built in 1576 by the Burbages, who tore it down in 1598 and transported the timber across to the south side of the Thames to build the Globe. Four hundred years later, Sir Ian McKellen and I (not on the same day) have now visited this historic site and marveled at what remains – footings of the galleries, the remains of an entrance and perhaps a stair tower, the compacted gravel surface of the pit where the groundlings stood.

Here is Heather Knight, chief archaeologist for the Theatre project, at the site. Just in front of her left foot is a stone and brick pathway that seems to have been one of the entries into the inner yard. The circular structure at the far right of the photo is the remains of a later well. The stone foundation crossing in front of Heather seems to be the line of the gallery wall.

One famous visitor to the site last March was Sir Ian “Gandalf” McKellen.

One shard of pottery excited everyone because it seemed an early image of the famous playwright.

 If you want more info , check out the web site of the dig:
http://www.mymuseumoflondon.org.uk/blogs/blog/category/excavations-at-shakespeare%E2%80%99s-theatre/

And the Youtube footage of Heather explaining what they had uncovered by March 2009, when McKellen visited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=savcpQFVu8w

Entry 4 – July 8, 2010
Many of our students have headed for Paris for the weekend, leaving a few of them and their faculty enjoying the slower pace here in London. There are a couple of great successes to report this week.

The students have taken to Henry 8 better than I expected. In the midst of working on their reviews of R&J and planning the getaways this weekend that they are now enjoying, they did a good job of keeping the dozens of lords and bishops straight in the play, and differentiating the likely historical events of Henry’s life compared to the story that Shakespeare and Fletcher tell. Our main strategy for class this week has not been acting but summarizing – with each student responsible for generating a summary of a scene in the play and identifying one short essential passage in the scene. By the end of the week we had a summary of the entire play, scene by scene, that the students prepared, and they clearly have the events and characters straight, especially the history-lovers in class like Amber Stoehr.

The next paper requires them to explore all over London to find historical information about the real Henry and his wives and court. This has been an occasion for trips of all sorts . Here are some of the best sites that the students and I have explored:
- Hampton Court Palace, where Henry was born and lived with Anne Boleyn, and which Cardinal Wolsey expanded and then “gave” to his king; many exhibits here describe and recreate his life.

National Portrait Gallery, which has three rooms devoted to King Henry 8 and his family and court.

- Tower of London – where Anne Boleyn was beheaded, Elizabeth was imprisoned, and much more.
- Westminster Abbey, where Henry 8 completed a beautiful chapel for his father Henry 7, where the rulers of England are typically crowned – including Henry 8’s son Edward 6 and daughter Elizabath 1 – and where both of Henry 8’s queen-daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, are buried; here also is Poets’ Corner, where Chaucer is buried and Shakespeare and Milton and Austen and many other notables are commemorated on plaques.
- Windsor Palace – which contains St George’s Chapel where Henry 8 and his 3rd wife Jane Seymour were buried.

There are also some minor exhibits about Henry at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has a miniature of Anne of Cleves (wife #4) and Henry 8’s writing desk. And at the British Museum, amidst the Rosetta stone and the Elgin marbles from the Parthenon, are exhibits on the 14-16th centuries in England, including medals and jewelry and a clock belonging to Elizabeth, coins from the time of Henry 8, a brass of one of Henry’s mistresses (Elizabeth Blount, mother of the bastard son Henry Fitzroy), a cup made for one of Elizabeth’s ministers from the melted-down Great Seal taken from Cardinal Wolsey, choir stall plaques for the brothers of Jane Seymour (wife #3) and Catherine Parr (wife #6), and other small pieces.

Entry 3

Meanwhile, we celebrated birthdays today – mine is July 7, program director Cathy Rodgers’ is July 9, and Theo’s (the husband of math faculty Emily Burkhead) is July 11. So we had a great cake for all the students and faculty, thanks to my kind wife Sally. We had already celebrated 3 student birthdays – what a crowd of summer births.

Here is a shot of the entire assembled group, just about to enjoy the cake from a nearby Whole Foods!

Entry 2

OK, that is Verona now – back to Shakespeare’s story in the 1590s, and the Meredith version in London 2010. As you have read, one of our first class assignments was to have pairs of students explore the grounds of Heythrop College, our home for the month, and find places to enact the famous balcony scene. They were wonderful, and came to understand the play a bit better by performing it. They also were eager to see a live professional performance to see how the actors handled “our scenes.” The live show on the grounds of a downtown church was a delight – marked by modern costumes and attitudes, a flamboyant Mercutio, a buff Romeo, a truly handsome Paris, a bawdy cross-dressing Nurse, fathers who doubled as friars, and a talented Juliet.

Juliet’s bedchamber for the honeymoon was a giant hammock, their balcony like ours was in a nearby highrise building, and the tomb was straight out of the Baz Luhrmann film, as you can see here:

Each student wrote a review of the performance, and they did well at capturing the key features of the show that we saw – from the rave of a masked ball to the moving conclusion. Their work with R&J bodes well for our time together. But the next play will be harder, and newer to them and to me – The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth, a play I have never taught or seen live.

Entry 1

This is a shot showing all of our Shakespeare in London students on the grounds of Heythrop College in Kensington Park, London. The students are outside of our residence hall after our performances of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Kitty Duke (Juliet) is in the right foreground on the balcony and her Romeo (Caitlin Quinn) is below her and to the left. Tonight we all travel to enjoy a live performance of the same play, to see if they are better than we were.

Below is a photo of one more pair of performers at the front of Heythrop, where we stopped traffic for five minutes. Here Juliet (Mary Katheryn Howard) responds to the wooing of Romeo (Katherine Thomas).