Enland and Ireland: England. Part 2: Stratford-Upon-Avon

Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire

Oh, Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare!

In planning our itinerary, there was *no way* I was going to skip a visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare and home to the theater world's gift to the Universe, the Royal Shakespeare Company.

We arrived by train and made our way to the Grosvenor Hotel, just a couple blocks away from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

 Two nights: two plays.  And in-between, time to enjoy this lovely town.

We arrived in time to enjoy a light dinner at the hotel and then walked to the Courtyard Theatre to see Much Ado About Nothing.

The theater experience started as soon as we passed through the doors. The lobby was filled with bicycles hanging from the ceiling, and goods and carts scattered around, with the sounds of a busy New Dehli street.

Here's my video, also taken from the upper level.



The play took place in contemporary India. It worked well! It was a fun, lively production.  Enjoy these excerpts.  First, the trailer:



and a couple of speeches:



Stratford sits upon the River Avon, which has a series of locks that were restored in the 1950s-1970s to aid navigation. We had just missed a boat passing through a lock when we walked to town:

There are plenty of swans on the river enjoying hand-outs.

 The park along the river has a statue of Shakespeare and a few of his characters.

We took a river cruise and enjoyed the sights along the banks, including many lovely homes.

We did some shopping, too. The tudor buildings are so pretty!

After shopping, we enjoyed high tea at our hotel. Oh, my! So many delectable delights!  It was fantastic!

This is just the second course! We had sandwiches before, and chocolate fondue after these delicious sweets!

We were fortunate to take some tours of the renovated theater, a gorgeous space with state-of-the-art technology to aid in their repertory. There were no photos allowed on the tour, and I forgot to go back and take pictures of the wonderful art deco features in the lobby, designed by Elizabeth Scott in 1932.  You can get a glimpse--just a glimpse--of the theater in this short video:




I did get a picture of the floors in much of the public areas. These boards were from the original proceneum arch-style stage!  I rubbed them with my hand. Can you imagine the actors that crossed these boards from 1932 'til 2007?!

After the tours, we had a quick dinner down the street and a Pimm's.  We had seen signs about the "Quintessential English drink," and had no idea what it was. So we ordered one. Meh.

Then, a rush back to the main Theatre, where we enjoyed Twelfth Night. It was a terrific production. Malvolio, played wonderfully by Jonahan Sliner, was riotous and tragic.

Here is the trailer:


and a mini-documentary:



While on the tour, I saw this photograph of actor Roger Allam in a stairway.

Memories came flooding back. When I was last here in 1984, I stayed up all night drinking and talking with Roger Allam and my professor Murph Swander at the Arden Bar across the street. Mr. Allam had played Mercutio in the production of Romeo and Juliet that we saw. In my journal I wrote that he "brought Mercurtio to life.  He was a fabulous Mercutio. Everything was true to the words. It was charming. I never thought Mercutio has ever been a memorable character." Ooops! Not so memorable...I wish I could remember it now!  All I remember today is the horrible So-Cal surfer Romeo in that production!  Ah, well, I remember the fun times at the Arden. I also penned a gushy fan letter to Mr. Allam that is in my journal. (Won't share that, ha!)

New memories from 2012 on top of old ones from 1984. Looking forward to more someday......




Click here for additional pictures of Liverpool and Stratford.