| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| Group email: | Shakespeare group |
| When: | On Monday mornings 10:15 am-12:15 pm Several times a year |
| Venue: | Mawdesley Cricket Club Pavilion |
Contact Jane for more details from the email link phone her on 075555 28697.
The group meets for five weeks at a time in order to study a particular play and sometimes an extra two weeks watching a DVD of a good production of that play. We are dedicated to the enjoyment and appreciation of Shakespeare. It doesn't matter if you are already familiar with, or a newcomer to, the plays. Maybe you haven't read or seen a Shakespeare play since you were at school - no matter - it's never to late to start!
Many thanks to Moyra for her excellent leadership in past years, and for her recent study of King Lear.
Jane Kingsford will be picking up the reins in March with a study of HENRY V.
Please bring a copy of the play with you but you do not need to have read it beforehand.
Sessions will run as usual in the Village Hall Lounge, 10.15-12.15.
Please bring your own refreshments and £2 per session to cover room hire.
Monday 9 March: Act 1
Monday 16 March: Act 2
Monday 23 March: Act 3
Monday 30 March: Act 4
Monday 20 April: Act 5
Forthcoming events
It's important to see the plays live, so, when possible, we arrange a trip - often to Stratford-upon-Avon where we have the privilege of seeing productions of extraordinary quality.
Shakespeare Trips
Our most recent trip to Stratford-upon-Avon was to see a production of Measure For Measure. This time, there were no hold-ups on the roads and all arrangements went to plan. Even the weather was on our side! It was a brilliant production - powerful and exciting with excellent acting - particularly Adam James as the Duke and Isis Hainsworth as Isabella. The strategy of removing the sub-plot worked well in order to focus on the main plot without distraction, and I didn't miss the ‘comic’ characters at all. In fact, Lucio, played by Douggie McMeekin, provided much comedy. Measure is a play which is always relevant, and, on this occasion, the themes of hypocrisy, corruption in high places and abuse of power were particularly apt. It’s a play full of questions and this interpretation added to them. In our five sessions of study, we explored each act and enjoyed lots of animated discussion. This production delivered even more food for thought. The direction by Emily Burns was innovative and included a couple of ‘extra’ scenes which, on this occasion at least, clarified some of the age-old intrigue of one of Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’.
Moyra
Simon Russell Beale and Mark Quartley in The Tempest
