The Theatre, Shoreditch

A very special day yesterday:

After giving a talk and two workshops to the Year 10 students at Oundle School, I came back to London and headed to Shoreditch.

A team from the Museum of London has found the remains of The Theatre, the playhouse built by James Burbage, and dismantled by his actor-son Richard, Will Shakespeare & their Company, one night in 1599. The materials were used to build the Globe playhouse across the river.

The Tower Theatre Company have begun a fund-raising project to build a new theatre around the site, and protect the remains. They asked me to come and speak a sonnet there yesterday.

I performed Sonnet 116 in OP on the Groundlings Gravel – one of very few actors to have spoken Shakespeare – and the first time that accent has been heard there – in 400 years.

A breathtaking moment. I’m a very lucky fellow.

Please head to the The Theatre’s website, and support the project.

The Theatre, Shoreditch

JFS School

Lovely day at JFS’ Reading Festival on Tuesday, speaking to their Year 10s.

Back there today, to speak to their Year 12 & 13s.

If you’d like me to come to speak at your school, do get in touch…

Video clips from the Poland Talks…

From the series of talks I gave last week for Macmillan Poland…

Discussing the difference between performing Shakespeare in RP vs OP (Shakespeare’s accent); then performing Sonnet 116 in RP, and OP; and then reading from the opening chapter of Toast, Schwarzengger’s Hamlet…

OP at Shakespeare’s Globe for OU

Spent a fine morning being filmed running around the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with Dad: he explaining the origins of the Original Pronunciation experiments, me acting some examples.

Performed excerpts from Henry V, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and all of Sonnet 116 – which sounds SO different in Shakespeare’s accent – then were interviewed about our work together.

All for an Open University film. Lovely to work with Dad again. Lovely to be back in that terrific space.

Now to Poland to give a series of Shakespeare talks, Ash Cloud permitting… (has it really been capitalised?)

Poland – Gdansk, Warszawa, & Krakow

Gearing up to head to Poland next week, giving three talks in three cities in three days, for Macmillan Poland, and their new Global course.

More details can be found on Macmillan’s site here…

Toast nominated for PlayShakespeare.com’s Falstaff Awards!

The kind folks over at www.playshakespeare.com (who’re also responsible for the Shakespeare iPhone App) have had their annual Falstaff Awards, and Shakespeare on Toast was nominated for their Best Book or Publication category.

Up against some steely competition, including Andrew Gurr’s Shakespeare’s Opposites and AD Cousins’ The Shakespeare Encyclopedia, I’m touched and honoured Toast was up for consideration.

Full details of the other categories, including Jude Law’s Hamlet win for Best Principal Performance, can all be found here…

Happy Birthday Will!

In celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday, there are a whole bunch of events and performances across the country today.

They can all be found at www.shakespeare2012.com, a project which says:

The idea is for everyone throughout the United Kingdom to have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to have fun with Shakespeare

Great stuff. I’m a supporter of the organisation, if there’s an event near you today, pop along…

A Review of a great new Graphic Novel – Kill Shakespeare!

I was asked recently to put some ‘unfettered’ thoughts together about the first edition of a new graphic novel, Kill Shakespeare!

First off, I think it’s *beautifully* drawn. Reminds me of Hellboy, particularly the ghosts and witches. It looks great, has a good pace, and is exciting to read. I like the story too: it’s a nice twist – one I’d been toying with for a while – and it left me wanting to read more.

Click here to read the review in full – though you will have to read past another’s vitriol to get to my thoughts.

Congrats to Anthony & Conor, and all else responsible…

British Psychological Society, Stamford Shakespeare Society, & Rebel Shakespeare Company!

Apologies for the lateness in this post, but last week was somewhat frenetic.

Following on from the great gig at Peter Parker’s Rock’n'Roll Club last Monday, I had been kindly invited to give the after-dinner speech at the British Psychological Society’s 2010 Conference in the ever-beautiful Stratford-upon-Avon. A terrific evening, with much fascinating post-dinner in-depth analysis of Life, the Universe and Everything Shakespeare with some of the delegates.

Then on Friday I whisked myself over to Tolethorpe Hall – a beautiful manor near Stamford, with a wonderful open-air theatre where the Stamford Shakespeare Society perform, to speak at the Cambridge Welland Valley branch of the English Speaking Union for their annual Shakespeare Literary Lunch!

Last, but by no means least, a wonderful day in London’s Regent’s Park yesterday, running a workshop on Acting Shakespeare for a terrific bunch of young American actors, all members of the Rebel Shakespeare Company, from Salem, MA.

Phew!

To Hell With The Lighthouse – 8pm tonight!

Speaking tonight at Peter Parker’s Rock’n'Roll Club, 4 Denmark Street, with David Whitehouse, Joe Stretch & Dockers MC…

More details here…