The Humble Tour — Week 1: Friday (London)

04 Saturday Jun 2016

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After yesterday’s super insanity, I wanted to take it easy today. Spent the morning and most of the afternoon lounging around, raiding my friend’s fridge and cupboards, catching up on a bit of television (BBC’s “Shakespearean” Upstart Crow had me in stitches), planning more of my itinerary, booking more train tickets, and so on. In fact, I didn’t leave my friend’s cosy flat until around 4:30pm, and that was only because I wanted to catch the 5pm Choral Evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Yeah, I’m a confused agnostic…

Whenever I’m sitting in on a service (as opposed to singing in one), I’m always struck by how the acoustics tend to go all over the place, and anyone beyond the quire can only hear consonants and very little of the actual words. St. Paul’s, with its massive dome, is notorious for eating up any kind of enunciation. There were also some particularly dodgy notes sung (especially in the Ayleward Responses, which I’ve known well from both Durham and Belfast), but overall, it was a lovely experience in its familiarity.

I might even go so far to say I felt “cleansed” afterward. Confused agnostic, at your service.

St. Paul's Cathedral.

St. Paul’s Cathedral.

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Samantha’s Humble Tour and the English Dream Trip — Week One: Thursday

03 Friday Jun 2016

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I’ve always found it difficult to achieve a good balance between experiencing and documenting all the crazy and wonderful things in my life, and I’m well-aware of the massive backlog I’ve acquired over the last few months of work and life explosions. But right now, the PhD thesis has been submitted, the university semester is over, the final essays have been marked and returned, the Shakespeare conferences and talks and film introductions have been given, the contents of my Belfast life have been donated or stored safely at a good friend’s, the house has been successfully vacated, the 30 or so insect bites along my legs and ankles (my souvenir from Paris two weeks ago) have healed reasonably well, and I am here in London with my trusty carry-on, ready to embark on five (!!) weeks of work-free, deadline-free, and laptop-free adventures. (Okay, maybe not entirely work-free, since I’ll probably do a bit of novelling and other writing, but these are super funfunfun things!)

So I thought I might take this opportunity to document the next five weeks of Samantha’s Humble Tour (as opposed to the traditional Grand Tour). A good chunk of it will be what I’ve called my “English Dream Trip”, and, since I’ve decided not to rent a car, I’ll be spending a lot of time on trains. The “English Dream Trip” attempts to cover as many of the places I’ve always wanted to go but never managed. When I first accepted the PhD scholarship at Queen’s University Belfast, I had every intention of going on trips to other parts of the UK and beyond every fortnight or month–and it never happened, because I developed an unprecedented case of workaholism for both the PhD and Tea For Three Studios, and I was also committed to sing in a cathedral choir every Sunday.

But no more! The English Dream Trip is indeed happening (even if I’m planning it as I go), and I will indeed document it and share the uber shinies with my iPhone-only photos! I also thought I’d share the cost of everything, since it might be helpful for anyone else preparing their own English (or perhaps Scottish or Welsh or Northern Irish) Dream Trips, and because I want to show that a lot of these trips are rather affordable (accommodation notwithstanding–I had some horrible hostel experiences a few years back, and am thus disinclined to share my sleeping quarters with strangers). Also, to put some prices into context, I have several perks as a “student” and have acquired a Railcard, which gives me 1/3 off a range of trains–I’ll try to put the normal prices were applicable.

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Shakespearean Classical Music

13 Wednesday Apr 2016

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I had the great pleasure and privilege of giving a public lecture on Shakespeare and Music earlier today, during which I referred to several pieces of Shakespearean classical music. Since the timeslot was limited–and the world of Shakespeare is immense–I didn’t get to discuss or play most of the music I’d mentioned. Fortunately, there’s plenty of space on my wee blog for both the Bard and Bardastic music, so here are a few Shakespearean pieces (complete with embedded YouTube videos) for your listening pleasure:

Thomas Arne’s Shakespearean Songs

Mr Arne’s settings of Shakespeare’s songs from the 1740s onwards played quite an important role in reviving interest in Shakespearean music. While these songs are from Shakespeare’s plays, they weren’t actually written by the Bard–in most cases, Shakespeare simply took the lyrics of pre-existing popular songs and plopped them into the plays. As I continue to advocate: Shakespeare was the greatest playwright-poet-plagiarist of all time!

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2016 Bardathon: March Giveaway

27 Sunday Mar 2016

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A super enthusiastic hello from New Orleans! Over the past few days, I’ve been partaking in a pretty epic amount of Shakespearing at the Shakespeare Association of America’s annual meeting (appropriately nicknamed #ShakeAss). Two days before I left for New Orleans, I submitted my PhD thesis, entitled “Shakespeare and the Soundtrack”–two weeks before that, I was in London for my long weekend of catching Shakespeare’s late romances. March has certainly been a massive Bardathon on my end!

But it’s time now to share your Bardathon activities from March, and perhaps even receive a Shakespeare-themed handkerchief in the monthly giveaway. To enter, fill out the form below with a link to a blog post/Goodreads review/Tweet/etc about how you’ve participated in the Bardathon Challenge during the month, and your thoughts about the experience. Entries are accepted until 4 April 2016, and the winner drawn at random shortly thereafter. If you have any questions, please do drop me a line. Good luck!

Late Romances Bardathon Weekend: The Tempest

09 Wednesday Mar 2016

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It seems rather fitting that the last of the four late romances I’ve attended this long weekend is The Tempest, which is not only presumably Shakespeare’s final solo work (he ended his career with a few collaborations, including Pericles), but also the final Globe play under the direction of the outgoing artistic director Dominic Dromgoole, who’s held the position since 2005. While I’ve always appreciated the artistry of The Tempest, I’ve never felt particularly connected to the play, and have had a number of reservations: Prospero’s treatment of Caliban and Ariel, Prospero’s general machinations, the super duper problematic “romantic” relationship between Miranda and Ferdinand, and so on. I suppose the main reason I’ve never taken to the play is my lack of a favourite–or even just a preferred–character, which then means I tend to lose interest in the plot. The high incidence of music and physical comedy also makes it difficult to sit and read off the page, which meant that although The Tempest is not at all my “go-to” play, I always look forward to discovering how stage productions make use of the play-text.

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Late Romances Bardathon Weekend: Pericles

07 Monday Mar 2016

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Pericles is one of the few “Shakespeare” plays I hadn’t seen, so I jumped at the opportunity to catch it at the Globe with the other late romances. Having attended Cymbeline and The Winter’s Tale in a standing spot, I’d opted to have a seat (albeit restricted by a pillar), which was definitely the right choice, given how much my legs (and poor, PhD back) were protesting.

There’s been much speculation on Pericles‘s authorship, with general agreement that George Wilkins was Shakespeare’s collaborator. While I’ve read the play before (during a three-week pre-PhD frenzy of tackling the Norton Shakespeare from cover to cover), only a few key moments remained with me (namely, the climactic father-daughter reunion). In this sense, I went into the performance as a novice, a feeling in which I luxuriated because there are only so many times one can experience a Shakespeare/Shakespearean play for the first time (38, to be exact).

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Late Romances Bardathon Weekend: The Winter’s Tale

07 Monday Mar 2016

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In recent years, I’ve grown especially partial to ideas and works that, by whatever means and through whichever combinations, exhibit and embody a perfect balance. While perceptions of “balance” (and indeed, “perfection”) may be rather subjective, I’d like to think some fundamentals apply, such as the prevalence of opposition in relatively equal proportions. And I’ve always thought The Winter’s Tale a prime example of this balance, with its two halves containing contrasting themes, language, characters, and locations, which, when seen as a whole, are revealed as gloriously complementary.

All this preamble is to foreground my fangirly gushing for the Globe’s performance of The Winter’s Tale under the direction of Michael Longhurst, which, overall, is the best production of the play I’ve seen so far. Leontes (John Light) always bugged me, but here, his explosive reactions to the “perceived” affair between his wife and BFF had me fearful for their lives. Hermione (Rachael Stirling) was exquisite, and, in contrast to Leontes’ rage, her dignified sotte voce deliveries had my heart bursting with simultaneous agony and admiration. I was also very much taken by Camillo (Fergal McElherron), whose devotion was not only beautifully steadfast, but also reminded me of the faithful Pisanio in Cymbeline. In fact, The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline share similar themes of jealousy, wronged women, and (undeserved?) loyalty, which were all made more apparent by watching one after the other.

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Late Romances Bardathon Weekend: Cymbeline

06 Sunday Mar 2016

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After heading to the Globe straight from the airport and spending two delightful hours with a friend over lunch (which was actually afternoon tea, with copious sandwiches, scones, and cakes), I entered the Sam Wanamaker indoor theatre for the first of my Shakespeare marathon: Cymbeline.

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Towards Shakespeare’s Late Romances!

05 Saturday Mar 2016

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My first two months of 2016 have been hectic from the get-go, and the next two will be similarly jam-packed with teaching, conferences, public-speaking engagements, developing a new game, and submitting my PhD thesis to the academic deities. Late last year, having foreseen this constant and pressing 2016 whirlwind, I made a concerted effort to schedule some time away during a relatively “quiet” period, and although I was grumbling to myself while wrapping up some work yesterday, I am now buckled up on a plane to London, grateful for the temporary reprieve, and super excited about my next few days–because, Shakespeare!

My main purpose this long weekend is to see Shakespeare’s four late romances at the Globe’s indoor theatre (to which I’ve never been). These plays are, in the order I will see them: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, Pericles, and The Tempest. At first, it might seem a little counterintuitive to leave behind my work on Shakespeare so I can charge ahead into four live performances, which will no doubt be gruelling (particularly as I have standing tickets for three of them)–I mean, isn’t a break from work supposed to be…well, a break from work? Why aren’t I gallivanting off to a spa resort instead of filling my overflowing mind with more Shakespeare?

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Well, I guess I’ve grown quite fond of the old fella… That, and to a Chinese-Australian like me, the prospect of going to four Shakespearean romances in a reconstructed Renaissance indoor theatre over a long weekend is nothing short of a dream (which will soon be realised, with my first play in 3.5 hours!).

Part of my desire to attend these upcoming four plays is their staging during this wonderfully celebratory year of Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary. Quite different from the comedies, Shakespeare’s late romances exude magic and maturity alike, with a range of characters and situations that might seem extravagant or beyond belief at first, but, at least to me, eventually feel justified and natural. To make things even more exciting, these will be staged in the Globe’s Sam Wanamaker indoor theatre, which will offer a completely different experience from the outdoor Globe–how immeasurably exciting!

I’ll be sharing my post-play thoughts over the next few days, and while they might be a little rough around the edges (having only my phone with me during this trip), I’m quite certain they’ll be full of excitement and passion!

2016 Bardathon: February Giveaway

04 Friday Mar 2016

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I am briefly emerging from my thesis cave to apologise for my recent lack of Shakespearean posts, to congratulate Melanie on winning the January giveaway, and to post the February giveaway.

To enter, fill out the form below with a link to a blog post/Goodreads review/Tweet/etc about how you’ve participated in the Bardathon Challenge during February, and your thoughts about the experience. Entries are accepted until 15 March 2016, and the winner drawn at random shortly thereafter. If you have any questions, please do drop me a line. Good luck!