Stratford
Thursday, April 23rd was Shakespeare’s birthday. On the 24th everyone in the program went to Stratford for the official Birthday Celebrations. We got there and walked to the B&Bs we were staying in to check in and put our bags down. I was with Emily D., Julia, and Aleah. Kirstin and Karissa were in the other room. They were really adorable! The owner was really sweet too—very warm and welcoming. Then we met the group again and headed off to see Shakespeare’s grave. Nice old church. It surprised me how low-key the grave itself is. Just “Grave of William Shakespeare, poet.”
And the bust up above (which is probably fairly accurate because it was put up when Anne Hathaway was still alive).
We went on to the Birthplace. I didn’t like it as much as Dove Cottage or Chawton, or even Anne Hathaway’s cottage. One of those places were nothing is authentic, everything is “this-might-have-been.” But the garden was very pretty and there were three actors doing scenes from plays off to the side.
Free time. A group of us wanted to go to Nash’s house so we went there. Not much to see in the house itself but they had an activity room with coloring, so of course we colored! Then we went out to the garden which was beautiful!
A real Elizabethan knot garden (re-planted, I believe) with rosemary all around and roses climbing on the railings and apple trees growing along the path.
I wish I could see it when the roses are all blooming. Took a lot of pictures and enjoyed the beautiful day and all the loveliness around me.
We needed to get dinner before we saw “As You Like It,” so we went to a pub. It wasn’t great but it was decent. Then we went down to the river and had fun taking pictures with a statue of Shakespeare, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry V, and Lady Macbeth.
After that we wandered about a bit. It got a bit frustrating for awhile but then we went to the play, which was great! There are a couple of major complaints about the Royal Shakespeare Company that people seem to make. One is that they have too much money and just don’t know when to stop and the other is that the group of actors isn’t really an ensemble. Neither of those issues were there in this production. The sets were very minimal and there was an actual feeling of an ensemble from the actors. Also gorgeous music and costumes. And a thrust-stage theatre, which means the actors are quite close. (I have a stick from the brush they were using to represent the forest which flew off the stage.)
Our Shakespeare teacher had tipped us off that the actors all go to a certain pub after the play so naturally we went there too. Saw a number of the actors, which was really neat. I didn’t really talk to them very much but some people stayed for quite awhile.
On Saturday we woke up and the sky was grey. It poured rain all through brerakfast but at the very end the clouds began to part and by the time we got to Anne Hathaway’s cottage the sun was out and the only sign of rain were the wet plants in the garden.
Really beautiful garden there, all in bloom. It was less formal than the knot garden but just as lovely. Also a heritage orchard and small heritage vegetable garden.
The house itself was beautiful. Unlike the others, they had a lot of authentic owned-by-the-Hathaways furniture.
And it was the only place where I really believed people had lived. Bought a few things in the shop and then had to wait for everyone else.
On the way back, we saw a field full of ewes and lambs, some of them quite close to the fence. So naturally a number of people went, “LAMBS!” and ran over to take pictures. Then they ran away, which may have even been cuter.
The parade was fun. Very English—bands and Morris dancers and Girl Guides, etc. Also representatives from different countries.
Unfortunately, the people to my left stood up which meant we all had to stand up too if we wanted to see anything.
Afterwards we split up and Julia, David, Emily, Colin and I ended up having lunch together. It was nice except that they took forever to get our food to us and we had to sprint back to meet and get our bags. After that we wandered and poked into various shops until it was time to catch the train.
More pictures:
At Anne Hathaway’s cottage.
The cottage itself, with roses.
View from the train window, returning.
