Day Seven – Shakespeare Day

Thursday started as a cloudy day and pretty much stayed that way all day.  But aside from a couple of brief sprinkles, it remained dry, so no complaints.  In all the times I have been to England going back to 1961, I had surprisingly never made it to Stratford-upon-Avon.  That streak ended today.  We set off at 8:30 AM for Stratford for a full day of William Shakespeare related activities.

Most of the Shakespeare attractions in Stratford, are run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.  Ah, it would be costing us money as our National Trust passes do no good here.  We bought multi-site tickets for £24.50 each (including senior discount) plus  £4.50 for a guidebook.  Got to support that Shakespeare Trust!  All the sites are very well done.

First stop was Anne Hathaway’s Cottage on Shottery Brook, located about three miles from downtown Stratford in a nice residential neighborhood.  It is a beautiful cottage with a lovely garden.  Anne was 26 when she married William when he was just 18.  She was pregnant with Susanna, so that explains it a bit.

Was Sonnet CXLV written about Anne?  ‘Hate away” = ‘Hathaway’?

Those lips that Love’s own hand did make,
Breathed forth the sound that said ‘I hate’,
To me that languished for her sake:
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom;
And taught it thus anew to greet;
‘I hate’ she altered with an end,
That followed it as gentle day,
Doth follow night, who like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away.
     ‘I hate’, from hate away she threw,
     And saved my life, saying ‘not you’.

Need I remind you to click photos to enlarge?

 

 

Next it was on to Mary Arden’s Farm, about two miles further outside town.  Mary was William’s mother.  The farm came from her family, well-to-do farmers.  She married John Shakespeare in 1557, and William eventually came into the world.  The farm is maintained as a working farm with people in period costume doing things they would have done then.  They were starting to prepare the evening’s meal in the kitchen.  A girl was grooming Ellie the horse in the stable.  A blacksmith was forging in the yard.  Chickens ran about.  Pigs were active in their pen.  There is a falconry.  Great site for kids, and even us oldies enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

Back to downtown to park the car near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and do some more exploring.  After enjoying our picnic sandwiches on the banks of the Avon, first stop was Harvard House, the home of Thomas Rogers whose daughter Katherine married Robert Harvard of London.  Their son John Harvard and his wife moved to Massachusetts and eventually his money was instrumental in the founding of Harvard University.  After restoration in 1909 Harvard House was presented to Harvard University, still owners of the site.  It is maintained as a historical site and museum by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.  Anyway, the Rogers family and the Shakespeares almost certainly knew each other back in the day.

 

 

 

 

Finally we visited Halls Croft, home and office of John Hall, Shakespeare’s son-in-law doctor.  He was a well known and well off physician, and he and Susanna lived quite comfortably here.

 

 

 

We did not visit Shakespeare’s birthplace or Trinity Church grave as time didn’t allow.  New House, where he lived for a substantial portion of his life, is closed for renovation.  All in all, Stratford is a very attractive, bustling town, and Elaine and I agreed it would also be a good place to make a home base for some exploring.  Maybe next time.  (The narrow canal boats on the Avon brought back memories of our narrow boat adventure a few years back in Wales.)

So next it was on to the Royal Shakespeare Company Theater for a matinee performance of Cymbeline, a rarely produced, quite extraordinary play by Shakespeare that includes both tragedy, sometimes grotesque, and comedy.  The production is wonderful and includes special effects.  The theatre is a masterpiece – modern to the extreme but designed like a theatre would have been back then.  We enjoyed the performances although the plot is so convoluted as to be a challenge to keep things straight.

From the program:

Britain is in crisis. Alienated, insular and on the brink of disaster. Can it be saved?

Cymbeline is Shakespeare’s coming of age tragicomic romance. A story of power, sexuality and identity – stunningly retold for the 21st century.  

An ineffectual Queen Cymbeline rules over a divided dystopian Britain. Consumed with grief at the death of two of her children, Cymbeline’s judgement is clouded. When Innogen, the only living heir, marries her sweetheart Posthumus in secret, an enraged Cymbeline banishes him.

 

The play ran over three hours, after which we headed back to Campden for a repeat dinner at the Eight Bells Pub.