Bill finds a silver lining in the freezing February temperatures...
Last weekend, for the 82nd time [assuming there was
a Stratford trip every term since fall 1972], the ICLC Shakespeare scholars
participated in a ‘first’.. . No, we didn't go backstage and hang out with the
director during the production; no, we didn't get a talk from Dame Helen Mirren
on her days at the RSC; nor did we have lunch at the birthplace on Henley
street; nor did we all go rowing on the Avon and play ‘bumping boats’ with a
view to getting pneumonia; nor did we risk being cursed by moving the poet’s
bones. We did all the usual things: see
a play, staff dined at the oppo, students had a post theatre coca cola with the
actors at the ‘Dirty Duck’, Dr Kidd gave his riverside talk, we visited the grave,
we bought postcards, souvenirs and raffle items, Avery won the ‘brain of
Stratford’ quiz and, with it, £25, etc.
Normalcy reigned except for two things – both coach drivers
attended the production and were ‘over the moon’ with their experience,
especially Peter. Here’s a clue to the big ‘first’: the play was ‘the winter’s
tale’, a title that more than matched the weather. Normally we would go to Stratford
in the early spring weather of March or April, but RSC scheduling forced a jump
forward to February. It was so cold that (i) Dr Kidd abbreviated his lecture on
the churchyard by about 15 minutes and (ii) some students gave the impression they
had converted to a new religion.
Remember Pangloss’s wisdom, ‘all is for the best in the best
possible world’. The ICLC brains thrust stole a half hour from the visit to Warwick
and our wonderful coach drivers agreed to tour through the countryside around Stratford
to visit 3 places, (i) Snitterfield, where Shakespeare’s grandfather, Richard, was
a tenant farmer and his father, John, was born; (ii) Wilmscote, the farm and
village of Mary Arden, Shakespeare’s mother, and (iii) Shottery, the farm house
of the Hathaway’s, whose daughter married Shakespeare about 1582. This
weather-inspired detour through the hinterland will probably form part of future
trips to Stratford.
How did the students respond? Well, 100% liked being on a
warm coach, but possibly only 50% took an interest in the guide’s stories about
the area. We need better guides!
All Dottore Gianni has to say is "brrrrrrr!" But of course he'll say more.
ReplyDeleteI don't care how cold it was, TK does NOT truncate speeches - perhaps he just shifted into a higher gear? Glad to hear that the Dirty Duck has transformed itself into a temperance house, and the forced additions to the schedule seem inspired to me, but what the hell are you going to do about the guide?
Love the photo representing the 50-50 split in your audience: Parker is clearly enjoying the guide's stories, Riley...not so much.
ps a note on the slightly different format -- makes much easier reading for old blind guys like me! Cheers!