Shakespeare's birthday

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get to spend one of Shakespeare's birthdays in his actual birthplace! Today we went to Stratford-upon-Avon to see a Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear. It was an incredible performance, and I've long been drawn to some of the themes of the play. I also love that Shakespeare wrote a play where women drive the events.In the spirit of full disclosure, no one knows Shakespeare's real birthday, and most think it was probably yesterday. All we know is that he was christened on the 26th. And Stratford celebrated today with parades and festivities. Below Jacob is standing in front of the house where Shakespeare was born (which we've toured before).

Filming locations, part II (Alnwick)

The other film location we visited was Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, which played the part of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the first two Harry Potter films. (It was electronically enhanced with added towers in the movies.) The Percy family, Earls and Dukes of Northumberland, have lived in Alnwick Castle since 1309; the current Duke and Duchess of Northumberland live there today, and we walked through some rooms that are obviously lived in--it felt like trespassing. It was unbelievable how posh the interiors of a 1096 castle could be! Alnwick (pronounced like "panic") was also a filming location for the Cate Blanchett movie Elizabeth and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.Above I'm standing at the entrance of the castle (which features prominently in the first Harry Potter movie-- when the kids first enter Hogwarts). Below, Jacob is entering the black forest; he's standing where Hagrid's house was in the first movie.
I mentioned the Percy family living at Alnwick for centuries, and some of you might be wondering what I was wondering--is this the Percy family that includes Harry Hotspur (who featured prominently in Shakespeare's Henry IV plays)? Yes it is! Below I'm hanging out with a statue of Harry Hotspur at the castle.

To be, or not to be

Saturday we saw a production of Hamlet in London starring Jude Law! He was incredible in the role!

[We did have a few frustrating transportation snags on our way to the play and had to watch the first act from the lobby because we were late.] ):

For those of you who might not know, I'm a huge Shakespeare fan. Seeing a production of Hamlet in London is such a dream come true, and Jude Law was just the icing on the cake. I love the entire play, but some of the writing in Hamlet particularly excites me; here is a sampling (I'm totally skipping the really well-known passages from the play that everyone knows) ...

• Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks (Act II, scene ii, Hamlet)


• Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind (Act III, scene i, Ophelia)


• I must be cruel, only to be kind (Act III, scene iv, Hamlet)


• When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions. (Act IV, scene v, Claudius)


• I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum (Act V, scene i, Hamlet)


• There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will (Act V, scene ii, Hamlet)

All the world's a stage...

When we moved to England one of my priority destinations was Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Shakespeare birthplace (above) and other related sites. We finally made it! Before I talk about our wonderful day in Stratford (Monday), I'll talk about what we did Saturday.

We went to London and saw our very first (but certainly not our last) West End production: Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. We both thought the production was amazing--the singing, dancing, acting, pit orchestra, set, etc. I can't adequately emphasize how incredible it was!
As you can probably tell from the above photo, the Queen's Theatre was near Chinatown. We enjoyed walking through Chintown in London. Here's a photo of Jacob there.



Now for Stratford. Below is the house where Shakespeare was actually born, and we stood in the very room--totally awesome! The house itself was interesting, as it's the original house from the 1500s (with a few additions over the centuries), and there was an interesting presentation about glove-making, the profession of Shakespeare's father.

(Can you tell I was absolutely elated to be there?)

The next house is is called Hall's Croft and belonged to Shakespeare's son-in-law, who was a doctor in Stratford-upon-Avon. The house was also his medical practice, and it's believed he was actually Shakespeare's physician (which acquaintance probably led to his marrying Shakespeare's daughter).

The house where Shakespeare spent his final days (New Place) was destroyed and is now a beautiful garden. Adjacent to that garden is the amazing Great Garden where we saw a series of statues (by American sculptor Greg Wyatt) of Shakespeare's plays/characters. Here's the one of Falstaff (always a favorite Shakespeare character).

This is Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried (and was baptized and worshipped during his life). We saw his grave with the famous epitaph, as well as a first-edition copy of the King James Bible.

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.