When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes…
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I’ve decided that this is the only way to read sonnets…
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#sonnets #Shakespeare #books???? #oldbooks #oldbooksmell

I have however read some poetry over the last year. Melissa Harrison’s seasonal quartet of books – so far I have read Autumn and Winter – includes poetry in amongst it’s prose and nature writing, and some of it has been John Clare. It’s true to say that Clare avoided me during my school and college life, but circumstances have conspired to draw him into my life. On Thursday I listened to BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time in celebration of Clare’s life and work, with my colleague Simon Kövesi, and on Saturday whilst visiting my Mum and Dad we watched the biopic, By Ourselves. I borrowed from the work library, a book of John Clare poetry and I have decided to read at least, and hopefully more, one poem a day.

And I shall read those sonnets, and I shall make a habit of consuming poetry. What is it they say about doing something everyday for 21 days and then it becomes second nature. Can reading poetry become second nature?

Despite having been to the theatre their many times – most memorably to see Kenneth Brannagh doing Hamlet uncut (and discovering in the process not only how many very famous quotes actually stem from the play, but also how funny it is, or can be – I remember being subsequently disappointed by his 4-hour uncut Hamlet movie for its Hollywoodism) – I have never looked around the town. It is, we discovered a very nice town, and still thrivingly busy in the depths of winter. I dread to think what it might be like in high summer!

We had lunch in very nice tea shop with fine china that was fashionably not of a piece, before seeing a bit of a town, including Shakespeare’s grave in a very pretty church down by the river.

We then wandered back up Sheep Street and to a museum that we had only heard about just that very morning on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, only recently opened as an alternative to all the Shakespeare-related activities, MAD: the museum of mechanical art and design. Full of steampunk inspired goodness to get lost in. Absolutely fantastic…

Following our MAD day out, we found a nice little, inexpensive meal doing pre-theatre food, before heading back down to the Swan Theatre. In all the time I’ve been to theatre in Stratford I’ve never been to The Swan, but what a nice little theatre it is. We had seats at the side, front rown of the lower balcony for James Fenton’s adaptation of the 16th Century Chinese play, The Orphan of Zhao. I knew nothing about the play other than the little on the website before going. I had feared it might be long, and complicated, and um… tough. It wasn’t far from it. It was poerful and emotional story of revenge – they say its a Chinese Hamlet – and I think they are right. With a simple but effective stage set we were transported to the Chinese landscape, particularly in a scene where one of the characters comes out of the rain into a simple room. There was a lot of death and killing and this was well done, with stylistic red petals falling to the stage over the actor. If you get a chance to see it, do, you won’t regret it.

This year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a revival of Zoë Seaton’s 2002 performance to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary. Filled with magic and music, levitating Greek’s, and fairies on stilts and unfolding out of boxes, it is a tremendously fantastic performance that culminates in a genuinely hilarious play-within-a-play that is side-splitting, heart-aching good fun.

It was one of those performances where you know that they are doubling up, but that even so, when the ‘curtain’ call comes beneath the trees with the moths dancing like fairies in the night sky, and their are 8 performances lined out receiving your applause and praise, you find it hard to believe that it was just 8. You felt sure that it was more like a dozen, or 10 at least…!

If you want the best good time that you can have this summer, I don’t care how far away you are from Oxford, you simply have to make the trip, bring your loved one’s and/or your kids and see this performance. And if you saw it in 2002 then see it again, because it’s back and its better than ever (and if you did the original you will know what that that is in no way a small achievement). York, Worcester, Devizes or London – it’s only round the corner. Hell, even Edinburgh, Glasgow or Amersterdam it would be worth the trip.

I say it once, I say it twice – see this production!

Miss it, and you truly will miss out…