The Sixth Form in Stratford

From this

to this

and these

via them

and her

and him ...

... the English Department's Sixth Form Literary Weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon

Othello at the RSC

There is some really useful information here about Othello at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Our A Level students will be going to Stratford next week for a workshop run by the company.

Much Ado About Nothing

We are all great fans of the Kenneth Branagh's 'Much Ado' but it's important to remember that Branagh gives us only one interpretation of the play. Click here to see some video of what the RSC did with the play in 2006.

Beatrice and Benedick

Two of Shakespeare's greatest characters are Beatrice and Benedick. The "merry war" they wage throughout the play is one of the highlights of Much Ado About Nothing.

Click here to watch two great Shakespearean actors, Zoe Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale, talking about playing the roles of Beatrice and Benedick.

Then try these theatre reviews to understand the different ways in which the play can be produced: Open Air Theatre, London; the National Theatre; and another review of the National Theatre production.

Catherine Tate, David Tennant and Shakespeare

We have posted this at the special request of Year 7. You can see the Red Nose Day sketch here. The poem Catherine Tate quotes with amazing skill (in the end) is Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 which you can read below:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Another (less comic) version can be seen here.

"A goodly rotten apple" is a (mis)quotation from The Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 3 and "That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" is a quotation from Romeo and Juliet. Just so you know.