Stratford-Upon-Avon / Julius Caesar

This afternoon we paid a visit to the city of Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, to see a production of Julius Caesar performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. WISC/OSAP sponsored the trip and provided buses and tour guides.  This is a picture-heavy post, so enjoy!

We're on my way to see the Man, what's left of him, anyway (Plays, nothing creepy).

2 p.m. -  The bus for Stratford-upon-Avon departed from our usual meeting point across the street from the Ashmolean Museum.  This time we had the right number of buses and the guides, and so we departed Oxford without incident.

Stratford lies about an hour's drive north of Oxford.  We took the scenic route, passing by the gates of Blenheim Palace and proceeding through the neighboring town of Woodstock. Cutting across the English countryside, we saw several little thatched-roof villages and a number of private estates and deer parks.

Familiar territory.  Passing through a roundabout near Blenheim Palace.

 I rode in the second bus and spent most of the journey listening to our guide describe the landscape passing just beyond the window. Although she spoke in a low, monotonous drone, the stories she told were actually quite interesting.

In Shakespeare's time, Stratford-upon-Avon was much smaller, with around 2,000 inhabitants, and was heavily wooded. Today the city is much larger, with a population of around 25,000 people, and much of its old woodlands have disappeared, burned up as fuel or converted into buildings and ships in the last 200 years.  The UK today has one of the lowest amounts of woodland in Europe due to excessive foresting over the centuries.

Crossing the River Avon

3:15 p.m. - We  arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon and exited the bus in a car park near the city center.  Our main guide Brian (from the Windsor Castle trip) led us on a walking tour of the city center.  We passed Shakespeare's birthplace and a large shopping area before coming back to the River Avon and a series of locks connecting it to the canal system.

Hannah was super excited to see what might be Shakespeare's birthplace.  Possibly. Judging from the admission price, the owner's certain think they have the right place. At least, they're reasonably sure. Charles Dickens vandalized a window, so it must be correct place. Right?

An English major in her natural habitat.

'Sup, Hamlet?

Brian went on to tell us more facts about the city center and the canals, but for my part, it was all Greek to me.  I was quite distracted by a of bevy of swans on the river.

Pen and two cygnets

Bevy of swans, it's a real thing.

Brian tells some stories. (The Royal Shakespeare Company is the tower in background.)

The WISC group continued our tour along the riverside, eventually coming to the churchyard of the 13th century Holy Trinity Church.

Following the leader.

True story.

Brian tells us about exciting British things.

 

Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon

 Shakespeare and his family are buried at the foot of Holy Trinity's altar.  His prominent position suggests that he was well off at the time of his death, wealthy citizens being able to purchase prominent tombs.

Shakespeare family graves in the chancel.

Shakespeare's tomb

Afterwards, we split into small groups for a couple hours of free-time.  The play was to begin at 7:30 p.m., and we were expected to eat beforehand.  My usual cohort found a nice restaurant with a pre-theater menu.  Lamb's of Sheep Street is located in a 16th century building just around the corner from the theater. Highly recommended.

The play itself was a production of Julius Caesar with a modern twist.  Instead of the traditional Roman setting, the play was transported to a war-torn African nation.  Purists (i.e. Hannah Rogers) might cringe, but I thought that the change of setting worked well.  The dialogue was unchanged, and that is the important thing.  (For a short, professionally-shot clip from of Marc Antony's speech at Caesar's funeral, click here.)

The African setting was actually quite effective.  Note the house band on the upper right.

As you would expect from a group called the Royal Shakespeare Company, the acting and staging was top-notch.  The African setting necessitated an all-black cast and appropriate costuming. Caesar appeared as a rich African autocrat in a dashiki shirt, sunglasses, and sandals, and the rest of the cast worn casual tropical attire.  However, subtle costume changes over the course of the play really complimented the action.  The conspirators' black toga-style costumes for Caesar's death scene added a sense of formality and drama.  Likewise, the camouflage and fatigues worn by the actors in the later acts made them appear as though they had just stepped out of t.v. footage of the civil wars in Libya and Syria.  Like the Urdu-language production of The Taming of the Shrew which we saw in London, this production of Julius Caesar really demonstrated the universal appeal of Shakespeare's writing and the continuing relevance of his stories.

The play lasted a little over two hours plus intermission.  Afterwards, we boarded the bus and returned to Oxford.