Before I get into the fun that is a trip to Stratford, I should take a moment to address those of you who get really excited about the idea that the man from Stratford, William Shakespeare, or Shaksper, or Shakespeer, could not possibly have written the 37 or so plays normally ascribed to him. You're thinking why should anyone bother to go to Stratford when it must have been someone else who really wrote them--Ben Jonson perhaps, or Edward de Vere, or Christopher Marlowe or a host of other possibilities. I am not completely clueless about the arguments as I've read at least one book on the subject (Who Wrote Shakespeare? by John Mitchell). Yet I've been convinced only that the case against the man known as Shakespeare is much stronger than the case in favor of any other person or persons. So we here at Bard Watching are comfortable traditionalists. We believe that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare and that’s that. Let’s be quiet--the play’s about to start!
According to the tradition, William Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon. His father was a glover and a minor politico who seemed to fall in and out of favor with his constituency. Young William was brought up in this town and then left it to find his fortune in London. He married a girl from Stratford, Anne Hathaway, and apparently retired back there. He died in 1616 and is buried in a church in the town.
Our first trip to Stratford was in 1995. We were in Europe for a week. Debbie had been overseas before, but it was my first trip. Our trip took us to London, Paris and Rome. We spent three days in London with a tour group that allowed some freedom in scheduling. One day we decided to take the Oxford/Stratford/Warwick Castle tour. That was a lot to cover in a single day. The Stratford leg of that tour consisted of a photo op outside Anne Hathaway’s cottage (we didn’t go in), a visit to Shakespeare’s birthplace (we did go in), and a very quick drive past the place where he was buried (we didn't even stop). The tour guide pointed it out for us as we were motoring away. As serious Bardophiles, we were both disappointed with this part of the trip. We vowed then that we would return to do a proper trip to Stratford-upon-Avon someday.
We returned to England again in 1998 but didn’t make it to Stratford. We returned for a third time in 2002, yet again we didn’t go to Stratford. But the third time was the charm. This year (2011) we returned to England for our fourth visit, this time accompanied by our two sons (a.k.a. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), whom we are eagerly training to be Bard Watchers in their own right. This time we planned a major trip to England which included two days and three nights in Stratford. It helped immensely that the Royal Shakespeare Company had just opened their new permanent facility on the Avon River.
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| Our Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at Shakespeare's Birthplace |
It was a beautiful day when we arrived. Our trip took place in the spring as we wanted to catch the opening at the Globe theater, so we took the boys out of school for a few days. Fortunately, we were able to schedule our trip so that we would be in Stratford right on Shakespeare's birthday, April 23. Unfortunately, it was also the week that apparently the entire British school system goes on holiday, spring break as it were; thus we were joined by hundreds of Britons at every tourist spot. We came in by train from London and settled in at the Holiday Inn just off the Avon River. Most things in Stratford are within walking distance, so we had no problem getting around. On our first full day there, we took Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by train to see nearby Warwick Castle. That evening we enjoyed the RSC's preformance of Macbeth from front row seats. (My wife, who planned this trip, was awake and online as soon as the RSC offered their tickets to the public.)
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| We met the Bard himself! |
The next morning was the Bard's birthday, and we started the day at his birthplace. The last 15 years have been very kind to the building. As I recall, in 1995 it was a house. Now it has a museum next door, a bigger and better gift shop, and a beautiful garden in the back. William Shakespeare himself was wandering around as well, so we chatted with him and posed for pictures. We then kept running into him all over town. Apparently when you have been dead for 400 years, you learn how to get around quickly. There was also a small troupe of actors performing scenes for the crowd. They were taking requests, so I called out one of the scenes from Much Ado About Nothing with Beatrice and Benedick. They had quite a repertoire and had no trouble pulling it off. I could have stayed there all day playing Stump the Shakespearean Actors, but there were other things to see and do so I was compelled to move on.
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| Actors playing Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare's home |
Shakespeare died in 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church about a mile or two from where he was born. When his wife died a few years later she was buried next to him. Entrance to the church is free, but there is there is a charge for going into the chancel where the Shakespeare family graves are located. Shakespeare is supposedly buried 17 feet down below a plaque with a famous curse on anyone who tries to steal his bones. The famous monument of Shakespeare holding a quill is located about 10 feet up the wall just to the left of the grave. Of course we took several pictures and left Holy Trinity Church happy that we had rectified our mistake of 1995.
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| Bardwatcher Stan, a.k.a. Mr. Obituary, by Shakespeare's Grave |
The rest of Stratford is a fascinating English town to visit. Of course it is heavily influenced by being the home of the Bard. There’s a Shakespeare this and a Shakespeare that although most of it is not really authentic. We stopped and toured Hall's Croft, the former home of Shakespeare's daughter Susannah and her husband Dr. John Hall. We also went through Nash's House, which is where Shakespeare's grandaughter Elizabeth had lived with her husband Thomas Nash. It is now a museum, and it is next door to Shakespeare's own final home, New Place. Unlike the other Shakespeare related homes in town, New Place is an archeological dig site. The museum has several artifacts found there on display, and we could go outside and watch the archeologists at work, each one hoping to discover the next relic from the Bard's life. As we walked from site to site, occasionally bumping into our friend Shakespeare, we enjoyed that quaint atmosphere of the whole town and stopped in several shops. There are several very old pubs (we’re talking hundreds of years old) which I found fascinating. We also enjoyed a cruise on the Avon River.
There’s not a great deal about the town that sheds more light on any of the plays. There is an Arden Forest nearby, and some of the names sound familiar although not exactly like what you hear for character names in later plays. (This, of course, is one of the arguments of the anti-Shakespeareans.) Regardless, it was a wonderful experience to have been in the Bard’s hometown (twice) and to see his grave (once). It’s a highly recommended experience for any true Bard watcher.
