Mrs. Cox in England
Seminar Title: Shakespeare and His World
Held at Trinity College Oxford University
Oxfordshire, England, UK
The View from My Rooms at Oxford. Trinity College at Oxford University was built in the 1500's. Shakespeare probably saw this view when he passed through Oxford on his way home to Stratford-on-Avon.
My rooms were also ancient! A huge drawing room and a bedroom the size of a monk's cell. Of course, I loved it all! My windows are above the door and directly to the left.
Everywhere something magical! This little statue sitting quietly in a courtyard at Oxford immediately brought to mind the fairies in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The Prettiest Pub in London's Theater District. Theater is still alive and well all around England but especially in this section of London, called Covent Garden.
Just Before A Class: mornings were filled with lectures by Shakespearean scholars. (The lady, on the right. who broke her arm on the first day of our trip kept up with everyone--and even kept us on our toes!)
Entering Shakespeare's World
Boats on the River at Stratford-on-Avon. Notice that the boats are named after characters from Shakespeare's plays.
Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Garden, where Shakespeare courted his wife. Look at the way the roof slants over the house. This little area, beneath the eaves, is the source of our term eaves-dropping. Standing under the eaves, you could often hear everything happening inside the house. (Town gossips might often eavesdrop.)
Approaching The New Globe Theater by Boat, the way rich Londoners would have arrived: The round white structure is the New Globe itself. The brick building beside it houses on the first floor an education center about Shakespeare and his world. On the second and third floors are increasingly expensive restaurants. The view is wonderful!
Globe Theater's Stage Movement Teacher She moved onto the stage like a good wind.
The Sign at the Spot of the Original Globe, a few blocks away from the New Globe.
Members of my group on the Globe Stage after our movement class. The entire Globe Theater was made available to us in the early morning. Matinees started at 2:00. We saw Antony and Cleopatra on Tuesday and The Comedy of Errors on Wednesday.
The Globe Stage Balcony "Oh, Romeo!"
Expensive two-penny seats in Shakespeare's day. We had tickets for these great seats!
Groundlings Many people in our group chose to watch the play standing up, close to the stage, the way one-penny audience members "groundlings" did. (Unfortunately, seats and standing room cost considerably more now than they did in Shakespeare's day.)
Live at the Globe! The Shakespearean theater in action is a grand thing to behold!
Backstage for "Antony and Cleopatra." In the morning, the props were already in place for the afternoon performance. Notice the Roman helmets and the huge drum.
The Bear Gardens sign next to the spot of the Original Globe
This may be the original pavement of the Bear Gardens. A violent sport, Bear Baiting, was in competition with the theater for audiences. Shakespeare may have walked on this pavement!
The Beautiful, Old Trinity Church in Stratford-on-Avon where Shakespeare was christened and is now buried. His grave is at the very front of the church, a place of great honor. Beside him lie his wife, his daughter, Suzanna, and her husband, Dr. John Hall. Shakespeare's fame and his increasing wealth made them all very important people in Stratford-on-Avon
Sunset on the Thames River, Shakespeare's World. How we hated
to say "Goodbye!"