Double Shakespeare

A Time Out magazine special offer gave me the opportunity to see two Shakespeare plays in the New Year break. The Royal Shakespeare Company are playing a double bill of Much Ado about Nothing (or Love's Labour's Won) and Love's Labour's Lost.

Much Ado about Nothing is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. I first saw it performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford with Derek Jacobi as Benedick and Sinéad Cusack as Beatrice. Love's Labour's Lost was new to me apart from a few snippets. The versions at the Theatre Royal Haymarket bring the plots forward in time to periods before and after the First World War.

Much Ado remains a timeless classic for me. It doesn't matter that all the funny lines are well-known and anticipated in advance. I still laugh at the repartee between Benedick and Beatrice. It took me rather longer to warm to Love's Labour's Lost. I'm afraid that I found much of the early banter immature and irritating. The play was simply too wordy for my tastes. Too much word play eventually becomes tiresome, especially when the language has dated. Having said that, I did enjoy the role of the overly pedantic schoolmaster immensely.

The country house set is used to great effect in both plays. The Much Ado set even boasted a Christmas tree. It provided Benedick's hiding place in his famous eavesdropping scene. 

The RSC's Much Ado About Nothing set with Christmas tree

It was amazing to watch how the elaborate scenery slid in, out and across the stage to create different settings both inside and outside. It made an interesting contrast with the digital scenery that I saw last year at the Barbican and in Paris.

The RSC's opening set for Love's Labour's Lost

For Love's Labour's Lost, I enjoyed being much closer to the action in the Royal Circle, whereas my head was up with the chandelier for Much Ado.

Chandelier as seen from Upper Circle at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

A number of theatre-goers seemed to have difficulties with the alarmingly steep slope down to seats. After the steep climb to the Upper Circle, it made you dizzy to look down. The usher was available to hold your hand if required. Still, I was surprised that there wasn't even a handrail for elderly visitors to hold on to, especially given stringent health and safety rules these days. I did note that audio equipment was available for the hard-of-hearing. 

The Theatre Royal Haymarket looks great from the outside, but inside it could do with some modernisation. There would probably be fewer  empty weekday seats if the elderly felt comfortable reaching and leaving their seats. It's hard to see how some of London's more ancient theatres can be updated to modern accessibility standards.

I have always loved the way that Shakespeare mixes tragedy in comedy and comedy in tragedy. It seems much more true to life that way. Still, the end of Love's Labour's Lost catches you by surprise. The death of the Princess's father brings the merriment to an end. It is chilling to see the four male suitors dressed in military uniforms at the end. It leaves you regretting your earlier irritation with them and fearing for their fates in the bitter war to come. Comedy over.

Karen Andrews is a freelance French to English translator, transcreator, content writer and editor. She has a strong background in marketing and project management.

Email Karen for further information via karenanglicityen@gmail.com in French, German or English.

July 2016 - European Language and Cultural Events

1 July

First World War Centenary – Battle of the Somme

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval, Northern France

1-3 July

22nd Anglophoner Tag 
Chartered Institute of Linguists’ 
German Society 
Düsseldorf, Germany
Theme: Reaching your Audience

2 July

2016 Big Dance Festival

Trafalgar Square

London, UK

2-3 July 11am-9pm (each day)

Tafwyl Fair

Cardiff’s Welsh Language, Arts and Culture Festival

Cardiff Castle, Cardiff, Wales

2 July-2 October

David Hockney RA: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life

Exhibition at Royal Academy of Arts,

London, UK

4-6 July

SFT Court/Legal Translation and Interpreting Course

University of Lille 3

Lille, France

5 July 6-9pm

From scratch to success: Business stories

French Chamber of Great Britain

Ciné Lumière, French Institute

London, UK

5-10 July

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Hampton Court Palace

Surrey, UK

6-8 July

UETF16 
SFT’s Summer School for Financial Translators 

(in French/English) 
Paris, France

7 July opening

Beyond the Lab: The DIY Science Revolution

Science Museum

London, UK

9 July

City Lit Deaf Day 2016
City Lit, London, UK
Find out more about deaf education, BSL, etc

9 July 10.30am-3.30pm

Languages: MK – Free Language Event

The Open University

Milton Keynes

UK

9 July 12-6pm

Eid Festival

Trafalgar Square

London
UK

9 July

Hermeto Pascoal at Barbican

Brazilian composer and bandleader

Barbican

London

UK

11-15 July

International Terminology Summer School

Vienna
Austria

11-15 July

Translate in the City

City University, London, UK 

11-15 July

AIIC Spanish Judicial System for Interpreters 

(in Spanish)
Madrid, Spain

11-16 July

AIIC French Language and Culture Workshop

(in French)
Paris, France

11-22 July

AIIC– Portuguese C-Language Refresher Course for Interpreters

University of Lisbon

Lisbon, Portugal

13 July

Brexit: Legal & Constitutional Requirements

UCL, Beveridge Hal, Senate House, Malet Street

London, UK

14 July

BP Big Screen of the Royal Opera’s Il Trovatore

Venues: London’s Trafalgar Square, Aberdeen, Portsmouth, Southend, Warwick University, Leeds, Bristol, Bradford, Plymouth, Hammersmith, Canary Wharf, Waltham Forest, Woolwich

15-17 July

Bristol Harbour Festival

Bristol, UK

15 July-6 November

Colour and Vision – Through the Eyes of Nature

Natural History Museum
London, UK

15 July

Our Lives in Data

Science Museum

London, UK

16 July

LRG Kenwood House guided tour

London Regional Group, ITI, 

London, UK

16 July

7th AIIC Workshop on Interpreters for Interpreters

(in German)
Berlin, Germany

17 July
ITI Western Regional Group
Family Bike Ride
Bristol to Bath, UK

23 July 2-3pm

Summer Exhibition Tour in BSL 

(British Sign Language)

Royal Academy of Arts

London, UK

23 July

European Conference of Science Journalists
Manchester Central, Manchester, UK

23-30 July

5^th AIIC Workshop on Spanish Language and Culture

For active Conference Interpreters
Barcelona, Spain

25 July-20 August

Italian course for B2-C1 Interpreters and Translators

AIIC Course
Malcesine, Italy

25-31 July

World Youth Day 2016 

Krakow, Poland

27-29 July

AIIC Upgrade Course: 
Interpreting into English as a B Language

Tallinn, Estonia

28 July 9-11am

Summer Exhibition 2016 

Tour for Mobility Impaired Visitors

Royal Academy of Arts

London, UK

31 July-6 August

World Shakespeare Congress 2016

Stratford-upon-Avon and London, UK
Theme: Creating and recreating Shakespeare 
on 400th Anniversary of his death

NB: Inclusion in this list does not constitute endorsement of any conference, event or third party by Anglicity Ltd. This list is for information purposes only. All details should be checked on the organisers' websites, as they may be subject to change.

The Shakespeare Walk

London staged a special walk as part of the 400^th Shakespeare Anniversary Celebrations. A total of 37 specially-made short films played on the South Bank between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge. The event's title was The Complete Walk.

A special map showed where the 37 screens could be found. Each short film lasted about 10 minutes. Many had been filmed in Shakespeare’s chosen locations:

•  Hamlet at Elsinore in Denmark
•  Macbeth at Glamis Castle in Scotland
• Henry V at the Agincourt Battlefield in France
• The Tempest in Bermuda
• Anthony and Cleopatra at the Red Pyramid in Egypt
• The Merchant of Venice in Venice, Italy
• Othello at Othello’s Tower in Famagusta, North Cyprus
• Troilus and Cressida at the Ruins of Troy in Turkey
• Romeo & Juliet at Juliet’s Tomb, Verona, Italy

… and many more.

There were lots of people following the walk. At times there were so many that you had to wait for the next 10-minute screening. Each film played in a loop, so you didn’t have to wait long for the next screening of the most popular plays.

The walk took me past Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a replica of the original theatre. President Obama had apparently visited earlier that day and wondered about the absence of a roof if it rained. I was more concerned about the very chill wind blowing off the Thames that day.

There was quite a bottleneck near the Financial Times on Bankside, where Measure for Measure was playing. Isabella’s entreaties were very powerful. The large crowd demonstrated that Shakespeare can still capture our attention and connect with us today.

I encountered another large crowd near the Clink Street Bridge Arch. Here Twelfth Night was playing just a stone’s throw from the site of the old Clink Prison. The prison dates 200 years further back than Shakespeare.

All's Well That Ends Well at Southwark Cathedral

Sadly not all the screens were working as I passed and I missed some of my favourite plays. However, that meant that I enjoyed plays that were not so familiar to me. I welcomed the seating in the Millennium Courtyard at Southwark Cathedral. Here I saw great acting filmed at the Château de Lourmarin in France for All’s Well that Ends Well.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She offers 

copywriting, translation

and transcreation services.

For further information,

 see Anglicity's website

Multicultural England and St George

Ordinarily St George’s Day passes in a puff of smoke. Does another nation that let its patron saint’s day pass with as little celebration as England? April 23^rd 2016 was a little more special than usual, but that was down to the Shakespeare 400^th anniversary celebrations, not St George.

My native city of Bristol apparently dropped St George’s Day celebrations altogether because the area is “too multicultural”. London is multicultural too - if anything even more so. Celebrations went ahead in Trafalgar Square.

Has London found the recipe to respect the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of all its citizens? 

 East Londoner Nathalie Coleman, the 2013 TV MasterChef,
cooks her variation on Eton Mess with Rhubarb and Star Anise

I have already blogged about a number of the events in Trafalgar Square in the past year. I wasn’t able to attend every cultural event, but am aware that I missed a number. London celebrated Eid, Diwali, Holi Festival of Colours, Vaisakhi and Chinese New Year.

In December, a Jewish Menorah stood in Trafalgar Square for Hanukah alongside the traditional Christmas tree. The enthusiastic Irish celebrations of St Patrick’s Day feature in a previous blog. I have also written about Brazil and French Bastille Days.

At Easter, I watched a Passion Play in Trafalgar Square. This was the result of months of hard work by enthusiastic volunteers. The story of Jesus is a powerful one, even if you do not share the Christian faith.

Just before Easter my car had to have its MOT. I was mightily relieved when it did not cost me the anticipated “fortune”. As the keys were returned to me, I wished my mechanic a Happy Easter. Noting his Sikh turban, I quickly added the word “break”. I didn’t wish to offend. No offence was seemingly taken as he walked away smiling. It was a Bank Holiday for both of us after all.

Later I looked up Sikh traditions. I noted that Sikhs worship one God, have rejected the caste system, believe in living honestly and working hard. They also believe in being generous to those less fortunate than themselves. Much in common therefore.

My children have learnt all about different cultures and their celebrations at school. At Primary School, they learnt about the Swedish festival of light, Eid, Diwali lamps, the Nativity, Chinese New Year, Hanukah, Buddhism, Easter rabbits, St Nicholas, etc. They enjoyed hearing all the stories related to other faiths and celebrating the festivals important to other children in their classes.

Adopting another culture’s customs is nothing new. At Christmas, I wrote how Christmas trees came to us via Germany - although other countries claim the tradition too. I wrote about Austrian Kipferl and how other nations claim the recipe. I looked at the origins of Easter and discovered many Pagan and Jewish Passover connections.

You don’t need to go too far back in British history to see how religious beliefs tore our nation apart. The wounds of religious wars took generations to heal. 

St George's Day 2016 in Trafalgar Square

Today, England is a tolerant nation. The past shows us that we should absorb rather than drop our own beliefs and celebrations.  Ignorance and fear hamper multicultural integration. Sharing our different cultural traditions and celebrations is an important part of understanding. When we understand better, the beliefs don’t seem so different underneath.