Download Journal Stratford Shakespeare Trip

My Journal from the Stratford
Shakespeare Trip
by Melanie Martin, graduate student in English Literature
I had a really great time on this trip–wonderful city, excellent performances,
awesome class. The Stratford Shakespeare Tour comes around every July, and is a
two-week long course. During the first week, our class read five plays, and during
the second week, we went to Stratford, Ontario, and saw them. Take a look in my
journal to see what it was like in Stratford, what I thought of the class, and what we
did while we were there!
From left to right: Meg, Me, Amy, Krista, Megan, Barb, Nick, Jess, Jeff
Day 1 (Tuesday, July 18, 2006) – Today we arrived in Stratford! We left at 8:30
am, after managing to wedge all of our luggage (and ourselves) into the van. Though
it was crowded, it was really a nice ride up. We stopped for lunch and Meg Herod
(there are two Megs, so I’ll call the other one Megan), Barb and I sat on the sidewalk
by the parking lot and fed the seagulls; there was a really slow one and we kept
trying to toss it food before the others could get there. The drive went really fast; a
bunch of us talked most of the way up. I knew a few of the other people from classes
we’d had before, but there were also some I didn’t know; it was a small-ish group,
though–nine students, including me–and we got to know each other quickly. I
enjoyed hearing the crazy stories from the teachers on board about their classes–I
have a feeling Jeff and Nick are going to be really entertaining; they’re constantly
making fun of each other. Nick decided that his dream is to open a Shakespeare
restaurant where everything is named after something related to a Shakespeare
play, and everyone tried to come up with the corniest ideas (wish I could remember
them now!). The scenery was gorgeous as we drove through Canada–forests of tall
pine trees all around us, and everything a vibrant shade of green.
We got here sometime in the middle of the afternoon and took our luggage into the
hotel–it seemed like a small-ish place, but somehow ended up having a lot more
room inside than I thought it would. It was laid out very strangely; the second floor
was below the first, for one thing! The rooms were all a little different; mine was
pretty big and had a comfy bed. I didn’t plan to spend much time there though, of
course–I couldn’t wait to get out and explore! We pretty much all grabbed lunch and
rested for a little while, though–I really needed to stretch out for awhile after that
van ride, but after a little while I changed into nicer clothes for the play that night
(Coriolanus), grabbed my camera and journal, and went out.
The town was so pretty and quaint–there were a lot of older buildings lining the
streets, and not very much traffic. A lot of people rode bikes, I noticed–there were
long rows of bikes parked along the sidewalks here and there. I also noticed the
many brightly colored three-tiered flower baskets aligning the streets; the town
seems to put a lot of effort into gardening. Stratford had a very laid-back feel; most
people were there on vacation, after all. I just wandered around for awhile, not
worrying about getting lost because the town wasn’t big enough to get lost in!
I ended up down by the moat, where dozens of swans were swimming and eating
grass on the shore, while a group of musicians prepared to set off on one of the
boats. It was a very peaceful, relaxed place; many people were walking their dogs or
just coming down to watch the birds. I’d never seen so many swans together!
I ran into some of the other girls, and we tried to figure out why some of the swans
seemed to be dancing together, spinning side by side in synch with one another.
After a bit, we headed toward the Festival Theatre for the play. The path by the moat
led us to the theatre. We were all sort of dreading this play, I have to admit, because
we didn’t enjoy reading it–and because it was supposed to be around three hours
long! Seeing the play was definitely much better than reading it, though–and I know
that’s almost always true, but in this case, I truly didn’t know if I’d even be able to
sit through it without passing out from boredom. The actor who played Coriolanus
(Colm Feore), however, was excellent, and the portrayal of his mother was
interesting, reminding me almost of Lady MacBeth and raising questions about
whether a forceful woman might be intended to appear comical in a tragic play.
Barb and Krista with Colm Feore
The fighting scenes looked artificial; they were perfectly coordinated on purpose, but
that made them seem predictable, making it difficult to suspend disbelief. The stage
itself was a very nice one, and I found it amazing that, as Jess’s dad was telling us
(her parents were in Stratford also, and knew a lot about the festival) it could be
completely transformed despite its size.
The play was well-done, and I found myself looking forward to the four other plays
that we would be seeing through the week. (Three of them were Shakespeare plays;
the other two were not. Stratford puts on a lot of Shakespeare productions, but also
has a lot of other plays. All the plays we were going to see were at night, and so we
had the option of getting tickets for whatever matinees we wanted to see,
too...there’s a program where people under thirty can get matinee tickets for around
$20, and I think there’s also something for people over thirty. A few of us talked
about seeing Oliver! some afternoon.) It was Amy’s birthday, so we went out
afterward to the Old English Pub, which had amazing desserts (there was some sort
of lemon merengue fluff that everybody loved), and celebrated.
The Festival Theatre
Amy with her amazing dessert
Day 2 (Wednesday, July 19, 2006) – Today was our second day in Stratford. Meg
H., Krista and I went searching for breakfast and then we all met in Dr. Scott’s room
to talk about last night’s play. Jeff gave a short presentation about social ideologies
forming identity in the play, since we were each supposed to give a short
presentation during one of the class discussions. None of us were enamored with the
play, but we mostly all felt that it was better watched than read, and it led to some
interesting discussion.
We ate lunch at a fabulous Indian restaurant named Rajas. I had chana masala, and
it was a nice lunch with the gang. We all sort of dispersed after that, to take naps, do
work, or go exploring. I went off to explore some of the shops. There were many
interesting little places to go into: pottery shops, Native Canadian art galleries,
bookstores, etc. I took a nap after that, and later ate dinner with Nick and Jeff at a
coffee shop called Tango that Jess was raving about. She was right to rave! They had
a lot of options for vegetarians like me, too.
I went down to the moat for a bit before the play to journal, and watched a group of
musicians sailing up and down the river amidst flocks of birds. A group of rowers,
with a leader that kept shouting at the others like a drill sergeant, kept flying up and
down the moat. The weather, like yesterday, was gorgeous, in the 80's and 90's,
though it got a little chilly later on. I met Meg, Barb, Megan and Krista again by the
water and we took more pictures of birds before heading to the Tom Patterson
Theatre to see Henry IV, Part I. (Meg and I decided that we’d make sure we took
some pictures of people before we left Stratford!)
Krista, Barb, Meg, and Megan by the moat
This play was excellent! It was really funny; the actor who played Falstaff was
hilarious. The actor playing Hotspur overacted constantly, though; no one is as
animated and strung-out all the time as he was, and it didn’t seem like it was done
for comedic effect. The sword fighting scenes were well-done; they were much more
realistic than in Coriolanus. The closeness of the audience to the stage added
another element of danger to the fighting scenes, and it was fun being that close to
all of the action. It was extremely well done, and I think all of us really enjoyed it.
Day 3 (Thursday, July 20, 2006) – Today Meg, Megan and I walked around the
moat in the morning, and we ended up finding a hidden garden near the Festival
Theatre. It was absolutely gorgeous, with a pond and beautiful flowers and a
stairway that led up to nowhere and back. After that, we found an art gallery with
beautiful beads that you could make necklaces from, and the Megs made pretty
necklaces. We headed back for class at eleven, and then we all headed over to York
Street, the street closest to the moat, for lunch at a sandwich shop. The prices were
good; there are definitely ways to be thrifty in Stratford. We ate near the moat,
trying to stay under the trees in a terrace near the water because it started raining.
Meg, Megan, Barb, Krista, and I headed to the library then to work on our
presentations for awhile–we’d been so busy reading plays the week before that we
hadn’t gotten much done yet for our presentations, and we knew we’d be in deep
trouble if we didn’t! I decided to talk about the significance of colors in Elizabethan
clothing, and luckily found some resources for that online, because the library didn’t
have a great collection of books–even the Shakespeare section had pretty slim
pickings. Around six o’clock we all had dinner together at Bendey’s, a restaurant
near the hotel that had really good food, and then checked out a cute little new-andused bookstore called the Book Stage. I found a book about how animals are
portrayed in Shakespeare plays, and decided to come back for it if that’s the topic I
decide to write about. (I was a little worried about writing the paper, because I didn’t
even have a topic yet and I knew it was due the week after we got back from
Stratford. I was glad we had an extra week to do it, though!) Then, because we’d
spent too much time at the Book Stage, we hurried over to the Studio Theatre for
Harlem Duet (which, incase you were wondering, is not a Shakespeare play, but is
loosely–I repeat, loosely–based on Othello).
Jess, Amy, Meg and Barb on the porch of the Book Stage
I had no problem with the acting in the play; however, seeing the play performed
brought out what I considered to be some flaws in the writing. The playwright,
Djanet Sears, had created characters that did much more telling than showing, and it
became more and more annoying as the play progressed. The language was odd, to
say the least, and I wondered what the purpose was of having the actors sound so
unnatural, reminiscent of Shakespearean language at times. It seemed like she was
trying too hard to draw parallels between her play and Othello. The humor was too
offbeat and gruesome at times–there was one instance where something actually
made me feel nauseous, and I thought the playwright and director had gone too far.
The play was well-acted and certainly made some excellent points about important
social issues, but I didn’t admire many of Sears’ artistic choices. There was never a
time during the performance, though, that I felt I just couldn’t sit through it. The plot
itself was compelling, and I sympathized with the main character and with the other
characters to some extent. The play was filled with interesting directorial choices,
and I was interested in seeing how the director would handle the many transitions
between different times and settings that happen rather abruptly throughout the
play–some of them were really cleverly done.
After the play, I went out for a snack with Jess’s family, Megan, Jeff, and Nick. We
headed to Bendy’s, and I discovered their fabulous fruit crisp with blueberries,
rhubarb, strawberries, and ice cream. I could have definitely lived on that alone for
at least a month! We kept our eyes open for actors, who are rumored (by Jess’s
parents) to frequent there. I enjoyed talking with Jess’s parents, hearing about how
they teach Shakespeare in their classes. Jess’s mom teaches in an elementary
school, and has a bunch of Shakespeare books written for little kids–she says the
kids love it, and I think it’s so wonderful to introduce Shakespeare to them early,
before they become afraid of it!
Day 4 (Friday, July 21, 2006) – This morning we went on a tour of the costume
warehouse–it was an enormous building of costumes; we saw all sorts of wigs, hats,
boots, costumes, and props. We even got to try some of the costumes on, which was
a lot of fun....
King Jeff in the costume warehouse
Me and Megan in our fab Shakespearean garb
Krista in costume
We also got to go to the Festival Theatre costume exhibition, which had some really
amazing displays of show props and costumes. There were exhibits from Midsummer
Night’s Dream, MacBeth, Into the Woods, and many more; I was especially
impressed with those two. After that, we went back to the beautiful secret garden so
the rest of the group could see it, and then I headed to Bloomer’s, which has every
type of fries imaginable, with Barb and Meg.
Krista and Meg in the Theatre Gallery
Nick in the Festival Gardens by the Stairway to Nowhere
We went to the library for awhile to finish our presentations, and searched for some
post cards. I wandered around taking pictures, and swung by the Book Stage to see
if I could find anything to help me with my paper. I still needed some more
inspiration; I had a couple of ideas, but didn’t know if I wanted to write a paper
about them yet. Somehow, the time got away from
me there, and I ended up having to rush through the crowded Downie Street to The
Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. There were two older guys who were also
practically sprinting to the Tom Patterson Theatre; we ran across Albert street just as
the light changed, and it was so hilarious I started laughing and ran out of breath!
I’m a pretty fast walker, so I got there just behind them. We got there in time, and I
caught my breath as I found the group and took my seat.
I’d really liked reading this play and was excited to see it performed. There was an
old woman sitting on the dark stage, dressed in black, staring straight ahead. From
the beginning, it was very eerie, and the director used many special effects. The
stage was very dark through much of the performance, but that didn’t bother me at
all; it added to the suspense and allowed for some neat special effects. During one
scene, an actor swung a lantern around that cast patterns of light across the stage
and audience; it was a little disorienting, but not in a bad way; it enhanced the mood
of the play. Each character had something strange and even a bit gruesome about
them–Julia had huge warts on her face; the Duchess had heavy white powder on her
face and was clearly a little older than the Duchess probably was intended to be, and
many of the other characters had heavy powder and eye makeup and huge, crazy
hair. These kinds of oddities complemented the strangeness of the fashions of the
time; the women wore farthingales that created extremely unnatural figures. The
play was extremely compelling and artfully done.
Day 5 (Saturday, July 22, 2006) – This morning, Meg and I walked around the
moat at 8:30 because we’d promised ourselves all week we were going to go around
it. It was gorgeous on the other side; there were some secluded areas with willow
trees draped over the water, and these seemed to be the secret hideaways of the
birds. We saw a pair of black swans with bright red beaks, and a baby swan that was
trying to eat grass from the shore by our feet. The baby was absolutely adorable,
and its mother let us stay there and watch it for a few minutes. It was making cooing
sounds while it ate, and paddling its big flippery feet in the water. We saw some
beautiful houses on that side of the moat, too. We walked down the path to the
Shakespearean Gardens near the dam. A group of swans were parading down from
York Street, where they’d been taking a stroll. They were taking up most of the path,
though, and you do have to be careful of them or they’ll attack.
Swans taking a stroll
(In case you were wondering, the swans don’t live at the moat all year long. They’re
kept in a large building somewhere outside of the town during the winter, so they
don’t freeze. Then, to welcome them back, there’s a swan parade in the spring
where they’re driven around the town and then returned to the moat.)
The English gardens, though they’re not really my style, were very pretty, and as we
walked through them I was thinking about how gardens are a symbol of the widening
divide between humans and nature. Exploring the gardens actually sparked the topic
I decided to write about for my paper: how nature metaphors are used frequently in
The Duchess of Malfi, and how they portray nature as something purely threatening.
I was really glad to finally have a paper topic that I knew I could write an interesting
paper about!
By the moat and the Shakespearean Gardens
The group eating lunch at the Pita Hut...try the falafel!
Later, Megan and I went to "Art in the Park," where a bunch of artists were trying to
sell their work, and then we went off to look for the black swans. We passed by a
wedding, and watched for a bit, but the bridal party was really long and so we
moved on. On the other side, we saw what looked like a squirrel swimming by, and
frantically tried to find it so we could take a picture to show the others, but we
couldn’t find it anywhere. The other Meg said it was probably an otter, and she’s
probably right because I didn’t think squirrels went swimming. Anyway, we went
back and changed for the play, then went out for appetizers and desserts at the Old
English pub before the show.
The play tonight was Much Ado about Nothing. Lucy Peacock, the actress who played
the Duchess the night before, played Beatrice, and though her portrayal of the
character was different from what I’d pictured, I enjoyed the play a lot. Benedick’s
character was fabulous; he really made the show, and the age of the two characters
didn’t bother me at all. The song "Hey Nonnie Nonnie" was really pretty–sort of
haunting, with sharps and flats replacing other notes, and the musicians were
wonderful. The play was about two hours and forty-five minutes long, but it didn’t
seem that long at all...so it was a nice play to end the week with.
The Festival Theatre
The trip was wonderful, and I would love to go back to Stratford one day. There was
truly never a dull moment, despite the town’s small size. It was a really peaceful
place to be, too; everyone was very laid-back and happy to be there. Anyone who
loves literature, theatre or birds would have a wonderful time!