Theatre & The Performing Arts
Searching For Shakespeare
All The World's A Stage
400 years on and Shakespeare remains the most famous Englishman in the world. Here we explore his life, influences of the Elizabethan age and how his work impacted the global stage.
Learn what the first open-air theatres were like, how popular his plays were with his contemporary audiences, how his plays survived and who saved them.​
This talk gives a panoramic overview of two thousand years of theatre history, tracing the origins of theatre traditions and showing how social and polictical influences have affected the theatre over this time.
We look at the Greeks, the Romans and the Elizabethans with their vast outdoor theatres and daylight perfomances; then the Georgians and Victorians with smaller indoor, elitist palaces.
Learn how actors and audiences behaved, how the plays were received and how we became the most renowned nation in the world for theatre.
To Be Or Not To Be
The birth of of English theatre & the rebirth of The Globe.
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We travel through the birth of the purpose-built theatres in the Sixteenth Century, trace the development of these houses of entertainment and the goings-on both on stage and in the audience.
We also examine the rebirth of The Globe and the long struggle to recreate Shakespeares theatre as a living monument to the greatest playwright in the world.
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That’s Not In The Script....!
Oh Yes It Is!
It’ll Be Alright On The Night
A Nursery Stage For London - Bath Theatre Royal
One of just six provincial Georgian theatres, Bath is the most successful. The first theatre outside London to receive the Royal Patent it rose again after a disastrous fire in 1862.
Explore the recent refurbisment, and how recent works have sympathetically brought it into the 21st Century.
Why not combine the lecture with a visit to Bath & to the Theatre itself? Even a backstage tour and/or a city tour!
Here we examine the atmosphere and behaviour in and around the Georgian theatre. Irresponsible actors, impotent managers, tears and tyrrany of audiences. Delegates will be astonished at the lack of discipline shown on stage and front of house. Marvel at the lack of preparation, under-rehearsal and very short runs.
Learn how many went to the theatre as much ‘to be seen’, as to see the play.
In the best tradition of the theatre, though, it was usually
alright on the night!
Less a lecture, more entertainment for luncheon or dinner.
Hear theatrical anecdotes from the speaker who has over the last twenty-five years (and counting!) interviewed everyone from Sir Edward Heath and Sir John Major to Earl Spencer and the Duchess of Devonshire.
She has given hospitality to many actors in her Regency home in Bath when they appear at the Theatre and there are many humorous stories associated with her role as the Special Events Organiser there.
The history of the Pantomime. We explore the complex and fascinating history of the Pantomime, how it developed from its Greek & Roman roots, through our religious plays of the Midde Ages and the Commedia Dell’Arte.
Explore characters as diverse as the harlequinade, Grimaldi, through Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd to the soap stars of today.
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