A Stratford Diary

Read my review of Gregory Doran's new production of Twelfth Night over at Helium... Read Full Story

When the RSC get it right - either on their own, or in association with another company - they get it right, as is the case with the current production (in association with the South African Baxter Theatre Centre) of Shakespeare's The Tempest. In fact it's more than right - it's a triumph. Let's make no bones about it, Shakespeare's last play is something of a triumph in itself: a piece of work where the playwright - just five years from his death - sets out to show just how good he is, using words gloriously, with each one hitting home like an experienced ... Read Full Story

Read all about it... 1651: An Evening with Oliver Cromwell at The Dirty Duck, Stratford-upon-avon Shared via AddThis Read Full Story

Romeo, aka the Rev David Banbury (he's Director of Mission and Faith Development at Stratford's Holy Trinity Church), and Juliet, aka Alice Crane, who's a member of the church's congregation, are running the Stratford-upon-Avon Marathon this coming Sunday, 26th April. Now David is a tough Geordie, who's also a padre in the Territorial Army, and a man who enjoys taking on heavy traffic at motorway junctions and winning. But he will probably find that Alice - who looks pretty tough herself - will give him a good run for his and our money. And their costumed participation in the race is all about raising ... Read Full Story

Holy Trinity's own theatre company, Trinity Players, is putting on a new adaptation (at Holy Trinity Church) of Anthony Throllope's 1857 novel, Barchester Towers . There will be three performances: one on Thursday 26th February at 7.30pm; and two on Saturday February 28th at 3pm and 7.30pm. There's an absolute stellar cast headed by Tim Raistrick as Obadiah Slope (see photo), Pete and Val Cubitt as Ethelbert and Charlotte Stanhope, Sarah Cushing as Eleanor Bold, Tony and Glenda Boyd-Williams as Bishop and Mrs Proudie, Geoffrey Lees as Septimus Harding, Orion Johnson as Madeline Stanhope, and a superb Miss Thorne played by Dorothy Raistrick; plus ... Read Full Story