A Trip to Stratford on Avon

Jut over a week ago  I drove up to Stratford - upon - Avon to see' Two Noble Kinsman' at the RSC.

I had the day off work (having inadvertently booked the play for the Friday not the Saturday night!) so had time to make the trip a leisurely one. Traffic was heavy so I left the main road and went cross country, resulting in my meeting a flock of sheep, and coming upon an unexpected folly!

I had time for a meal in Stratford's oldest pub (at least it claims to be so, and who am I to argue?), The Garrick.

The pub is on the left in this picture - the house on the right, with the American flag, is Harvard House - it dates to 1596 and was built by one Thomas Rogers, who left it to his grandson, one  John Harvard, who emigrated to the American Colony in Charleston, in 1637, where he died in 1638, leaving his library and half his assets to the proposed new college to be established... The house became the property of Harvard University in 1909) .

I then had a stroll through the town, passing Shakespeare's birthplace (I was a day or two early to go to New Place, which has been closed for several months and only just reopened. Maybe will visit in September when I am back in Stratford. 

Shakespeare's Birthplace

The performance was in the Swan Theatre, which was another first for me - the last few productions I have seen have been in the main, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which is in the same bulding as the Swan, but is significantly bigger (it seats about 1,000, compared to the Swan's 450) 

Swan Theatre, RSC

The play was still in previews, which meant I was able to get an excellent seat (front row of the stalls) at a very reasonable price!  It's a relatively small theatre with a thrust stage, so many of the audience are seated to the sides,rather than the front of the stage.