Montpellier University Shakespeare Study Course in Stratford-upon-Avon

Montpellier University
Shakespeare Study Course
 in Stratford-upon-Avon
                 organised by the IRCL

 Write to us at ircl@univ-montp3.fr if you wish to receive
information about the 2015 Montpellier Theatre course in
                    Stratford-upon-Avon,
      and watch this webpage for more information.
                              	
  

Highlights	
   of	
   the	
   2014	
   course	
   included:	
   talks	
   on	
   1	
   &	
   2	
  
Henry	
   IV,	
   a	
   voice	
   class,	
   a	
   direc>ng	
   workshop,	
   a	
   reviewing	
  
workship,	
   a	
   mee>ng	
   with	
   the	
   all	
   boys'	
   actor	
   group	
   of	
   King	
  
Edward	
  IV	
  School	
  and	
  their	
  teacher/director,	
  Mr	
  Perry	
  Mills,	
  a	
  
visit	
   of	
   the	
   building	
   where	
   Shakespeare	
   studied	
   as	
   a	
   boy	
   (in	
  
the	
   same	
   school!),	
   the	
   plays	
   at	
   the	
   Royal	
   Shakespeare	
  
Theatre	
   and	
   The	
   Swan	
   Theatre,	
   and,	
   last	
   but	
   not	
   least,	
   a	
  
mee>ng	
  with	
  actor	
  Alex	
  Hassell,	
  who	
  played	
  Prince	
  Hal.	
  
	
  

The Shakespeare Centre, where the courses took place

                                             Photo Gaëlle Ginestet

Rencontre du groupe avec le comédien Alex Hassell, qui a joué Prince Hal
           Meeting with Alex Hassell, who plays Prince Hal

                                                         Photo Janice Valls-Russell

Une visite à King Edward IV School, l'école où étudia Shakespeare
A visit to King Edward IV School, the school where Shakespeare studied

                                                        Photo Janice Valls-Russell

La salle de classe où étudia
                             Shakespeare, encore utilisée pour
                                  des cours aujourd'hui
                             Shakespeare's classroom, which is
                                   still used for lessons

Photo Janice Valls-Russell                           Photo Janice Valls-Russell

Anthony Sher (Falstaff) and Alex Hassell (Prince Hal), 1 Henry IV, dir. Gregory Doran, The
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, photo courtesy of RSC/Kwame Lestrade
                    (a review is forthcoming in Cahiers Elisabéthains 86)

                                                                           Photo RSC/Kwame Lestrade

Anthony Sher (Falstaff) and Nia Gwynne (Doll Tearsheet), 2 Henry IV, dir. Gregory Doran,
 The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, photo courtesy of RSC/Kwame
               Lestrade (a review is forthcoming in Cahiers Elisabéthains 86)

                                                                     Photo RSC/Kwame Lestrade

Sharon Small (Alice Arden) and Keir
  Charles (Mosby), Arden of Faversham, dir.
Polly Findlay, The Swan Theatre, Stratford-
upon-Avon, photo courtesy of RSC/Manuel
 Harlan (a review is forthcoming in Cahiers
               Elisabéthains 86)

                                              Photo RSC/Manuel Harlan

The Avon river

                 Photo Gaëlle Ginestet

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre

                                Photo Gaëlle Ginestet

The theatres

Photo Chahra Beloufa

                                      Photo Chahra Beloufa

Photo RSC/Peter Cook

Photo RSC/Peter Cook

Photo RSC/Stewart Hemley

@	
  

        Photo Laurane March

Students' comments
Ø Un grand merci pour ce séjour réussi, plein de choses intéressantes et de rencontres
   enrichissantes. Merci également au groupe : les échanges ont été supers, ouverts et
   généreux.
   Maggie Domon

Ø The first talk, that captivated me, was given by Dr Paul Edmondson who introduced us to
   Henry IV. His analysis, and choice of words and lines from the play enabled me to get
   directly involved in the course. Dr Janice Valls Russell and Professor Florence March took
   care of the whole group; their advice and support helped me feel at ease to participate in
   the group discussions. Another discovery was to see performed at the Royal Shakespeare
   Company theatre the plays we studied. The post-performance discussions were very
   engaging and we could all express our impressions freely. Travelling to Stratford Upon
   Avon with the Montpellier group is a memorable experience.
   Chahra Beloufa

Ø Merci beaucoup pour ce séjour à Stratford, les échanges étaient très enrichissants et les
   pièces superbes. J’ai appris beaucoup de choses, je le referais avec plaisir l’année prochaine
   et je le recommande à tous les étudiants ! Shakespeare est une source d'inspiration
   inépuisable.
   Clara Houssais                                                                           .../...

Students' comments
Ø Stratford seminar 2014 – Why I’ll be going back to Stratford next year….
   Can you wolf down a full English breakfast, digest a day’s worth of Shakespeare-oriented
   talks and workshops, stomach a gory murder intrigue, guzzle a few beers in the infamous
   Dirty Duck (a Black Swan in another life) while rubbing shoulders with a few actors…
   and be ready to start again the next day? Then you will make the most of those few days
   in Stratford-upon-Avon, as participant in the course organized by the IRCL (University of
   Montpellier). England in May is lovely, and Stratford is a jewel, preserved thanks to its
   famous playwright. Beamed houses, wattle and daub walls, postcards of Elizabethan
   England. We were immensely lucky to visit the ancient guildhall of King Edward VI
   School… where Shakespeare was a schoolboy, where the graven desks are witness to the
   musings of centuries of school boys and where the pupils of today are reviving plays of
   Shakespeare’s contemporaries. These young actors spoke openly of their anachronistic
   experience: a company of boy actors performing today what may have been performed
   400 years ago. This project is relatively recent and innovative, the talk and Q&A were an
   enriching experience for students of Elizabethan drama.
   Maggie Domon Pathy
                                                                                       .../...

Students' comments
Ø Having the opportunity to get involved in such a course was a real chance. Indeed, as a
   student working on Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon was the ideal place to be.
   The RSC work on the plays is amazing and some of us even had theatrical epiphanies.
   These live stage performances were thrilling thanks to the shape of the thrust stages,
   which are modelled on those of the Elizabethan theatres, and to the creativity of the
   directors and the actors.
   One of the greatest opportunities we also had was the meeting with one of the leading
   actors, Alex Hassell. We could ask him questions about the RSC and his work as an actor.
   We also bumped into the rest of the cast in the pub.
   Among the workshops we were lucky enough to attend, the most impressive was the
   directing workshop with Gemma Fairlie, who showed us how to tackle the Shakespearean
   text from the perspective of an actor. Since we do know about Shakespeare in an
   academic way, it was interesting and enriching to have the actor's point of view. I think it
   is one of the main wonderful opportunities that this course allowed us to enjoy.
   Camille Courbin

                                                                                         …/…

Students' comments
Ø This was my second trip to Stratford-upon-Avon
   Why did I go back?
   I think, it is because of the quality of the lectures which are amazingly useful and
   beneficial to me as a student. It provided me with some brand new critical tools to analyse
   theatre and a historical and cultural background of the period, that helped me for my
   third year courses on “Shakespearian” (or Early Modern) theatre.
   The Post-Performance Discussion (PPD), a sort of brainstorming-debriefing, is a very
   interesting and enriching moment. The lector asks everyone his/her feelings about the
   play, the different things that we have enjoyed or disliked about the performance.
   One of the coolest moments is at the Dirty Duck. This pub serves as PPMP (Post-
   Performance Meeting Point), a kind of rehearsal for the PPD, more relaxed, around an
   English beer/cider, with most of the time, the possibility to talk with the actors (some of
   whom also perform in various series and films, such as : Game of Thrones, Doctor Who,
   Batman, etc).
   Rémy Valéro

Photo Laurane March

organised by the IRCL

 Write to us at ircl@univ-montp3.fr if you wish to receive
information about the 2015 Montpellier Theatre course in
                    Stratford-upon-Avon,
      and watch this webpage for more information.