“I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.” - Twelfth Night.
Sometimes you just have to believe you can do it … I suspect this was the motto of the Stratford Shakespeare Trust Committee when they set out to create a festival that celebrated the unique cultural heritage of their town. A mall committee with big ideas and a serious amount of organisation conjured up a fabulous festival that achieved the goals of the trust’s Constitution - to provide educational and entertainment opportunities for all ages about things Shakespeare.
You might have been driven slightly loopy by your child returning from the Ugly Shakespeare event claiming to be a fairy or a hee-hawing donkey man. You could have indulged your desire to be another David Tennant or Judi Dench by attending a workshop or salivated just a little over the male beauty of Achilles in the RSC production of Troilus & Cressida, cringed slightly as metal-covered guys bashed each other to “death”, only to have them rise and fight again, or sat in your car with a “friend” and giggled at the Forbidden Planet movie set or held on to that forlorn hope Juliet would wake before Romeo died, even though you already knew at the beginning they both died.
You could have been amazed at the mercurial changes of character Michael Hurst and Katie Boyle performed … (I’m still breathless) or luxuriated in the flavours of spit roast pork at Baldrick’s Big Day Out, listened to Dawn Sanders explain how every second phrase you use came from Shakespeare or hummed away to Love Shack while the Barden Party, in a garden, egged you on. If you only took advantage of some of these opportunities, you were one of nearly4000 people who did.
Whatever bit of the festival you got to experience or read about was because a group of people cared enough to celebrate that special link to the Bard. The Stratford Shakespeare Trust would like to thank those people in our community who got involved, supported, sponsored and otherwise made sure it all happened.
