Bodleian Library Quadrangle
August 2, 2008
Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, founded during Shakespeare’s lifetime and home to a copy of the rare First Folio, will soon play host to the Globe Theatre’s touring production of The Winter’s Tale. The play will be performed in the historic Bodleian Library Quadrangle between 17 and 22 August as part of the ‘Playhouse Plays Out’ series. In conjunction with the performances, Oxford has organized a series of talks by university scholars and a small exhibition of books and prints related to The Winter’s Tale.
This is the Globe’s second open-air tour, following the success of last summer’s touring production of Romeo and Juliet. The Winter’s Tale is directed by John Dove, who first staged the play at the Globe in 2005. Adapted for the road, the production retains most of Shakespeare’s text but features a cast of just eight actors.
In addition to the Bodleian Quad, The Winter’s Tale is stopping at some of the UK’s most visually stunning locations including the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, Newby Hall in Yorkshire, and The Old Bowling Green in Bristol. Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe, said, “The Globe was born out of a touring company culture, and that culture remained vital to it while it flourished. We are delighted to be exploring again the tradition of taking Shakespeare into non-theatrical spaces.”
Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian, said, “The Bodleian’s Old School’s Quadrangle offers a spectacular contemporary setting for such a theatrical performance. We are pleased to collaborate with two established names in the theatrical world for this event, and to support it with talks by Oxford’s world-class Shakespeare scholars. This is the first event of this nature to be held in the Bodleian Quad but in many ways the quad is an appropriate setting for one Shakespeare’s plays.”
The Bodleian Quadrangle exists due to the efforts of the Library’s founder and namesake, Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-1613), who served a gentleman-usher and diplomat for Queen Elizabeth. A bronze statue of the William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, overlooks the square. The earl was the Chancellor of Oxford University from 1617 to 1630 and one of the men to whom the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays is dedicated.
Exhibition Takes Inspiration from The Winter’s Tale
In conjunction with the performances, the Bodleian has prepared a small exhibition inspired by one of Shakespeare’s most famous stage directions, “Exit pursued by a bear.” The direction indicates the death of the character Antigonus in the third act of The Winter’s Tale and has been the bane of theatre directors, possibly since Shakespeare first wrote it.
'Exit pursued by a beare' stage direction in the First Folio
Clive Hurst, Head of Rare Books at the Bodleian and curator of the exhibition said, “One of the most famous lines in Shakespeare now amuses us with its slightly surreal overtones. For us in Britain, bears are friendly, fubsy creatures.” But he says that wasn’t always the case. Hurst explains, “It was very different for the playgoers who saw The Winter’s Tale in London in 1611, who would as readily have gone for entertainment to the Bear-garden, to see the creatures forced to fight for their lives, as to the adjacent theatre on the south bank. They would have remembered the killing of a child by a bear there two years earlier, and the elaborate punishment meted out to it at the Tower in front of the King: a gruesome spectacle which failed to dispatch the beast, which was then baited to death by dogs.”
The exhibition features the First Folio, opened to show the famous stage direction. Other items provide a glimpse of how people in the 17th century viewed bear baiting. C.J Visscher’s Panorama of London, from 1616 shows the original Globe Theatre and the nearby Bear Garden. The account of the baiting of the rogue bear from The English Chronicle of 1611 is also on display.
The exhibition also examines how later generations interpreted The Winter’s Tale. An engraving from Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery of 1789 illustrates ‘Antigonous pursued by a bear’. Two other prints, ‘Perdita Exposed’ from Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb and ‘This is the Chase’ from British Theatre, date from the early 19th century.
The exhibition will be on display 2-23 August in the Bodleian Exhibition Room.
Oxford’s Leading Scholars Discuss The Winter’s Tale
In addition to viewing the production and seeing some of the Bodleian’s treasures, audiences will have a chance to attend pre-show lectures by members of the Oxford University English faculty and actors from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The talks will take place before each performance in Convocation House of the Old Bodleian Library and will last approximately thirty minutes. The following is a list of the lectures and presenters.
Sunday 17 August
Professor Katherine Duncan-Jones (Somerville College)
Sunday 17 August
Dr Simon Palfrey (Brasenose College)
Tuesday 19 August
Dr Elisabeth Dutton (Worcester College)
Wednesday 20 August
Post-performance discussion (free: Globe actors)
Thursday 21 August
Dr. Gillian Woods (Wadham College)
Friday 22 August
Dr Laurie Maguire (Magdalen College)
Tickets for the pre-show talks are £2 and can be booked through the Oxford Playhouse Box Office.
The Winter’s Tale runs Sunday 17- Friday 22 August (no performance Mon 18). Visit the Oxford Playhouse Box Office website for times and ticket information.
Tours of the Bodleian Library are available as part of your visit. Please ask the Oxford Playhouse Box Office for details.
Web Resources:
‘Letters Home’ from Globe Theatre actors on tour
