i can't decide what to do. We are seeing a comedy of errors at the Globe theater and we are taking a day trip to warwick castle.
I was going to stay over and see a show in Stratford. is this too much shakespeare?

melissa

First of all, have you tried to get (performance) tickets for Stratford yet?

No, I don't think it is "too much" especially if you enjoy Shakespeare.

In my opinion, no. Seeing Shakespeare at the Globe is as close as you'll get to the way Shakespeare's works were originally presented. So, it's not just the play you are seeing, but the whole experience of Tudor/Jacobean England and its theatre.

Warwick really has nothing to do with Shakespeare (although he may have visited there, I know he was a guest at Charlecote). There's a lot of medieval feeling to the place, with an Edwardian weekend scenario created in some of the rooms by Madame Tussaud's.

Seeing a play at Stratford is different again from the Globe because it is a modern theatre with all the comforts and acoustics that involves. And Stratford-on-Avon, although at times overrun with tourists, has lots of other things to see and do. Hire a boat, do brass rubbings, investigate antique stores and charity shops, feed the swans, have a pint outside at The Dirty Duck, etc.

And for an even better enhancement watch the movie "Stage Beauty" before you leave!

Hi M,

There is no such thing as "too much Shakespeare".

While I agree in principle with ira it might be too much Shakespeare for the 11 and 14 YOs if they're not big lit or theater fans. Particularly if you've spent a long day at Warwick Castle.

The reason I asked <b>my</b>question is the fact that those RSC tickets sometimes sell out quickly. I was looking last week for some for a September date and all that was available were the nosebleed balcony type seats.

The Globe's unique.

The RSC is just another (remarkably tatty) theatre. Almost always highly professional. But the English-speaking world isn't short of decent actors.

If at 14 someone had dragged me to two Shakespeare plays on holiday, I'd have stayed allergic to him for even longer.

Only you can judge your children. But an overnight in Stratford, or that awful late-night schlep back into London, can only add to the likelihood that this will turn them off the bard for a large proportion of the rest of their lives.

if we stay over, what else is there to do at night if we don't go to RSC?

Melissa

i'm envious! in stratford, do eat at the maidstone arms, if it still there. i was ther 6 years ago, and it was the best fish and chips i've ever had. enjoy the globe!

Hi Melissa - I found this site with a list of family activies in and around Stratford. Might be helpful.

http://www.shakespeare-country.co.uk...%20Attractions

Also, I wonder are your children interested in planning any of the trip themselves? It might be fun to have them do some internet surfing to find things that they are really taken with.

And although I think what Cotswoldscouser says may apply to some children, when I was growing up in Canada if my parents had taken me to England and I'd seen two of Shakespeare's plays, I would have considered myself the luckiest kid alive. But you'll know best what their interests are.

We have gotten tickets for Julius Ceaser on August 25 and will spend the night in Stratford upon avon and spend saturday at warwick castle.
My children are very excited about seeing two shakespeare plays.

Melissa

Do it!. I saw my first Shakespear at the RSC when I was 10- David Warner in Hamlet, then the Comedy when I was 12 or 13, and I've been going backe ver since. The RSC has the ability to make Shakespeare live like no-one else can.