Shakespeare
Why do we still read Shakespeare? Ben Jonson anticipated Shakespeare’s dazzling future when he declared “He was not of an age, but for all time!” in the preface to the First Folio. Shakespeare is the most popular dramatist and poet the Western world has ever produced . His ability to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity. If you cannot find words to express how you feel about love, or music, or grief, or death, Shakespeare can speak for you.
Shakespeare told every kind of story – comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure, love stories and fairy tales . The stories transcend time and culture, and modern writers continue to adapt his plays to suit our modern world. For these plays Shakespeare invented his share of stock characters, but his truly great characters have remained popular because of their complexity. Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Richard III – his characters have been reinterpreted again and again by actors through the ages.
In the U3A Shakespeare Group we continue to read, discuss, and sometimes even reinterpret Shakespeare’s plays. We select three plays each year.
Hamlet.
At the meeting we discuss one Act of the play, and allow time for play reading. Members of the group are encouraged to read the act under discussion before the meeting, then a volunteer from the group will lead the discussion. Everyone is encouraged to join in (but one at a time, please!)
We meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays each month from 10am to 12pm in the Function Room at the rear of the café at the Light Railway Station, Hythe.
Group Leader (Admin): Nina Chislett