Sonnet for Stratford

for Antoni Cimolino, Anita Gaffney, Andrea Gammon, David Prosser, Pat Quigley, and all who love this remarkable place.

‘Stratford Festival, Ontario, 2014’

Step inside this world-embracing tent,
Where all is seen and no word goes to waste;
The town, their guests, the swans turn up to taste
This national treasure, all it means, has meant.
Here Shakespeares old and new can intertwine:
Jack shall have Jack and Jill shall have her Jill
(My most exuberant Midsummer thrill
Since Stratford, England, nineteen eighty-nine).
Those understated stars cast on the street,
Remind us of the care we need to take
With stories, and the difference they can make,
Enhancing lives, like those who bless our feet.
Though love is more important here than fame,
No stage is loved as much, or quite the same.

by Paul Edmondson

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Photo Recaps

Images from the Road

THE AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE CENTRE, STAUNTON, VA NASHVILLE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, NASHVILLE, TN ...

2.20.15
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Notes from the Road

'In Shakespeare's Steps'

In posting this last poem from the Road, written while we were towards the...

10.3.14
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Notes from the Road

What would Shakespeare do?

In this interview with the Co-Founder of the American Shakespeare Center and its Artistic...

10.2.14
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Notes from the Road

Infectious Enthusiasm

The American Shakespeare Center has a flourishing education programme which is based at the...

9.16.14
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Notes from the Road

Actor-Centricity!

It was pleasure to meet with Glenn and Sara, Residential and Touring Troupe Managers...

9.12.14
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Actor Insights

Actors’ Voices from the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

Greg Vinkler on Falstaff’s self-awareness and on being visited by the fat knight in...

9.11.14
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Notes from the Road

Life at the Blackfriars

Our time with the last of our fourteen partners, The American Shakespeare Center at...

9.11.14
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Energetic, Connecting Shakespeare

Denice Hicks is the Artistic Director of the Nashville Shakespeare Festival. It was our...

9.8.14
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Notes from the Road

Eddie George and David Olney among the Stars of Nashville Shakes

Well, we’re back in Stratford-upon-Avon after our Shakespeare road-trip adventure. But in some ways...

9.7.14
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Notes from the Road

The Song of the Bluegrass Bard

In this land of musician and poet, Through our Country, our Blues, and our...

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Follow our journey across North America in search of Shakespeare