• The Tom Walsingham Mysteries
  • Clara who?
  • Stories
  • Contact

Scribblings

~ Clara Giuliani, storyteller

Scribblings

Tag Archives: Folger library

Shakespeare and freedom at the SQ

19 Saturday May 2018

Posted by la Clarina in Books, History, Theatre

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ewan Fernie, Folger library, Paul Kottman, Shakespeare Quarterly

And then there is the Shakespeare Quarterly, the Folger Library’s journal – that has a double life, as a physical publication and as its web version. No need to stress that the SQ is always full of interesting essays, articles, insights, interviews, and is a great way to have to pulse of ongoing Shakespearean research.

Have a look, for instance, at this conversation with Ewan Fernie and Paul Kottman about freedom: Shakespeare and freedom, freedom in Shakespeare’s works, freedom and Shakespearean studies – together with a good hint at the always interesting question of how, apparently, no time can help the temptation of building its own Shakespeare.

Well worth a look – and an exploration of the good amounts of SQ material available online.

 

 

 

A most powerful instrument: C.W. Hodges and theatre

27 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by la Clarina in History, Stories, Theatre

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cyril Walter Hodges, Elizabethan theatre, Folger library

The theatre as an institution is the pre-eminent arrangement whereby human beings work out the models of their own conduct, their morality and aspiration, their ideas of good and evil, and in general those fantasies about themselves and their fellows which, if persisted in, tend to eventually become facts in real life.

CWHodgesI find the notion of mankind rehearsing and shaping itself through theatre quite fascinating – but then I would, wouldn’t I?

The idea belongs to Cyril Walter Hodges – who was an award-winning illustrator of children’s books, a scenery and costume designer, a historical novelist, and a Shakespearean scholar. Quite the eclectic character – but there was a method to his eclectism, because most of his work revolved around theatre and history.

I love his drawings – the swift, elegant lines, the finely-judged balance of detail and stylization, the transparent, luminous colours, the almost doodle-like quality of his sketches… My favourite part of his work is that devoted to theatre, Elizabethan theatre particularly. It was sold to the Folger Library back in the Eighties, and the FL digitized the lot and made it available for perusing here and here.CWHImaginary_view_of_an_Elizabethan_stage

It is one of those e-places where one can spend many happy hours – I know I have done again and again. I go searching for something specific, and every time end up browsing blissfully away…

it is something of an irony that a man who centred his life around a passion for Elizabethan theatre,  should have such bad memories of Dulwich College (founded by the great Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn) that he described his time there as “wretched”… But unfortunate schooling clearly did not quench young Hodges’ interest in the period, and he went on to be the man whose speculative drawings and scholarship were fundamental in the reconstruction of Elizabethan theatres.

I like to think that, if theatre shapes mankind’s self-awareness, Cyril Walter Hodges certainly helped shape our understanding of Elizabethan theatre.

Seek and Find

♠ THE TOM WALSINGHAM MYSTERIES

Available on Amazon
Available on Amazon

The Copperfield Review’s first anthology – containing Gentleman in Velvet

Recent Posts

  • January Blues
  • Guest-posting at The Writing Desk
  • The kids
  • All those words!
  • One of those weeks…

Popular Scribblings

  • Raising a bit of hell
  • Tales of the Mermaid Tavern
  • Turnus
  • Dante's Manfred
  • John Ballard, SJ
  • Little Shakespeareans

Categories

  • Books
  • Eccentricities
  • History
  • Lostintranslation
  • Poetry
  • Scribbling
  • Silents
  • Stories
  • Theatre
  • Things
  • Uncategorized

Enter your email address to get a messenger on horseback... er, an email will reach you by email when a new Scribbling is out.

Join 1,698 other subscribers

RSS Feeds

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

No Blog’s an Island

Sapere Books

 

IBA

International Bloggers' Association

I tweet on Twitter

And I pin on Pinterest

Senza Errori di Stumpa – my Italian blog

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Scribblings
    • Join 311 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Scribblings
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...