If you’ve heard her on the radio (in her own show or on Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time) or listened to her podcasts (Approaching Shakespeare and Not Shakespeare) or read one of her acclaimed books on the First Folio, you’ll know that Emma Smith is one of the best, and most approachable, Shakespeare scholars working today.
In a great coup for The Motley Crew, Blewbury’s newly-formed Shakespeare fan club, Professor Smith has agreed to give a talk right here in the village on Shakespeare’s late works Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline and The Tempest, often collectively known as the ‘Romance Plays’. For anyone thinking of seeing the RSC’s current, well-received production of Pericles, or the upcoming Tempest in the West End, or the Globe’s Cymbeline in the new year, or if you’re simply looking for fresh insights into our greatest playwright, this is an unmissable opportunity to experience Shakespeare scholarship at its best, almost literally on your doorstep!
Emma will be appearing at Blewbury Village Hall at 8pm on Monday September 30th. Tickets are £7.50, including refreshment (a bargain – the Oxford Literary Festival charged £13!) and are on sale at the Post Office or via email at admin@themotleycrew.org.uk. You can also use this email address to join the Motley Crew mailing list.
Pre-Show Talk on Pericles
The Motley Crew has organised a coach trip to Stratford to see Pericles on September 11th. The trip itself is sadly sold out, but there’s also an introductory talk on the play a couple of days earlier, given by Chris Whatmore, to which everyone is welcome. This will take place in the Vale Room at 7.30 pm on Monday September 9th. Tickets for this event are £2.50, also available at the Post Office or via email at the above address.