DAY 3
STRATFORD UPON AVON
We arrived at Stratford at 10h02. We saw a lot of Timber houses or Tudor houses (photo1); they are the traditional houses of England. Among them, there is a famous house in Henley Street: the big house where Shakespeare was born, his birthplace (photo 2). We visited this house . There is a bedroom for the guests with the best bed in the house, the dining-room with a fireplace, the visitor’s room, John’s (William’s father) workplace, and the bedrooms. The first bedroom was for the children and the design is Italian; the second bedroom was for the parents, a bed for two persons and there’s a bed for the baby. Before the visit of the house, we went to an exhibition about William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare's family tree:
At the exhibition, we saw a lot of things about him. He learnt to read on little wooden tablets. He lived in the countryside and he used the character of the animals of the country in his plays. He gave 15 performances in the “Globe playhouse” but it burnt in 1613 so it was built again and it was called the “London theatre”. Elisabeth Ist asked Shakespeare to write a play. He was part of the “Chamberlain’s men” then called “King’s men”. His father, John, made some hand-made gloves and purses with goats, horses, calves leather. He also traded in wool. Shakespeare’s family was relatively rich.
Then we went to the Swan theatre: a memorial of Shakespeare’s theatre which burnt in 1926. There are 3 theatres in Stratford and this year 4 Shakespeare’s comedies will be staged and the season begins in April . We’ll be able to see all 40 plays this year. All the costumes are made to measure . The 40 Shakespeare’s plays are translated into 180 languages.
In this theater, we saw a rehearsal and we went backstage where we saw a lot of costumes. Then we went to an exhibition with old costumes . That was great.
After we left Stratford we went to Anne Hathaway’s cottage (William’s wife): it’s a thatched cottage. The Hathaway family lived here for 500 years. When the house was built there were just two rooms but 200 years after the bedrooms were built on the first floor . The Hathaways made some beer, milk and soap .
Written by Hugo and Lucas
