Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon

The day after our Charleston adventure, I took a solo trip to central England to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, which is the town where William Shakespeare was born and spent his early years.

It was easy to find the heart of town; it's busy and it most closely resembles the town as Shakespeare probably experienced it, with cobblestone streets and weathered-looking cottages. I took an obligatory picture with the building where Shakespeare was born.

It is important to remember that much of Shakespeare's professional life blossomed when he moved to London as a young adult, but his time in Stratford-upon-Avon influenced much of his work. I visited the schoolhouse where he spent much of his time as a boy. While he never finished his education, Shakespeare's time as a schoolboy likely instilled in him a love for classical stories of magic and heroes. He even used passages from classical Latin and Greek texts in some of his greatest plays.

This was apparently the room wherein Shakespeare first developed
a love for the art of theatre.

I tried to visit his grave in one of the town's churches, but I arrived fifteen minutes after the church had closed its doors to visitors for the day. I wasn't too upset about it; looking at a plaque above some rusty old bones won't instill me with poetic genius. I breathed in his essence from outside of the church walls instead.

Probably my favorite part of the day was seeing the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Romeo & Juliet. This had never been one of my favorite Shakespeare plays -- it always seemed too silly and dramatic -- but this performance certainly changed my mind. One of the only set pieces was a large, industrial-looking metallic block in the middle of the stage that characters could climb and go into. It ended up functioning as Juliet's bedroom, her balcony, Friar Lawrence's chambers, and a few other major settings.

What I really liked about it, besides the incredible acting, was its modern nature. There was no trace of Elizabethan attire and stuffy ballrooms; instead, all of the characters wore casual clothing like hoodies, pants, trendy dresses, and sneakers in shades of black and white. Even the music was grunge-rock -- Romeo and Juliet met at a night club-like party (not a ball) with dim lighting and rock music playing. All of the language was Shakespeare's original language, but it surprisingly went well with all of the modern adaptations of the performance.

I loved that some of the strong male roles were played by women. It added an interesting gender dynamic to an otherwise archaically sexist play.

Stratford-upon-Avon is a lovely little town that does a great job of keeping its rich history alive. It has been an enlightening experience to trace Shakespeare from his roots to the height of his professional life in London, and visiting his birthplace revealed how the Bard's legacy is still very much alive.