Today it is William Shakespeare’s 449th birthday and there has been something in the air here at Shakespeare’s Birthplace – something special.  The sunshine was unbroken, the sky a perfect blue and everywhere in the house and gardens people were  inspired to talk, perform and celebrate the life of the man who changed the world [...]

Here at Shakespeare’s Birthplace we’re used to visiting VIPs but a Very Important Duck is something new for us.  OLLI the duck is the mascot of the Furman University branch of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institution, which offers a programme of non credit classes at universities across America to adults over 50.  It was a [...]

Here’s a young visitor who will never creep unwillingly to school – if Shakespeare’s on the curriculum.  Four year old Iain Armitage wowed our in-house actors and delighted guides and visitors when he visited Shakespeare’s Birthplace with his mother and grandmother.  Iain has absorbed Shakespeare from his acting/directing parents and was happy to perform a [...]

Shakespeare stirs powerful emotions and some visitors to the Birthplace find being in the house where he grew up a very moving experience.  Jasmine from Atlanta Georgia was generous enough to share not just her thoughts about Shakespeare but also her feelings. “I’ve loved him my whole life,” she says, “he changed the world forever, [...]

The Celebration Singers from Oklamoma are currently on a tour of  the UK, performing in cathedrals across the country.  They stopped off at the Birthplace and having been through the house offered to give the guides, actors and other visitors an impromptu performance of the song Oklahoma – what else could they sing in honour of their home [...]

Annabelle had a great chat with Olga and Mike upstairs at the Birthplace.  What I love about this blog is you can see William Shakespeare himself looking over Mike’s shoulder – delighted I’m sure to hear Olga and Mike were hoping to see one of his plays at the RSC that evening.

It was great to bump into a high school group from Boston and their teacher and talk Shakespeare.

Donna has acted and directed Shakespeare back home in Pennsylvania and Shirley’s son is a working actor who discovered a love of Shakespeare at school – of course they ended up here at the Bard’s home. It was such a pleasure to spend some time in their company and have the chance to talk about [...]

A group of students from the College of New Jersey came through the Birthplace today as part of a two week course on British theatre and literature.  It’s easy to see how much they love the language of Shakespeare and appreciate the magic of being in his boyhood home.  It was an absolute pleasure to [...]

Meet Julius Caesar and Romeo at the back door of the Birthplace – or to be more exact, Patrick from San Diego who has played both roles.  Talking to Patrick and his pals brightened our day here at the Birthplace and his message to William Shakespeare is not to be missed.