Shakespeare In Smethwick
Bard’s Book Brings Community Together
On Saturday 3rd June, around 400 people came to the Dorothy Parkes Centre to see the 400-year-old, publicly-owned copy of William Shakespeare’s works and to take part in a spectacular array of Shakespearean activities!
Photo Credit: Paul Stringer & Will Pace
Back in October last year talks began with the Everything to Everybody project about bringing Shakespeare’s First Folio out to Smethwick, and so after months of planning and coordination, the first Saturday in June finally arrived…
The folio was unloaded by a specialist team from the Library of Birmingham, under cover to prevent the daylight damaging the 400-year old pages. Once inside the cover was removed and the glass viewing case made a home for itself in the small hall at the Dorothy Parkes Centre for the day. Through the glass visitors could read extracts from Twelfth Night and spot the Library of Birmingham stamp in the bottom left hand corner, marking the folio as property of all of the people of Birmingham not just the wealthy few.
We kicked off activities with a drama workshop from practitioner Kate Perry, who led an enthusiastic crew of attendees through Shakespearean rehearsal techniques that he would have used with the King's Men (the name of Shakespeare’s acting company) to produce a scene from one of his plays.
Mischievous fairies (aka The Parakeet’s team of playworkers) transformed the garden into an enchanted forest inspired by a Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ink was blotted onto pages to make mini copies of the folio, potions bubbled, poisons fizzed and the sweet scent of lavender from handmade pomanders wafted through the air.
Scathing Shakespearean insults were heard all about centre thanks to the bawdy, earth-vexing Rachel Green and we were treated to an exceptional, one man performance of King Lear by critically-acclaimed, touring theatre company Oddbodies.
We were joined by the Deputy Lieutenant and Mayor of Sandwell, local residents, artists, historians as well as Sandwell Visually Impaired who were led by our superb audio-describer Sarah-Ann. Rhythm & rhyme extraordinaire: Kurly McGeachie, MC’ed the day, sharing off-the-cuff, custom poems about visitors, Shakespeare and Smethwick. Click play below to enjoy a few of the poems shared on the day:
Shakespeare’s characters were brought to life by Spectra who charmed us with curtsies and Gloriana Living History delighted us with dancing from the time of Elizabeth I’s court.
Jenny from Bear Bookshop illuminated the wonderful world of Shakespeare for adults and children alike using quizzes, story-telling and artwork. Then self-proclaimed Shakespeare Nerd, Lauren Jansen-Parkes, rounded the day off with a mini-lecture exploring the history of the folio in Birmingham.
We’re honestly not sure how we fit it all in but we had plenty of fun doing so!
“It was AMAZING! We thought we’d stay an hour, and we ended up staying the whole day.”
What is a folio & what is so special about this particular one?
A folio is a large book made by folding printed sheets of paper in half, with each sheet forming four pages. Folios usually contained important subjects like history or religion but Shakespeare’s Folio was the first ever published in England devoted exclusively to plays.
After Shakespeare died in 1616, two of his closest friends and colleagues, John Heminges and Henry Condell made sure Shakespeare and his works would be remembered. Around 750 copies were first printed, now a total of 235 First Folios are currently known to survive, including two that were discovered in 2016.
Birmingham’s copy of the First Folio is special because it is the only one bought with the aim of improving people’s lives through culture and education. It was purchased in 1881 for all the people of Birmingham - no matter their background, wealth or occupation.
The Shakespeare Memorial Library was created as part of a new Victorian idea that art and culture could be for everybody, not just the rich and privileged. It was founded in 1864 and is now housed in the Library of Birmingham. It remains the largest Shakespeare collection held in any public library in the world.
Did you come to Shakespeare in Smethwick - we’d love to know what you thought!
It may seem like it’s not important but it really helps us to improve our events and also supports us to get funding to make events like this free to enjoy.
This event was kindly supported by the Dorothy Parkes Centre, Black Country Touring, the Everything To Everybody Project & Arts Council England.
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