We made landfall in Stratford-upon-Avon (SuA for short) following our abridged day trip around Oxford, and several of us were understandably bushed after the long coach rides and walking around in the heat and direct sunlight. So, that first evening consisted of little else than finding food from a place that was not already closed (one of the unique challenges of a smaller town like SuA) and getting settled in at our new lodgings.
I stayed in a triple room with Braedon and Shiloh in one of three guest houses our group and chaperones were lodged in. The place was different from the hotel in London in several ways, as the “guest house” designation implies; most of those differences were actually improvements over our first lodging, in my opinion. The room I stayed in and the overall property were smaller than the hotel, which made arranging luggage in a room with three twin beds a challenge. The quality of the linens and towels seemed markedly higher in the guest house, and the room had no heater (that I could see) that could potentially heat the room like at the hotel. Despite neither place having any semblance of air conditioning, I think that the guest house was hotter that first night in SuA than any of the days at the hotel. In the guest house’s defense, that was a night immediately following an extremely warm day for the UK and, as Shiloh and I discussed while sweating like old men in a sauna, the hotel’s rooms actually had vents in them and made air circulation of the colder, outside air possible. Our guest house room only had a vent in the bathroom, making an effective cross breeze impossible without leaving the room door open (which we did do in our desperation to cool of). Finally, the quality of breakfast at the guest house far outmatched what the Royal National Hotel had to offer. The smaller venue cooked its breakfasts in smaller batches, allowing for a greater level of quality control than could be expected from the hotel, with its much larger number of guests. And yet again, this time with the giant homemade croissants, Shawn proved that his support or bragging on things related to this program should not be distrusted.
The various Shakespeare landmark stops over the two full days the group remained in SuA provided a more grounded, grassroots aspect to Shakespeare that is often lost as we interact with these stories (especially in academics) as just the stories without considering the lived experiences of the writer of said stories. Both Shakespeare’s Birthplace and the New Place museum made abundantly clear that the playwright was a well-to-do, wealthy individual, which never seemed to fit into my framework for thinking about Shakespeare. Perhaps I preferred the idea of him being a small town boy who headed out to the big city and actually made it there; a man of mostly ordinary circumstances creating extraordinary art. It certainly makes for a more inspiring role model that way.
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage had some history to offer, such as information regarding the unorthodox marriage of Anne Hathaway to William Shakespeare, who was eighteen at the time. But, to be completely honest, I got more out of the property (as well as the other Shakespeare heritage sites) in dramaturgical and aesthetic terms than I did in historic ones. These replication of traditional wattle and daub building provided me with too many reference photos to count, and the gardens attached to these buildings, whether large or small, were pretty and highly calming.
Being a smaller town with less obvious things to do and see, I did a good amount of wandering around until I found something worth looking into. Oftentimes this was done as I tagged along with a group of our program participants, such as when I tried boba tea and cream tea respectively. For the former, I would say that boba is not for me. It tasted good, but the bubbles interrupt the cycle of drinking that I find satisfying, if that makes any sense. Cream tea had a few different elements to it, namely the tea itself, and the scones and accompanying fixings. My tea selection, thinking it appropriate to be as English as possible, was Earl Grey. While it was a worthy choice for expanding my horizons, it ended up being too strong and/or bitter for me, even when I added as much milk and sugar as I gauged was appropriate. The scones took a while to reveal their appeal to me, but, after throwing caution to the wind and layering them with hefty amounts of clotted cream and strawberry jam, they proved to be delicious. I also got to polish off a slice of Queen Victoria sponge cake that Austin did not particularly like, and I found it to be excellent!
Amidst all of the wandering, experimenting with food, absorbing history, and packing up for the long day of flights on the 20th, I reflected on this trip as a whole; about the things I learned, the people I met, the high and lows, and so on. By the end of all of my reflecting I found myself with this: Deciding to spend the time and money going to the UK with this program is one of the best decisions I have ever made. The revelation of a whole new world of theatre, culture, history, and so much more made me consider and expand my possibilities for the future. The gorgeous historic buildings and sites stimulated the creative portions of my brain, and pestered me to record them to use as reference photos for future stage craft or illustration purposes. The productions, from my most favorite to least favorite, taught me what my preferences were for theatre and what I should aim for in my own dramatic endeavors. Most importantly of all, it led to me viewing myself in a new, more positive light.
I would not hesitate to recommend this program to others, whether they live theatre or could not care less about the stage. I am not exaggerating when I say that the journey is life-changing.
Theatre in London U of A 
Thanks for this thoughtful blog, Andrew!
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