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This year the A level English reading weekend was set not in the hills of Haworth or the Lake District as in previous years but in Stratford: the most striking footwear featured heels at the 1920s evening, rather than walking boots, but poems and plays were at the centre, nevertheless.
The theme was 'the play's the thing' and the weekend started on Friday afternoon with a Royal Shakespeare Company workshop on Othello - two hours exploring language and movement, providing enormous insight into the text and also into the ways in which actors prepare for performance.
By contrast, Friday evening was a 1920s evening, with all dressed ready for their parts or as guests at a Gatsby party. Cocktails, dancing and a performance by the Lower 6 of the screen play of The Great Gatsby entertained the Upper 6 as well as providing revision of their text for the Lower 6. 1920s wink murder and musical statues ended the evening.
The Shakespeare properties in Stratford filled Saturday morning - the Birthplace, Nash's House, Hall's Croft and the Guild Chapel and then in the afternoon the group saw Charlecote Manor, where Shakespeare is reputed to have been caught poaching. A chilly reading of Hart Crane's Brooklyn Bridge on a bridge over a brook was followed by a swift return to the hostel to drink hot chocolate while reading American poetry before going back into Stratford for a meal and the production of Romeo and Juliet.
On Sunday our weekend ended with a visit to Anne Hathaway's Cottage and short dramatic or poetic presentations (The Handmaid's Tale in 60 seconds and a rap recording the weekend) before we headed back to Cambridge.
