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On 7 April 2026 the Shakespeare Club is delighted to welcome Stratford-upon-Avon’s Member of Parliament, Dr Manuela Perteghella. Since being elected in 2024 she’s endeared herself to constituents by taking an real interest in the local issues that affect them, but this time she won’t be talking about housing or the difficulties of finding an NHS dentist. She’ll be speaking about her first love, literature, translation and Shakespeare. Brought up in Italy she grew to love Shak

On 20 February 2026 the Clydebank Post reported on a discovery that sheds light on the history of Shakespeare in Glasgow.  A local resident contacted the Glasgow Shakespeare Society telling them he owned a ticket for the Club’s dinner on Shakespeare’s Birthday in 1852. For six shillings (30p), the holder got dinner and a pint of wine. The current society has been reading Shakespeare’s plays since around 1970 and was unaware that Glaswegians had been celebrating Shakespeare a

Presidential Lunch 7th March 2026 It has been customary, over the years, for the Shakespeare Club of Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate the appointment of its President with a meal. So, to keep up the tradition, the committee invited this year's President, Rev. Dr. Paul Edmondson, to lunch at Lamb's Restaurant. Most of the committee members were present and Paul brought along the three-times President, Professor Sir Stanley Wells (1971/72, 2011/12 and 2020/21). The meal was del

Dr Elizabeth Hardy is a Shakespeare Scholar, a RADA trained actress and a local lass, who was educated at Stratford Girls' Grammar School and earned her PhD from the Shakespeare Institute. She has taught Shakespeare at the two grammar schools in Stratford and has written and directed two Shakespeare inspired shows at what is now The Rother Street Arts House. On Tuesday March 10th at 7.30pm in the Methodist Hall (opposite Holy Trinity Church) she will share her thoughts about

Rebecca Halliwell receives the Shakespeare Club Bursary to support her PhD research on Shakespearean comedy and wellbeing.

Dr Tracy Borman explores the dramatic transfer of power in 1603 and how Elizabeth I’s death shaped Shakespeare’s plays, drawing on her new book The Stolen Crown.

Rob Eastaway revealed Shakespeare’s surprising fascination with numbers, from mental arithmetic to music and science, showing how maths, myth and magic coexisted in his lifetime in an engaging and accessible talk.

Rev Dr Paul Edmondson opened the new season with a warmly received address reflecting on his lifelong relationship with Shakespeare, Stratford, and the global connections shaped by the Bard’s work.

The film of Hamnet The film of Maggie O’Farrell’s book Hamnet has been hugely successful, winning Best Motion Picture, and Best Actress in a Motion Picture for Jessie Buckley in the Golden Globe Awards. The book dramatises the last days of the 11-year old Hamnet Shakespeare and the  relationship of his parents, William and Anne Shakespeare (her alternative name of Agnes is used in the film). ​ In Stratford-upon-Avon some have questioned whether the film should have been made