Royally entertained at Fun Palace

THE arts and science came together at a free community event staged by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and it included everything from Tudor dancing to a complete history of the plague.

This is the second year the Fun Palace event has been held in Stratford and has proved popular with families.

Among the groups providing the entertainment on Saturday, 1st October, were Stratford Renaissance, theatre group Shakepeare Aloud!, the Shakespeare Morris Men and Mad Science.

One of the most eye catching and interesting exhibits was a model catapult that fired jelly babies into a model castle.

Youngsters thoroughly enjoyed this challenge hosted by Warwick University but it was in fact a very interesting illustration about the plague and how it might have been used in one of the earliest acts of biological warfare.

In 1343 the Tatars laid siege to a castle containing Genoese soldiers. As the Tatars succumbed to the plague they flung the dead bodies over the castle walls using a catapult thus spreading the disease among their enemies.

It’s thought that Shakespeare lost a third of his family to the dreaded plague during Tudor times.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said this year’s Fun Palace had been a big success.