Royals and Hollywood glitterati to descend on Stratford

THE eyes of the world will be on Stratford for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death as the town proudly plays host to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and a star studded cast from stage and screen including Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Helen Mirren and Antony Sher this weekend.

Prince Charles will be accompanied by The Duchess of Cornwall on Saturday 23rd April for the 400th commemorations and will visit Holy Trinity Church, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre – as he is President of the Royal Shakespeare Company - and the Bard’s final home at New Place.

On Saturday evening The Prince, along with an invited audience, will be entertained by a stellar line up of actors and musicians as part of Shakespeare Live! At the Royal Shakespeare Theatre which will also be broadcast on BBC Two.

Royal Shakespeare Company actor and former Doctor Who David Tennant will be hosting the show and will be joined by Judi Dench, Rufus Wainwright, Ian McKellen, Joseph Fiennes, English National Opera, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Paapa Essiedu – currently playing Hamlet - Alison Moyet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Al Murray and the Royal Ballet.

This once in a life-time cast, assembled and directed by Gregory Doran, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, also includes Helen Mirren, Gregory Porter, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Kinnear, Rufus Hound, Henry Goodman, The Shires, David Suchet, Simon Russell Beale, Roger Allam, Antony Sher, Harriet Walter, John Lithgow, Alexandra Gilbreath, Tim Minchin, Anne Marie Duff, Pippa Nixon, the Orchestra of the Swan, the cast of Horrible Histories and Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra.

Alongside numerous theatrical performances to be revealed on the night, Shakespeare Live! From the RSC will feature Shakespeare-inspired work spanning the musical genres – including hip-hop, blues, musical theatre, jazz, opera and classical numbers based on his plays.

Gregory Doran, artistic director, and Catherine Mallyon, executive director, of the Royal Shakespeare Company, said: “We are delighted that our President, The Prince of Wales, and The Duchess of Cornwall, will be visiting Stratford and in this very special year we are looking forward to welcoming them to Shakespeare Live! From the RSC, an event celebrating Shakespeare’s influence across the arts.”

Reflecting on Prince Charles’ planned itinerary during Saturday daytime which includes visits to Holy Trinity and New Place as well as the theatre, The Rev. Patrick Taylor, said the church was honoured with a visit from HRH The Prince of Wales.

“With so many wonderful places in Stratford that he could have seen, it’s a privilege for us to have been chosen as one of the hosts.

We hope to give Prince Charles a taste of the life of our church, including the opportunity to meet local primary school pupils who helped to write our new family guide and to hear our wonderful choir singing a piece of music written by our director of music. We are also looking forward to showing him around our new extension and the refurbished St. Peter’s chapel, which has been restored back to how it was originally set out as a First World War memorial.

"Of course I expect that the highlight of his time with us will be the opportunity for the Prince to visit the grave where William Shakespeare lies, on the actual day of the 400th anniversary of his death. We hope Prince Charles might lay a wreath there as we pause to remember our famous son of Stratford.

"The prospect of showing a member of the Royal Family around your church is a fairly daunting one, but personally what I am looking forward to most is sharing with the Prince our fabulous new art exhibition, based on Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man. The artist, Jonathan Waller, will be on hand to tell Prince Charles more about the powerful images he has created.

"Most of all, I hope we can give the Prince a real sense that Holy Trinity church is more than just the final resting place for William Shakespeare, but a living and working parish church for all the people of Stratford.”

Diana Owen, CEO, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust added: "We are delighted that we will be able to welcome HRH the Prince of Wales to Shakespeare’s New Place on this very special anniversary. The re-presentation of New Place is the biggest project we have undertaken in 50 years, and this visit will be a tremendous boost for the whole project team as we enter the final stage of the transformation for re-opening in July. Prince Charles will meet members of the outstanding team of artists, designers, craftspeople, staff, apprentices, volunteers and young people involved in the creation of this gateway to Shakespeare for the 21st century."

In keeping with previous years there is a wide range of activities planned for the town on 23rd April to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death and his birthday as well, including the traditional Shakespeare Birthday Parade at 10.15am.

For a full programme of events to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death this weekend, read this week's Herald.

*DAME Judi Dench is to open a new exhibition in Warwick ahead of the Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations in April.

The Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, is to present a major exhibition featuring the Shakespeare First Folio (1623), courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a first edition of the King James’ Bible (1611), courtesy of Cambridge University.

Shakespeare 400: History, Heritage and Faith, which opens on Thursday, 14th April, and runs until Thursday, 30th June, will provide visitors the rare opportunity of seeing these two iconic texts on display together.

Dame Judi will open the exhibition on Thursday, 21st April, at 8pm and talk about her passion for Shakespeare.