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| The Melbourne Shakespeare Society is one of the oldest literary societies in Australia, having been in continuous existence since 1884. It has an active program which includes monthly meetings, and monthly readings of Shakespeare's plays and associated works. | ||
| General Meetings are usually held on the fourth Saturday of each month (excluding January). They feature an invited main speaker, often from the arts or academia, or sometimes a Society member speaks on one of their special interests. The talks may be illustrated by short prepared readings by members. As well, meetings may include musical items, book reports, sonnet readings and reports of Shakespearean related events. | ||
| Play Readings - The Society's Reading
Group performs READINGS of the complete plays of William Shakespeare,
in basic chronological order, on the second Saturday of each month
(except January). In 2007 the group began a third reading of the
complete Canon, over five years. The rehearsed readings are performed by Society members in the Ballroom of the English Speaking Union at 146 Toorak Road West, South Yarra (between Punt and St Kilda Roads). Public transport access is via the Toorak Road tram or Punt Road bus. Rehearsals for Readings (first Saturday of the month) are notified by the Readings Convener (9525 4541) |
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| Associated Readings of works which illuminate the Shakespearean Canon are interspersed with the Shakespeare plays throughout the year. These include Shakespeare's poems (eg The Rape of Lucrece), his contemporaries (eg The Massacre at Paris by Christopher Marlowe), classical drama (eg Menaechmi by Plautus), and modern plays for which Shakespeare is an essential reference point (eg Macbett by Eugene Ionesco). | ||
| The Society publishes a Newsletter, The Melbourne Shakespearean,with articles, poetry, reviews and reports of Shakespearean interest, which is available free to members and for sale to others. | ||
| There are very modest attendance fees at meetings and readings, and guests and new members are always welcome. For further information, contact the President or any others listed in the Contacts. | ||
| Items of Note
June 4th marked the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Melbourne Shakespeare Society.
Our next Reading will be The Merry Wives of Windsor and will be held on Saturday, June 13th starting at 1.00 pm. The next meeting will be held on June 27th, starting at 2.00 pm. Richard Kennedy will speak on Hamlet as Achilles: George Chapman's influence on Shakespeare.
The venue is the St. Francis Pastoral Centre, cnr. Lonsdale and
Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne. There has been some re-arrangement of speakers and topics for meetings in the latter half of the year. So if you plan to attend a meeting to catch a particular subject it would be advisable to recheck the latest programme or brochure. For those who would like a printable copy of the year's programme or the current brochure, it can be opened from the following
We have now added our Rules of Association for the convenience of those members who want access to them. You will also find information about coming events in the theatre world in Melbourne if you go to Whitehat, the Melbourne happenings page (he also does a nice line in weekly newsletters!) Another interesting site to visit is www.bookandvolume.com.au. This is a 'virtual' bookshop based in country Victoria, which in addition to its wide range of books has a passion for things Shakespearean. There can be found information of events of all kinds to do with Shakespeare, his contemporaries and times. Our past-President, Jason Freddi, has his own website. It features his Shakespeare-related activities, his music and various bands. The latter includes 'The Swans of Avon' who perform Jason's renditions of Shakespeare's songs. Check it out on http://www.jasonfreddi.com DVDs of recent Readings are available for a minimal cost. Anybody interested in obtaining one of these is invited to contact Paul Roebuck on 9525 4541.
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