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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
No One Hears Me is the title of our new Soliloquy Competition, which will be open until October 29th. To be judged by Sue Ingleton (actor/writer) and Judith Rodriguez (poet/Society President), full details are available at Soliloquy Competition
Our next Reading will be held on Saturday, September 11th. It will be an Associated Reading, Shylock - a Pilgrimage, written by Australian writer, Jacob Rosenberg. The next meeting will be held on September 25th, starting at 2.00 pm. The speaker will be Jason Freddi, who will be speaking to us on What is Tragedy?.
For those who fancy a visit to Ballarat!
The University of Ballarat Arts Academy's graduating actors are presenting Much Ado About Nothing from September 8-19. Bell Shakespeare's King Lear has now finished but they will be performing Twelfth Night in regional Victoria and around the suburbs of Melbourne from July to September. See bellshakespeare.com.au
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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