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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
Sonnet Competition 155TH SONNET COMPETITION
The next Reading will be an Associated Reading, Caesar and Pompey by George Chapman. It will take place on Saturday, August 8th starting at 1.00 pm. Our next meeting will be held on September 26th, starting at 2.00 pm. The speaker will be Jane Montgomery Griffiths of Monash University, who will speak on Shakespeare and the Classics.
Our speaker is a well-known actor and writer, who is currently appearing in a play written by her, Razing Hypatia, until September 6th. (More information on this can be found at
www.storkhotel.com)
Bell Shakespeare will be touring country Victoria with The Taming of the Shrew in August and September.
'NT Live is a new initiative by Britain's National Theatre to broadcast live performances of plays onto cinema screens around the world. Following the hugely successful launch of NT LIVE with Phèdre, the season continues with ... All's Well That Ends Well.'
There will be two Performances only - Saturday October 17, Sunday October 18 both at 1pm. 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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