ESU Argentina - The English Speaking Union

When in June 2011 my attendance to the Cultural Seminar was confirmed, I knew I was about to take part in one of those extraordinary experiences that have a long-lasting influence in your life. The Scholarship was awarded by the English Speaking Union, a charity that by means of scholarships, bursaries and exchange opportunities provides people around the world with the possibility of exploring the importance of English as a way of global communication through a variety of courses, seminars and other events. The Seminar I attended, "Shakespeare and His Stage", was held at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Organized by the Globe Education, it gave me and other eighteen Literature and Drama teachers a chance to delve into the Bard's art and times, through a unique first-hand experience of the work of professionals and artists deeply involved in the study and enjoyment of Shakespeare.

The course started with an introduction to Shakespeare's Globe by Patrick Spottiswoode, director of Globe Education, who, as well as giving us a remarkable lecture on several aspects connected to the theatre and to Shakespeare, showed us his true commitment to and passion for the Globe project.

When on the second day of the Seminar we were proposed to look for Shakespeare around London, provided with a map, a guide, our packed lunch and our cameras, we couldn't have felt more enthusiastic. And the truth is that we looked for him and we did find him! On the Plaque which celebrates the site of the first and second Globe theatres, in the Monument at Southwark Cathedral, in the copy of the

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Roubiliac Statue at the British Library, in the Chandos Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery and even in the Shakespeare's Head Pub where we could see Shakespeare's bust greeting us from high in a niche. Had we had enough time, for sure we would have had lunch at the wonderful "Macbeth's dining room" on the first floor of the pub, so perfectly set that we could almost feel the invisible presence of Banquo's ghost.
The workshops on movement, voice and acting techniques by Glynn MacDonald and Yolanda Vazquez, both highly committed Globe practitioners, opened to us another door to Shakespeare's works: they led us gradually into a personal, individual-and-collective, body-and-mind-including experience of the fact that what happens in a play goes beyond the wonderful poetic words. In these classes, the theatrical text came to life in a new shape, from a new perspective. And the truth is that it is not the same when you read about this complexity in a book! We had the possibility of appreciating the plays, their characters and situations as a complex intertwining of a multiplicity of constituents, and of understanding them through and in our bodies.

The music demonstration by James Bisgood, and the workshop on swords by Philip Stafford were other quite fascinating ways of "looking for" and "finding" Shakespeare. Bisgood's lecture/recital on Renaissance music was amazing: he played several of the fifty instruments on display, alternating the performance with historical and technical explanations on each of them. Thus we learned about and enjoyed the music that came from guitars, citterns, lutes, flute, bagpipes, pipe and tabor, horns, bones and spoons among others.

Philip Stafford gave us Renaissance swords and daggers to hold and practice a bit of stage fencing, to enjoy later a demonstration by two of his assistants. No doubt next time we read in Othello "Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust 'em", those words will have another meaning to us all.

We were invited to watch four performances: As You Like it, All's Well That Ends Well, Anne Boleyn and Dr Faustus. It is difficult to translate into words the feeling of watching a play at the Globe. To begin with, it is different: no actors looking at some vacuum in front, no sudden darkness to announce the beginning of the play, of course, no curtain; nothing that could remind us of a fourth wall. Instead, we had actors walking to the audience and having informal conversations with us before the play began in two of the productions, we had daylight and a soft breeze during part of the performances, we even had a worried James I interrupting his soliloquy to look with disbelief at an airplane that was flying across the sky over the Globe… And you felt you were part of a magic and bewitching world that was being unfolded each time. The spirit of the Renaissance theatre as fun and entertainment couldn't have come to life in a more genuine way.

Our enjoyment of the plays was enhanced by discussions on the productions with Heather Neill, a theatre critic and journalist, who guided our debates and enriched our views with her own informed perceptions; and what's more, on Friday we could have a fascinating talk with one of the main actors of All's Well…who gave us this way one more perspective on The Globe's plays.

Equally relevant to this almost impossible attempt to find the exact words to describe such an exceptional experience is the convergence of multiple names, countries, idiosyncrasies present in the group of the nineteen teachers who shared these seven days. Catherine and Kevin from Malta and Mauritius respectively, whom I met by chance the day before the seminar began, which gave us the chance to share some pictures and sightseeing; Christophoros from Cyprus, whose funny contributions made us laugh; Isabel from Spain, with whom I shared a most moving moment talking about her country, home to my greatgrandparents; Bilsev from Turkey, who made me feel as if we had been close friends for a long time…. And in fact ALL of us sharing the enthusiasm and love for Literature, the theatre, Shakespeare and his works. All the delegates were friendly, warm, collaborative and helpful people and their presence made the course incredibly more enriching. The session when we read a sonnet in Romeo and Juliet, each of us in our own language, was the moment when the idea of Shakespeare as a universal poet, who through his art could overcome the limits imposed by places and times, stopped being an idea and came true for each of us.
The experience at the Cultural Seminar has introduced me to other approaches to the exploration and teaching of Shakespeare and to a deeper understanding of the ways we, human beings, in spite of being rooted in our own countries and idiosyncrasies, can go beyond cultural individualities when opportunities like this one give you the chance to share your passions. Because of all this, my deep gratitude to all the people involved in the English Speaking Union Argentina and London, who, due to their hard work and commitment to their ideals, offered me the possibility of profiting from such an unforgettable seminar.

Carina Menán