Bardwatching

Come live with me and be my love

An amazing Shakespearean discovery has been made in the archives of Hereford Cathedral. The letter suggests that William Shakespeare's wife might have, in fact, lived with him in London for a period of time, rather than remaining in Stratford, as had previously been assumed.

The letter, addressed to Mrs Shakespeare, talks about the death of a Mr Butts and refers to his son John, ‘a poore fatherless childe’. It asks Mrs Shakespeare to ‘paye your husbands debte’ – a line that also suggests she had independent access to money.

The letter had been used as binding on an early-seventeenth century book at Hereford Cathedral Library. The book was printed by Richard Field, who was originally from Stratford upon Avon and a known associate of Shakespeare's, having been his first printer.

Although the document was discovered back in 1978, its significance wasn't established until recently, because researchers hadn't been able to identify the names or places within the letter. However, in new research by Professor Matthew Steggle (University of Bristol), we are able to link references within the letter to Shakespeare and his family.

We now know that John Butts was most likely serving an apprenticeship (Steggle has found evidence in a number of records), and that the adult John Butts was living on the same street as the Burbages – a family strongly connected to Shakespeare. Full details of Professor Steggle's new research on the letter can be found in the British Shakespeare Association's journal, which was published on 23 April 2025.

First Encounters

I was fortunate enough to journey up to the home of the bard this spring, to see the RSC's most recent production in their ‘First Encounters with Shakespeare’ series. The plays are specially adapted versions of Shakespeare texts, designed for young audiences (aged 7-13) and their families.

The plays are reduced to 80 minutes, with no interval, and this year's production focused on The Tempest. While I saw the production at The Other Place in Stratford upon Avon, the play is mostly on tour, visiting schools around the country. The schools that see the play are also supported with workshops before and afterwards, run by RSC practitioners, to maximise opportunities for exploring the play and performance.

The production featured an ensemble cast with most playing multiple characters. The set and costume designs (by Aldo Vázquez) were vibrant and bold – bright green fronds hanging from tree trunks to create the stage backdrop. A simple but effective set, needed in order to be transported from one school location to the next. Particularly effective in terms of costumes was the ‘ship hat’ worn by Ariel (Carla Garratt) during the opening scene, and the woven, woolly dark bonds wrapped around Caliban (Shakeel Haakim) and Ariel to symbolise their enslavement under Prospero (Peter Moreton).

There were also notable performances from Trinculo (Isabella Marshall), whose quirky, comedic delivery won favour with the student audience, and Caliban, most especially in Act 2 scene 2, where he disguises himself as a haystack, under which Trinculo also joins to hide.

He likewise gives a frock or livery, that aptly is put on

While in Stratford, I took the opportunity to join in with one of the RSC's costume tours – a chance to see their wonderful and extensive costume department.

The facilities are custom-built within the last five years – the result of a huge fundraising campaign called A Stitch in Time, which allowed them to completely redevelop their costume workshop into a more suitable set-up.

The tour took us behind the scenes to see where the costumes are made, including the corridor where upcoming and current production designs are laid out, past cutting rooms, dyeing rooms and hat specialists. In each room, professionals are at work, creating items that will grace the stage within weeks or months.

The tour finishes at The Other Place, where the costume hire department is now housed, and visitors are set free to roam the endless aisles, full of costumes from previous productions. All are arranged by time period, so I found myself between the rails of ‘early medieval men's chainmail’ one minute, and ‘Renaissance blouses’ the next. For anyone with a penchant for period costume (guilty as charged), it's a small piece of heaven!

Tours can be booked from now up to October 2025 at rsc.org.uk/your-visit/tours