PEACE and diplomacy in Shakespeare’s time are the focus of new exhibitions in Stratford.
Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust is launching two new exhibitions at the Shakespeare Centre on Monday (May 21).
The first, ‘Hear the Ambassadors!: The Performance of Diplomacy in the Age of Shakespeare’ is a collaboration between the trust and the University of Warwick. It includes objects, documents, paintings and books and takes an in-depth look at diplomatic relations at a time when the Bard was exposing audiences to the complexities of international diplomacy in plays including Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Othello and Antony and Cleopatra.
‘Peace and Reconciliation’ is a companion exhibition which will showcase objects from the trust’s collections. The items have been chosen by advocates for peace.
One includes a Russian translation of Hamlet which was picked by chief executive of the British council, Sir Ciarán Devane.
And former hostage turned hostage negotiator Terry Waite chose a legal document recording Shakespeare’s purchase of his family home at New Place.
Hear the Ambassadors runs until September 3, and Peace and Reconciliation until December 31.
Admission is included in the Shakespeare’s Birthplace ticket price.
Visit www.shakespeare.org.uk to book or find out more.
