Shakespeare Summer School

Sunday 4 – Saturday 17 August 2013
Programme Director: Dr Catherine Alexander

The Shakespeare Summer School has established a reputation for the highest quality tuition in classes and lectures and the productive sense of community that comes from shared endeavour, enthusiasm and commitment to study.

The University has the distinction of nurturing some of the greatest talents in Shakespearean scholarship and performance, and you will work with leading academics in an intensive programme.

Focus on: Shakespeare

Dr Catherine Alexander explores the role of performance in the programme. Read more...

Who should apply?

Students who have completed at least one year at an in Save stitute of higher education, or adults who bring other ‘life experience’. Some 50% of participants are current undergraduate or graduate students, 50% are aged 25-85+. Participants must also meet our language requirements.

The academic programme

• Four special subject courses
  (two for each week)
• Plenary course RS0
  Time and Times
• Evening lectures

Special subject courses

You will be sent course descriptions and reading lists for your chosen special subject classes and are expected to engage in preparatory work to gain the greatest benefit from your studies. Some students opt for complementary courses while others go for a more eclectic mix. You choose two courses per week, each has five sessions.

Week 1 (4 - 10 August)

Group Ra: 9.15am - 10.45am

Ra1 Romeo and Juliet on page, stage and screen

Ra2 Shakespeare: the narrative poems in their context

Ra3 Two problem comedies: All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure

Ra4 Shakespeare’s late romances: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest

Group Sa: 2.00pm - 3.30pm

Sa1 Hamlet in performance: "Who's there?"

Sa2 Shakespeare’s comical histories

Sa3 An essence that’s not seen: appearance and reality in Othello

Sa4 Power and wonder in The Tempest

Week 2 (11 - 17 August)

Group Rb: 9.15am - 10.45am

Rb1 Twelfth Night: "What country, friends, is this?"

Rb2 Julius Caesar and Coriolanus: politics, psychology and performance

Rb3 Shakespeare’s early comedy: The Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Taming of the Shrew

Rb4 King Lear: sources, texts, significance

Group Sb: 2.00pm - 3.30pm

Sb1 Hamlet in performance: "Who's there?"

Sb2 A Midsummer Night’s Dream and its afterlife

Sb3 Shakespeare’s first tetralogy: King Henry VI, Parts 1 - 3 and Richard III

Sb4 Justice and fortune in The Merchant of Venice

Plenary lectures

The theme of the morning lecture programme is Time and Times and scholars from Cambridge and beyond, all published experts in their fields, will take a range of approaches to the topic including biography, the language and plot of the plays and historical shifts in reception, criticism and performance.

Evening lectures

The evening, after dinner, lectures are broader in scope and include performances and introductions to the optional excursions.

A typical day

Download a PDF of the daily schedule of the Shakespeare Summer School programme.

Accommodation

Accommodation is available for participants who want to stay in a Cambridge College. Please see the accommodation options available for this programme.

Non-residential attendance is also available if participants prefer to find their own lodgings.

Programme fees

Programme fees include tuition, bed, breakfast and evening meals unless otherwise indicated.

Download the fees page to see the options available.

Pre-enrolment information

Booking terms and conditions