This week I've been away in the Lake District, but Benson has still been at the forefront of my mind. The fit -up 'South' company visited Keswick, Ambleside and Bowness and the Principal and 'North' Companies made several visits to Kendal, Penrith and Ulverston throughout the years Benson was touring. Keswick, in particular, still has a strong theatrical heritage through the 'Theatre By the Lake' a repertory theatre in the most stunning of settings:
http://www.theatrebythelake.com/
W. A. S. Benson - Frank Benson's elder brother by four years - was an architect and designer who made many items of furniture and lighting for Morris & Co and ended up as a Director of the company after Morris's death. The family resemblance between William and Frank is clear in the photo below. He is well known as a member of the Arts and Crafts movement and his designs for electric lighting are now collectors' pieces.
https://www.blackwell.org.uk/.
Some of these are on show at Blackwell, a fabulous Arts and Crafts House in the Lake District, just outside Bowness and are truly lovely: the anticipate the Art Nouveau movement with stylised plant forms and the Vaseline glass shades. Blackwell is a delight: a cross between Morris and Mackintosh and well worth a visit:
Interestingly, Shakespeare's Globe are taking their 'fit up' production of Romeo and Juliet to the grounds of Blackwell in the Summer this year, following in the footsteps of Benson's summer 'pastoral' performances.
http://www.oldlaundrytheatre.co.uk/event.php?event=149&cat=3
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