Progress: slow but steady

Two exciting things happened in the spring and summer of this year.  The first was that the essay I submitted to the Society for Theatre Research won their 'New Scholars' Prize for 2014 and is to be published in their journal, Theatre Notebook. As a long-time member of the STR, I am delighted that they are going to publish my research into one of the Benson productions.

Me and Shakespeare's Birthplace in the rain, July 2015

The second exciting thing was the award of a Bursary from the Shakespeare Birthplace Centre.  The Louis Marder Scholarship, in the words of the Birthplace Trust ' is awarded to ‘a worthy Shakespearian currently pursuing a Ph.D. or similar study, who pledges to produce an original, publishable article on a previously approved literary, historical, or biographical topic about William Shakespeare (as opposed to character analysis or authorship studies) from The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Library or Archives, approved by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s assigned authorities, within two years of the accepted funds.' My attempts at mapping the Benson itineraries and exploring the repertory was deemed 'worthy' by the judges and so I have been given a bursary to enable me to spend more time in the Shakespeare Birthplace archives to work on creating something suitable for publication. To say I was delighted would be an understatement. 

Both of these endorsements come from organisations I greatly admire and which have, over the years, nurtured my curiosity about theatre history and enabled me to feel brave enough to take the first steps to write about what I've discovered. There's still a long way to go but knowing that someone else has faith in what I'm doing and believes it is valid, interesting and useful, really makes me want to keep going!

35% mapped and still going...