Author and Shakespearian actor  Ben Crystal gave a talk about his book

 ‘Shakespeare On Toast : Getting a Taste for the Bard’

at 7pm on the evening of Wednesday 3rd November.

This was a talk in our ‘Meet The Author’ series. Ben has written a super book aimed at getting everyone as interested in Shakespeare and as enthusiastic about him as he is. The nub of his argument is that it is important to realise above all that Shakespeare is not meant to be read, let alone studied, as he writes modern, thrilling and uplifting drama…..to be seen and experienced.

In his talk Ben adopted the lightest touch possible, unlocked the difficult bits, explained the vagaries of language, and generally urged us to enjoy Shakespeare for what he is ..a master scriptwriter. Particularly fascinating was his rendition of part of Macbeth first of all in received Shakespearian pronunciation, then in the sort of accent that Shakespeare would have used, this coming from meticulous research from his father – the master linguist David Crystal – and himself. This may well have been the first occasion that such an accent, bass and West Country in style, had been used in the hall of LOrd Leycester’s Hospital for 400 years. A wonderful thought.

Ben is touring next year with his own production of Shakespeare in the original speech patterns, and with the encouragement of Colonel Lesinski, The Master of the Hospital, we hope to stage it in the hall. Something very much to look forward to.