Many years ago, I sat in a warm classroom in a small industrial town to the west of Edinburgh. It was an English lesson, and we were reading passages from Macbeth in turn. Like my fellow pupils, I was dreading the moment when it was my turn to speak. To me, and my fellow classmates, the words meant nothing and had no relevance to the lives that we were leading or would lead in the future.
From then on, as Shakespeare would say, the die was cast - I was a philistine, the works of Shakespeare were not for the likes of me. Despite having opportunities to see Shakespeare enacted and potentially reverse my mindset I continued in the belief that it was elitist and irrelevant to my life.
Sometime later in life I was persuaded that, as the RSC was almost on our doorstep, we should take my mother to see a play. My mother thought herself once removed from royalty after she was evacuated to the grounds of a baronial castle in Scotland during WWII. With the potential to see one of her distant cousins in the royal box she thought this was a great idea.
The play we saw was the comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Rarely had I laughed so hard - this was comic genius. My mother was mortified. It was her understanding, and mine before the play, that we would sit in stony silence whilst the actors delivered their lines in strong Received Pronunciation before a jolly painted set.
The RSC were having none of that and actors with regional accents moved sets and props around at an electrifying pace whilst delivering a clever, sophisticated play full of ideas and insights into life and love.
Suffice to say that I was smitten. I had seen the words delivered as the writer had intended - as entertainment for the masses.
My Volunteering Experience
A few years ago, with retirement looming, I thought that it would be valuable to contribute to the Shakespeare story and so I applied to become a volunteer with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
To my great joy they accepted my application, and I have now been volunteering at the Birthplace for two years. To help me become a better guide, I have read a lot about Shakespeare and the birthplace, expanding my knowledge about the life, works and times of this iconic writer.
Through the volunteering programme, it has been rewarding to engage with visitors both from our doorstep and from all over the world about Shakespeare’s life and works.
A considerable number of years after my schoolroom experience, I sat in an almost barren concert hall and watched a version of the same play that my son was directing. There was no scenery and very few props and yet the air crackled with the potential of the same words that had been spoken all those years ago in Bathgate.
They conjured into life witches, slain children, castles and armies. I wept as the tragedy unfolded and the human consequences of fate, ambition and betrayal were brought to life and thought what potentially different outcomes could have been wrought if, years ago, those young minds had seen the words delivered in a dramatic and dazzling form rather than droned out in a soporific classroom.
“What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty!”
“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
Volunteering Opportunities
If you have a love for Shakespeare and want to share that passion with others, volunteering at the historic Shakespeare family homes is a great way to do so.
You’ll work with others who share that same love, meet people from around the world and discover fascinating things about the Shakespeare family along the way.
To learn more about our volunteering programme visit: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/support-us/volunteer/why-volunteer/