The Francis Bacon Research Trust
Wisdom of Shakespeare Summer School

Fortune’s Pipe
(‘Hamlet’ & ‘Taming of the Shrew’)

6-10 August 2008
Holycombe, Whichford, Warwickshire, England

Five-day Summer School
led by
Peter Dawkins & Jill Line

“Blest are those whose blood and judgement are so well commeddled that they are not a pipe for Fortune’s finger to sound what stop she please.”
(Hamlet 3.2.70)

This 5-day Wisdom of Shakespeare summer school in the heart of Warwickshire provides a chance to investigate more deeply the wisdom embodied in Shakespeare's plays and understand them as a major part of and vehicle for the Western Wisdom tradition.

RSC Performances and Excursions
During the summer school we shall visit Stratford-upon-Avon to see performances of two Shakespeare history plays, Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew, by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

We will also make a visit to the Rollright Stone Circle, the megalithic ‘Wheel of Fortune’ where princes were either made kings or ‘turned to stone’, in an attempt to understand the mystery of the ‘Sweet Swan of Avon’ landscape—the Cygnus constellation of the British landscape zodiac.

Academy/House Party
With lectures, play-acting and outings punctuated by great food and stimulating conversation, Wisdom of Shakespeare summer schools take on the magical and indescribable air of a combined esoteric academy and house party, and are a delight to the senses as well as the intellect.

Programme
The summer school will start on Wednesday at 10:30am and finish on Sunday at 4:30pm.

Venue
The group will gather at Holycombe, a beautiful home and retreat set in the ancient village of Whichford in the rolling green Cotswold hills of England’s ‘Shakespeare Country’. Nestling in a valley, Holycombe has extensive gardens, a lake and a stone circle (modern) standing on a ‘sacred hill’ and surrounded by a moat that once encircled a Norman castle.

Holycombe is 15 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon, 12 miles from Banbury (and the M40), 5 miles from Moreton-in-the-Marsh and 3 miles from the pre-historic Rollright Stone Circle. Banbury and Moreton-in-the-Marsh both have railway stations with rail links to London. (See map.)

Accommodation and Meals
Bed & breakfast accommodation (residential) is available at Holycombe.
Lunches and evening meals as well as refreshments will be provided.

Cost and Booking
£440 per person (non-residential)
£560 per person (residential – 4 nights B&B single or shared accommodation)
The fee is inclusive of refreshments, lunches, dinners, tuition and two top-price theatre tickets.
Extra nights B&B @ £30/night (2 extra nights max.)

To book a place, please select button.

NB. The number of attendees is limited to 18 persons maximum.
If you are late in booking and want to book less than three weeks before the event, please contact the FBRT to see if this is possible.

	For further information, please select button.
	Wisdom of Shakespeare books by Peter Dawkins are available for purchase. Select button to go to online Bookshop.