Shakespeare Club ends the year theatrically

by Joan Gaughan

After a year discussing the cats of Shakespeare’s time and the numerous Shakespeare clubs in America, Manchester’s Shakespeare Club’s last three formal meetings appropriately ended in the theater. Figuratively speaking.

On March 24, courtesy of Rosemary Whelan, Dame Judi Dench provided a penetrating insight into the complex character of Lady Macbeth in a dialogue with Brendan O’Hea with whom she co-authored the book, The Man Who Pays the Rent.

Dame Judi’s book describes with wit, affection and intelligence not only the female characters she has portrayed on the Shakespearean stage, but also the actors and directors with whom she has worked.

With Rosemary providing the voice of Dame Judi (her accent matches Dame Judi’s better than anyone else in the Club!) and Joan Gaughan the voice of Brendan O’Hea, we were able to see why Kenneth Branagh has called the book “a love letter” to Shakespeare. The two meetings in April continued to give the Bard his due as the Club read The Tempest. We managed the Shakespearean dialogue perhaps with more pluck than precision and agreed that seeing it acted upon a stage was better than reading it from a book … which, of course, was what Shakespeare intended.

We closed our season with lunch at Frank’s with the conversation ranging from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s good and bad productions to good and bad and haircuts … with some magic from Colon, Michigan thrown in for fun.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.