A NEW exhibition exploring the women in Shakespeare’s life is underway in Stratford.
Hidden Voices: The Women Who Made Shakespeare opened at the weekend and aims to shed light on the lives of the women in William Shakespeare’s immediate family, how they may have influenced the famous playwright and importantly, how people go about uncovering their stories.
Prof Charlotte Scott, SBT’s director of knowledge, said: “The women in Shakespeare’s family have received more attention than is typical, but as bit-parts in his life.
“This exhibition is about the women of New Place, the largest house in Stratford and home, at one point or another, to the women of Shakespeare’s family – his mother, Mary, wife, Anne, daughters, Susanna and Judith, and granddaughter, Elizabeth.
“Each one had a unique relationship with Shakespeare and a life and loves of their own and we’re excited to share their stories with visitors this year.”
This focus on the hidden histories of women is at the core of a multi-year programme from SBT. Entitled ‘The Women Who Made Shakespeare’ the Trust is looking to explore the sometimes hidden, often less-explored, and unfortunately, erased and forgotten stories of the women who both influenced Shakespeare during his lifetime and the female-identifying people who have contributed to his legacy.
The new exhibition, which runs until November 3, uses documentary evidence and items from the Trust’s extensive collection of over one million individual artefacts to place the women who lived and worked at New Place back into the Shakespeare story.
For more information visit www.shakespeare.org.uk
