Sandwich Shakespeare Trail created by mother and daughter relives the history around Sandwich from speeches by Henry V to one of King Lear’s favourite forms of entertainment in the 18th century.
The project, which was an installation of 18 of Shakespeare’s monologues around Sandwich, was created by 22-year-old Charlotte Churm, a recent graduate of Theatre and Performance Studies, and her mother Amanda, a teaching assistant at a local primary school, who felt a lack of creativity in their lives brought on by the pandemic.
The trail was full of carefully chosen locations that reflected the history of Sandwich with Shakespeare’s words. Each monologue was marked by a red rose to catch people’s eyes as they walked around the town. The monologues were also accompanied by a little descriptive poster that told the reader why the monologue had been placed in that specifically chosen location.
The project was installed for Shakespeare’s birthday on Friday 23rd April, and due to its popularity, as well as being featured on BBC Radio Kent, the trail has now been digitalised and can be viewed at www.charlottechurm.co.uk/sandwich-shakespeare-trail by clicking on the map.
Personally, what are your favourite locations you pass in the trail?
Charlotte: My favourite part of the trail was probably down by the Quay. That’s where we placed the extracts from The Merchant of Venice and King John that referenced the Goodwin Sands. This wasn’t something I knew before embarking on the dramaturgy of the project and I was fascinated to learn something so local was in Shakespeare’s work.
Amanda: I really enjoyed the monologues we placed in the gardens at St Peter’s. It was lovely to see life going on around the monologue we had placed there from As You Like It. I loved walking past and seeing people with their coffees reading it, particularly when the speech was about the seven ages of man, and you could see all those ages in that spot. It made the text not feel over 400 years old but like it was written for today.
What makes Sandwich such a pleasant community to be a part of?
We have both loved the willingness and kindness people have shown towards the project and embraced us bringing a little bit of Shakespeare to Sandwich. We feel there are very few places in the world that would let us have done something like this, and in a place where it would have been appreciated by residents, so we are very grateful for all the support. We hope this is just the first of our Shakespeare inspired community projects.