Lovers of Shakespeare and of gardens will enjoy roses and other plants by many names when they take guided garden walks during the VIII World Shakespeare Congress.
Braving drought, water restrictions and possums, volunteers will conduct the walks in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha as The University of Queensland hosts the Congress from July 16-21.
The volunteers will lead walks seeking plants that were either mentioned in Shakespeare’s works, or that were likely to have been around when he was alive.
Volunteer Gillian Monahan said bloom-munching possums added to the challenge of growing Shakespeare’s flowers in the current conditions.
“The possums are very cute, but they are also inclined to eat everything, including anything referred to in Shakespeare’s works,” she said.
Teddy Barker has been hand watering dianthus and pansies, which will be transplanted to the gardens in time for the walks.
Ms Barker, a former UQ staff member, said she decided to revive a special interest walk on “Shakespeare’s Flowers” that she gave five years ago at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens.
“It sounds incongruous in a sub tropical place like Brisbane to talk about Shakespeare’s flowers … but we are well-grounded in English Literature and it means something to us,” she said.
“I have always had a great love of Shakespeare's plays and poems. Because of my love of flowers I became interested in Shakespeare`s allusions to flowers, fruits and trees and how he could comment on the human condition with all its passions and failings, using flowers to illustrate his themes.
“I believe that we all have a love of beauty, particularly in nature. By linking Shakespeare`s beautiful words to the flowers and fruits in our botanic gardens our spirits are uplifted and our hearts and minds are opened to the wonders of nature.”
An interview with Teddy Barker can be heard at: www.sjc.uq.edu.au/shakespeare/teddybarker.mp3
UQ Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Congress Convenor, Professor Richard Fotheringham, applauded the volunteers’ commitment to bringing Shakespeare’s flowers and fruits to life in drought-stricken Brisbane.
“It’s a tribute to the volunteers that Shakespeare will be the focus not only in the academic setting, but also in Brisbane’s gardens,” Professor Fotheringham said.
The “Fruits and Flowers of Shakespeare” guided walks will be held on Sunday July 16, Wednesday July 19 and Friday July 21 from 2-3pm at theBrisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha, Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong.
For more information on the VIII World Shakespeare Congress: www.shakespeare2006.net
Media contacts: VIII World Shakespeare Congress Senior Program Manager Melissa Western (07 3365 1125, melissa.western@uq.edu.au), or Fiona Kennedy at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 1088, mobile 0413 380 012).
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