News And Events

King Charles' Coronation Tea Party

The English-Speaking Union, Kansas City Branch, Celebrates King Charles' Coronation

 SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2023, 2:30 PM
10:30 AM and 2:30 pm Seatings SOLD OUT

All ESU Members and Friends of ESU are cordially invited to attend a special English Afternoon Tea celebrating King Charles' Coronation. The celebration will be held on May 6, 2023—the same day as the King's official Coronation at London's Westminster Abbey, a place that has been the location of coronations for the past 900 years. 

The Royal Family announced, "The Ceremony will see His Majesty King Charles III crowned alongside Camilla, The Queen Consort." The last British Coronation occurred 70 years ago when King Charles' mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned in 1953.

Our Afternoon Tea celebrating King Charles' Coronation will be held at Anna Marie's Teas in Liberty, MO., in a stately 3-story, 5,000 square foot home built in 1913. 

The tea will include a variety of tea sandwiches, sweets, Brenda's signature scones, mock Devonshire cream, fine fruit butter or fruit jams and premium tea.  Our tea will include a special champagne toast to HRH King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort. We will again have our popular Trivia Quiz as well as some special door prizes. 

Brenda Hedrick, the owner and proprietress of Anna Marie's Teas, proudly proclaims, "This is not just any tea party--our tea experiences are delightfully extravagant!"

When: Saturday, May 6, 2023 (10:30 am and 2:30 pm sold out)

Where:  343 W. Liberty Dr., Liberty, MO. Directions and parking: Click here        

Tickets: $33 per person. This price is all-inclusive, including taxes and gratuities. Read more.

 

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Public Invited to 2023 Shakespeare Competition

Public is Invited to the
Shakespeare Competition
Kansas City Branch Semi-Finals

 February 19, 2023, 2:00 pM

Join us on Sunday, February 19 at 2:00 pm at the Plaza Library, 4801 Main St., Kansas City, MO. for the 39th annual ESU Kansas City's Shakespeare Competition. This Competition is designed to develop students' speaking and critical-thinking skills while they explore the beauty of the language and the timeless themes in Shakespeare's works.

By preparing a monologue and sonnet for public presentation, students bring Shakespeare to life in their own way and learn to express his works with understanding, clarity, and feeling.

High school students from the KC metro area (Grades 9-12) will be competing for First Place at the Kansas City Finals on February 19 then to the National Finals at Lincoln Center April 24, 2023 in New York City. Students read, analyze, perform, and recite Shakespeare monologues and sonnets in three qualifying stages: their local school, ESU Kansas City Branch Semi-Finals, and the National Finals.

Approximately 2,500 teachers and 20,000 students in nearly 60 ESU Branch communities participate each year.

The ESU National Shakespeare Competition has been recognized by the Globe Center (USA), the Children's Theatre Foundation of America, and the American Academy of Achievement.

The Competition is free for the public to attend. Registration is not required.

 

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Architecture in London, 1066-1800 with Dr. James Glass

Join Us For Our Next ESU Happy Hour:
Architecture in London, 1066-1800

 Wednesday, February 22, 2023 at 3:00 pm Central Time

Join architectural historian Dr. James Glass for an illustrated review of the major themes in architecture that appeared in London between the beginning of Norman rule in 1066 and the end of the 18th century.  We will explore Norman, Gothic, Tudor, Renaissance, Baroque, English Palladian, and Neo-Classical architecture and meet architects who designed leading palaces, churches, houses, and public institutions in London over 700 years, including Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, James Gibbs, Lord Burlington, William Kent, Sir William Chambers, and Robert Adam. ESU Happy Hour programs are online, free, and open to all members and the public. Registration is required. Please register here. Read more.

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39th Annual Shakespeare Competition

ESU Invites all Kansas City Area High Schools to enter our 39th annual Shakespeare Competition

2023 marks the 39th year for The English-Speaking Union's Shakespeare Competition in Kansas City. Registration is underway for all Kansas City Metro High Schools and Home School Programs to enter the Shakespeare Competition. The deadline to register your school is January 27, 2023.

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500 Years of Looking for Richard III with Jeffrey Wilson and Thomas Varga

An Online Program You Will Not Want to Miss

 Monday, January 30, 2023 at 6:00 pm CT—Register Online Below

Disabled King of England, charismatic Shakespearean villain, star of the first play produced by an African-American theater company, Freudian case study, skeleton under a parking lot, inspiration for House of Cards, compared to Donald Trump in the New York Times—Richard III is reinvented for every new cultural moment.

While steeped in details of medieval English history, Shakespeare's Richard III and its configuration of disability, villainy, and tragedy still speak to us in the twenty-first century with a surprising urgency. How is Richard III always so historical and so current?

Jeffrey R. Wilson tells the story of Richard III's body traveling through time into Shakespeare's hands, on down to today. From Richard's own manuscripts, x-rays of sixteenth-century paintings, and Shakespeare's soliloquies to eighteenth-century editorial notes, nineteenth-century theatrical costumes, and twenty-first century disability theater, an interpretation of Richard's body is never just an interpretation of Richard's body. When we interpret Richard III, he interprets us in return. New Swan actor Thomas Varga will share speeches by Shakespeare's Richard III.

This is a free, online lecture program. While not part of ESU's Happy Hour Series, we wanted to share it with our ESU Kansas City members and Friends of ESU. This will be a fascinating look at Richard III as we have never seen before. Don't miss this program. Read more.

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The English-Speaking Union

Kansas City Branch

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