News And Events
Luytens the Great
Event
– Thursday, March 14 - 6:00 pm
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, was one of the greatest of British architects known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. A boy genius, he began as an architect of lyrical country houses, before discovering the High Game of Classicism. His was a dazzling career which produced, among numerous other works, two great symbols of the national spirit: the Cenotaph in Whitehall, the memorial that became the focus of Britain's grief after the First World War, and the Viceroy's House in New Delhi, a palace bigger than Versailles symbolising British rule in India. This lecture will celebrate Lutyens's achievement on the 150thanniversary of his birth and compare his place in architectural history to that of Wren, Vanbrugh, Adam and Soane. Was Lutyens the greatest of all? The architectural historian Gavin Stamp described him as "surely the greatest British architect of the twentieth (or of any other) century."
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Ciphers, Secrets, and Spies in the Elizabethan Age
News
The Elizabethan era (1558-1603) is often depicted as the "Golden Age" in England's history—an era of great exploration and military victories in which Queen Elizabeth I is represented in sumptuous clothing and jewels. But the reality, which included religious conflicts that tore families apart, political challenge to Elizabeth's authority, high levels of poverty and crime, and vulnerability to foreign invasion, was far grimmer. The Queen was considered a Protestant heretic by the rulers of Europe, and numerous plots were hatched to dethrone her in favor of Catholic Mary Queen of Scots. Elizabeth's closest courtiers. notably William Cecil (1st Baron Burghley) and Francis Walsingham—the "Spymaster"—attempted to protect her. Walsingham's network of clandestine agents unearthed a series of threats, including one led by an invasion of priests trained abroad and sent to England and hidden in "priest-holes" by Catholic families in places as Baddesly Clinton and Coughton Court in Warwickshire to prepare for a Catholic rebellion.
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The Long Dark Hall
Event
Monday, March 25, 2019
6:30 p.m.
The English-Speaking Union
144 East 39th Street, New York City
In a London still rebuilding after World War II, suburban businessman Arthur Groome (Rex Harrison) carries on an extramarital affair with Rose (Patricia Wayne), a chorus girl. One night, Arthur lets himself into Rose's small apartment and discovers that she has been brutally stabbed to death. Fleeing in a panic, Arthur incriminates himself in her death and is charged with her murder. As the case goes to trial, the real killer becomes friendly with Arthur's steadfast wife, Mary (Lilli Palmer).
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Jules Verne Eats a Rhinoceros
News
– Tuesday, February 19. 2019
Tuesday, February 19 from 6:00 to 10:30 pm
The English-Speaking Union invites you to a pre-theater wine-and-cheese reception followed by a performance of The Amateur Comedy Club production of Don Nigro's "Jules Verne Eats a Rhinoceros".
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The Lady of the Tower
News
"Even the kept must have their keepers." So opens Elizabeth St.John's critically-acclaimed historical fiction novel of her ancestress's life in the most famous prison in the world—The Tower of London. Orphaned Lucy St.John defies English society by carving her own path through the decadent Stuart court. In 1609, the early days of the rule of James I—time of glittering pageantry and cutthroat ambition, Lucy catches the eye of the Earl of Suffolk, but her envious sister Barbara is determined to ruin her happiness. Exiling herself from the court, Lucy finds her own path, becoming mistress of the Tower of London. Riding the coattails of the king's favorite, the Duke of Buckingham, the fortunes of the St.Johns rise to dizzying heights. But with great wealth comes betrayal, leaving Lucy to fight for her survival—and her honor—in a world of patronage and deceit.
Register online here.
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Noises Off!
News
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 6:30 to 10:30 pm
The English-Speaking Union 144 East 39th Street, New York City
Called "the funniest farce ever written," Noises Off takes a fond look at the follies of theater folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss, and passionate affairs turn every performance into a high-risk adventure. This play-within-a-play captures a manic menagerie of itinerant actors as they perform Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, opening performance, and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. It offers a window on the inner workings of theater behind the scenes, progressing from flubbed lines and missed cues in the dress rehearsal to mounting friction between cast members in the final performance. Brimming with slapstick comedy, Noises Off is a delightful backstage farce, complete with slamming doors, falling trousers, and – of course – flying sardines!
We will gather for the reception between 6:00 and 6:30 pm and walk over as a group to the
Amateur Comedy Club at 7:15 pm for an 8:00 pm curtain.
$20 for ESU National Patrons; $25 for ESU Members; $35 for Nonmembers
Click here to download the registration form and flyer
Click here to register online
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Melbourne Art Deco
News
Join us for an evening focusing on Art Deco down under. In this illustrated talk, author of the award-winning Melbourne Art Deco, Robin Grow, explores the Art Deco and Modernist treasures in Melbourne, Australia. Though Melbourne––founded in 1834 at the bottom of Australia––was one of the British Empire's great Victorian cities, this talk illustrates how the interwar years fostered a new spirit of modernism. Much like New York, the 1920s and '30s brought Melbourne motor cars, the modern woman, females as consumers, stunning jazz age fashion, vivacious dance and music scenes, and of course cocktails!
Click here to download Flyer and Registration Form
Click here to register online.
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A Cabaret Evening at the Algonquin
News
Produced by Elizabeth Sharland
Revert for an evening to the time of the Algonquin Round Table group when martinis flowed like water, the wine was good and the conversation even better.......
Enjoy a three-course dinner (cash bar) followed by a cabaret performance by Steve Ross.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2018 at 7:15 P.M.
The Algonquin Hotel, 59 W. 44 St. New York, NY 10036
EVENT IS SOLD OUT
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A Day of Shakespeare PD
Event
– Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 8:15 AM at ESU Headquarters
Shakespeare's Globe Education:
Leadership, Power, and Persuasion
Professional Development with
Tom Davey
Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 8:15 AM
The English-Speaking Union
144 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016
Join your colleagues for a full day of Shakespeare PD with an expert educator direct from Shakespeare's Globe in London. This PD is limited to 25 teachers only. Participants will learn directly from a Globe Learning consultant, professional actor and Shakespeare expert direct from London. This PD is exclusively available from the English Speaking Union in partnership with Shakespeare's Globe.
Meet the Practitioner: Tom Davey
Tom trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has performed in Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe.
Other theatre credits include, for the RSC: Love's Labours Lost; Hamlet; A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Comedy of Errors; Twelfth Night; Vanity Fair (Middle Temple Hall); The Three Lions (St James Theatre and national tour); Waterbabies (Leicester Curve); The Norman Conquests (Liverpool Playhouse); Outward Bound (Finborough Theatre); Travesties; The Importance of Being Earnest (Birmingham Rep); The Game of Love and Chance (Salisbury Playhouse); The Importance of Being Earnest (New Wolsey, Ipswich); Moliere (Finborough Theatre).
TV and film credits include: Lewis; Silent Witness, The Syndicate Series II; Hamlet (BBC Films); Van Wilder II: Rise of Taj (Tapestry Films) Victoria Cross; A Serpent in Eden, The Ruby in the Smoke; Shakespeare's Happy Endings; Plenty More Fish.
Tom has worked as a practitioner for Globe Education for 9 years, working across all age groups. Tom became a Globe Learning Consultant in 2015.
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