Stratford-upon-Avon is small town located in Warwickshire, England. Famously known for the birthplace of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, everything in this town is centered around – yup you guessed it! – William Shakespeare.
During our stay at Stratford-upon-Avon we explored the world of Shakespeare. From Mary Arden’s farm to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and from Shakespeare’s birthplace to his grave, we lived and breathed Shakespeare’s life. Yes, we also endured one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, Antony and Cleopatra, for three long hours at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. It was indeed quite tragic.
Sadly, I’m not here to talk about him. Instead, I’ll be talking about a gallery I found in the Holy Trinity Church where he was baptized, worshiped, and where his gravesite is located.
Okay, so since his gravesite is located at this church I expected the gift shop at the entrance. Haha. What I did not expect was the bright hand-stitched screens that encircled the Nave. My first reaction was to scorn at how tourism has influenced the church decors. Luckily, I was educated by the lovely and more experienced ladies.
There are ten hand-stitched screens located in the historic Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s hard to miss them because they are quite colorful. These screens are produced as a set by textile artist Jacqui Parkinson. The Servant King set is part of the Cathedral Exhibition Project which is sponsored by the Deo Gloria Trust. There are eleven other separate exhibits located at different worshipping sites.
The Servant King is a set of hand-stitched screens and are inspired by Jacqui Parkinson’s attempt to find ways of reflecting aspects of Greek and Russian Orthodox icons, as well as the song, ‘The Servant King’ which is a worship song by Graham Kendrick. Check it out here!
Since we submitted our play reviews this week for our Theater class, I am still feeling that critiquing vibe. Here’s what I thought:
Jacqui Parkinson’s screens are vibrant in color and rich in material. She uses expensive silks as a backcloth which consisted of three main background colors: indigo, red, and aquamarine blue. Each screen contained various quotes from the bible and the worship song along with an image interpretation.
While I enjoyed learning about the history of the church and its relevance to Shakespeare’s life, I did not find the set of The Servant King screens fitting in this setting. It brought a lot of attention to itself but did not deliver a message to its viewers.
If you ever find yourself gazing upon these screens in the historic Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-upon-Avon, don’t bother trying to figure out what’s going on because you won’t. Sorry.
Yours Truly,
~Edylwise Romero, ‘19
