Shakespeare Archives - Digital Drama

Shakespeare Hut in Open House Weekend

If you haven’t managed to see Digital Drama’s audio visual installation Resurrecting the Shakespeare Hut, it is part of the Open House Weekend on the 17th and 18th of September and then open daily until the 23rd September at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Visit the Open House website to find out more details.

Resurrecting the Shakespeare Hut is a Heritage Lottery funded project created by Digital Drama and focused around a public installation commemorating the 100th anniversary of the opening of the YMCA Shakespeare Hut, which was on the grounds of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in Keppel Street, WC1.

YMCA Huts were a regular sight in England, France and on all the fighting fronts during the First World War, providing a ‘home from home’ for soldiers to rest, recover and be entertained. However, the Keppel Street hut was built with a special purpose – to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and to entertain the troops through the playwright’s work, keeping them away from the dangerous London streets.

Resurrecting the Shakespeare Hut

Digital Drama are honoured to be partnering the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Mustard Club in presenting ‘Resurrecting the Shakespeare Hut’ – an installation and dramatic reconstruction in the summer of 2016 to co-inside with Shakespeare 400 and the First World War Centenary.

Resurrecting the Shakespeare Hut commemorates the 100th anniversary of the opening of the YMCA Shakespeare Hut on the grounds of the current London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. As part of the YMCA’s many huts built for the rest and recreation of serving forces during the First World War, Shakespeare Hut was built to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the playwright’s death, with a particular remit to bring Shakespeare to the troops. The project will collect, record and present the heritage of this forgotten building as well as gathering local family stories of the First World War to preserve and share them with the wider community.

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For more information, to share WW1 family memories from the London Borough of Camden and for opportunities to volunteer, please contact Alison Ramsey at alison@digitaldrama.org

Resurrecting the Shakespeare Hut is being made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Image from the YMCA archives.