Anyone for Tennis? 'Wimbledon' Shakespeare to serve
William Shakespeare was talking balls - and we've got the proof!
With the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in full swing in William Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary year, let's enjoy a few of Shakespeare's best tennis-related quotes. We'll also peek into the world of Real Tennis - a game familiar to Shakespeare, which was very different to ...
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Sue Barker kicked off the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ's Wimbledon 2016 coverage by reading Shakespeare's seasonal Sonnet 18.
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Try our quiz and test your Bard knowledge! (or read on for a few clues first...)
We contacted the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum to find out a bit more about real tennis, the ball game familiar to Shakespeare and mentioned in several of his plays.
They kindly shared a few images. Some are from a slightly later period, from the 17th to the 19th century, charting the evolution of tennis.
Here's a photo of an ancient real tennis ball, with four stitched vellum sections around straw stuffing. There appears to be a second/inner layer of vellum. It's not known if the addition of the outer layer was meant as a repair.
'Real' is a term coined in the early 20th century to distinguish the ancient game from the modern grass one. Known in England as 'Royal' tennis, it was popular amongst the royalty and aristocracy. This engraving shows The High Borne Prince James Duke of York, borne October the 13. 1633, later King James II - playing Royal Tennis with a short handled racket.
"Thou cannot be serious!"
How would great players of the modern era have fared at Real Tennis? , its rules, conventions and complexities
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Mike Bushell went to meet Claire Vigrass, who rules the world in the sport of Real Tennis in which there are nearly 40 types of serve.
Talking balls (tennis ones) with William Shakespeare...
There are numerous allusions to tennis and balls in the plays. From Juliet hoping for the nurse to deliver her message of love as swiftly "as a ball", to King Henry V threatening to "play a set" against France.
To serve you up a fine selection of clips, we've delved into the , as well as the more recent series...
Shakespeare and Tennis - Henry V
From The Hollow Crown, starring Anton Lesser and Tom Hiddleston
Shakespeare and Tennis: Romeo and Juliet
From the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ TV archive
Shakespeare and Tennis: As You Like It
What does it mean to "bandy"? - from the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ TV archive
Shakespeare and Tennis: Hamlet
From the RSC production starring David Tenant
"Tennis balls, my liege..." Henry V (The Hollow Crown)
King Henry V did not take the French Dauphin's 'gift' of tennis balls kindly. From this seemingly mocking gesture, Henry was roused to "play a set/ Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard...
...And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his/ Hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones
The King added further insult, informing the Dauphin of his intentions for the balls!...
Romeo and Juliet - ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ TV archive
Had she affections and warm youthful blood, / She would be as swift in motion as a ball. / My words would bandy her to my sweet love,/ And his to me.
As she impatientlly waits for a message of love, Juliet twice uses tennis terminology. 'Bandy' is likened to an exchange (verbal and physical) or a particular kind of surprising return shot in tennis.
Tennis in As You Like It (ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ TV archive)
The 1963 RSC production of As You Like It featured Vanessa Redgrave as Rosalind. In this clip, Patrick Wymark's Touchstone appears to be threatening William over the object of their affections, Audrey.
I will bandy with thee in faction. I will o'errun thee with policy. I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways.
Another use of the term 'bandy'...
Tennis in Hamlet
There was he gaming, there o'ertook inβs rouse, There falling out at tennis,β or, perchance, βI saw him enter such a house of sale...
In this clip from the RSC's production of Hamlet, Polonius is about to send Reynaldo off to France to check up on Polonius's son Laertes. Polonius briefs him on what to say - Reynaldo may mention Laertes "falling out at tennis"...
Mixed doubles?
What a racquet
New balls? (always keep a spare)
What are you planning to do with that, Titus?
#WimbledonShakespeare on Twitter
A roundup of your witty puns during the tennis season...
More on Shakespeare...
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Watch some of the most memorable Shakespeare speeches, as chosen by the RSC, featuring Peggy Ashcroft, Patrick Stewart, Vanessa Redgrave and more
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From the Bard's influence on pop music to his face appearing on a Β£20 banknote, discover more unorthodox and unusal tales of Shakespeare from past to present
Watch now...
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"Honour pricks me on..." - Act 5, Scene 1
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"Now is the winter of our discontent..." - Act 1, Scene 1
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"Friends, Romans, Countrymen..." - Act 3, Scene 2
