Living With History Exhibition

Installed in Grade 1 Listed Shakespeare House Hall’s Croft.

The text from the exhibition:

Installed in Grade 1 listed Shakespeare house Hall’s Croft, this is a selection from ‘Living With History; Life in Historic Stratford-upon-Avon’.

At the time of the most recent census (in 2011) Stratford-upon-Avon had a population of 27,445 but it receives over 4 million visitors every year. It’s a town that’s continually looking at its past, celebrating its heritage and restoring its historic buildings. Living with History forms a bridge between the historic and present day Stratford - what it looks like and what it’s like to grow up and work here.

William Mulryne was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1995 and received an HND in Photography from Stratford College. Mulryne is inspired by documentary photographers such as Don McCullin and Steve McCurry. He describes himself as an ‘observer of things' and the selection of photographs on show here put forward a view of Stratford that is fresh, dynamic, real and, at times, funny.

Mulryne’s photographs give the viewer an insight into what it’s like to grow up in Stratford: “It’s an amazing place with a special feeling. The town gets smaller every time you go out. I understand when people get angry at the various developments as it changes the feeling of the town with every one. If I were able to I’d love to go back in time and disallow any changes (except planting flowers and trees) from Shakespeare’s time. I’d pedestrianise the whole town (except for horse-drawn carts) and have a troupe of actors walking around performing Shakespeare scenes. I would keep homes as homes and I’d keep the theatre.”

The photographs selected for this exhibition capture Mulryne’s feelings beautifully - the nostalgia of childhood, the love for restoration and keeping history alive, the shots that capture a brief moment in time. And yet they represent a very different view of the town to the experience most tourists will have. They give us an insight into ‘real life’, the every day and the extraordinary within these humdrum moments.

The clash of old and new found within Mulryne’s photographs is most prominent in his documentation of the Stratford Mop Fair. The fair rides and fast food stalls sit amongst classical Stratford architecture. The people in the images are captured mid sentence and place the photograph in time. The photograph of the fairground ride stopped mid- movement captures another side to Mulryne’s experience of growing up: “Asperger Syndrome made growing up a series of experiences, everything was 100% interesting. I experienced cars, music, elevators: the sounds and the way they moved, working out how they worked and being mesmerised by the visual movement.” Mulryne’s photographs perfectly capture his way of seeing and feeling the world whilst at the same time allowing the viewer to experience his fascination with movement and sound.

September 2019 also marks the 250th anniversary of the Shakespeare Jubilee, organised by the actor, playwright and producer David Garrick, in 1769. The celebrations included the construction of the first real, but temporary, theatre in Stratford. Built not far from the site of the present Royal Shakespeare Theatre, it was almost washed away in two days of torrential rain that resulted in terrible flooding. The diarist James Boswell wrote of the Jubilee: ‘After the joy of the Jubilee came the uneasy reflection that I was in a little village in wet weather and knew not how to get away.’ Road infrastructure is still an issue 250 years on, and is a point of contention between the residents of the town and the very large number of tourists visiting each year.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre can be seen in Mulryne’s photograph of the River Avon. Several of his works shown here explore the relationship of the town with the waterways and how this has changed over centuries. The river is still well used to this day by rowers and tourists alike. Mulryne also captures how the town’s connection with theatre has changed and how contemporary performances take place at night and outside, bringing the perceivably elite experience to the masses.

Mulryne’s exhibition is on show in the Hall’s Croft cafe, part of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Hall’s Croft was the home of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband John Hall.

This exhibition has been curated by Josephine Reichert. Reichert is the founder and director of Ort Gallery, an artist-led exhibition space in Balsall Heath, Birmingham. Ort Gallery represents underrepresented artists and facilitates dialogue in the community, making art accessible to everyone. Josephine has curated the busy programme at Ort Gallery since 2012.

Local Coverage

Images in this Exhibition

The Birthplace, 2018

It feels right to have the birth of my project about life in this historic town be connected with the place where THE playwright, the person who has moulded this town, was born. I love the absence of people to concentrate on the place itself, but there’s the discarded cup just below the house, retaining and bringing in the life aspect of the project.

Conservation Team Working On Shakespeare's Birthplace Walls, 2018

We fly inside the window of the house and see the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s conservation team led by Emily Ireson (pictured left) scrubbing down the walls to re-wash them. This is done every 20 years to all rooms in the house.

Lady Macbeth In New Place Gardens, 2018

Mimbre acrobats performed “Fierce Sisters” featuring several Shakespearian female roles, finishing with this dark, non- talking, whirling figure of Lady Macbeth.

The World Is Spinning, 2018

I named this based on the partial ride name that you have to search for in the image and the sense of movement you get from staring at it.

The Mop, 2018

The Mop is an attraction from outside Stratford that comes into town and locals flock to it. The Stratford Mop was first granted a Royal Charter by Edward VI in 1544 and was originally a fair where workers hired themselves out to employers for the next 12 months. The rides we now have preserve The Mop fair traditions.

Guild Chapel During The Evening Service, 2018

Rev. Dr Paul Edmondson, Head of Research at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust takes a service at the Guild Chapel. A 15th Century painting called The Dance Of Death covers the walls of the chapel which is itself joined to a small group of buildings including King Edward VI School (KES). Students from the school attend assembly here.

Classroom Fire Hands, 2019

Students of King Edward VI School (KES) watch a girl from Sixth Form who has bubbles made with washing up liquid and methane in her hands. The methane is lit by another student during an extra- curricular lunchtime Science lesson.

Professor Sir Stanley Wells C.B.E. In His Study, 2018

Stanley Wells is a Shakespearian scholar, writer, professor and editor. He is honorary president of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Professor Emeritus at the University of Birmingham, and author of a number of books about Shakespeare. He lives in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Headstone Carving, 2018

Clifford and Sons have been the town’s stonecutters since 1891, when this workshop was established and was lived in by the first stone cutter in the family, George Clifford. You can see his stone self- portrait bust on the top left shelf, next to his wife. You can see his old fireplace behind Jake, the current Clifford son.

Swan Catching, 2017

Voluntary swan keeper and former Mayor, Cyril Bennis, pulls a swan he suspects of having lead poisoning from the river. This one survived, but another swan, which a resident informed Cyril about, died on the way to Wychbold Swan Sanctuary.

Tour Boat Maintenance, 2018

Avon Boating doing repairs in the off- season. The fleet of Edwardian passenger boats, like Lily, are stored and repaired in the out-of-town workshop near Snitterfield. Lily was built in 1933 by Borwicks at Bowness and used up until 2014. After major restoration, it was relaunched on the River Avon in March 2017. The image shows one of Avon Boating’s builders, Nick Harwood, undertaking repairs to Lily’s gunnel.

The boat hire company started out as a family firm letting boats and running boat trips since 1898. This is the official date of establishment, but it is believed that they were doing this as early as the 1850s. The company was known as GH Rose & Son and was run by the same family up to 2004, when Edward Rose decided to take a back seat and set up Avon Boating Ltd to continue his family’s legacy.

Avon Boating Ltd, as it is now, is the oldest established business in Stratford that has been in continuous operation. It has also in all those years only ever operated out of the Boathouse on Swan’s Nest Lane.

Stratford Summer, 2018

For some people and many tourists, the centre of the town, the very heart, is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

60s Haircut, 2018

David, now in his eighties, has been cutting hair at Coiffure by David for 50 years.

Painting The Peony Pavilion, 2019 

The Peony Pavilion is a gift from
the People's Government of Fuzhou Municipality in China to celebrate a growing connection between the country and the town due to Shakespeare's and Tang Xianzu’s shared death date and contemporary work.

To order a signed print, click here

Opening Night

It was a surreal experience seeing so many people I’ve photographed and have yet to for this project, and the horse drawn one, all enjoying my work. It made me feel that I haven’t wasted 3 years!