Irish pubs

Irish pubs like pubs in the other parts of UK are homely informal places where people go to relax and to listen to Live Irish music. You can see some of Ireland's best musicians and hear songs dating back over a hundred years. As in the folk music of other lands, love songs constitute the most numerous class of folk-song in Ireland. Unmistakably deriving from the popular poetry of the Middle Ages, the themes and types prevailing are a legacy of the Norman invaders. Their adoption into Irish is believed to have begun towards the end of the thirteenth century. Sometimes pubs give you a chance to watch traditional Irish dances. Many people today have been introduced to Irish dance through stage productions such as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. But this is only one form of Irish dance. Today's traditional Irish dance include ceili, step, and set. In pubs people usually drink beer. The Irish kinds of beer are ales and stouts.

Irish ales, a minor category, are malt-accented, often with a buttery note, and are rounded, with a soft but notable fruitiness.  Irish ales are similar to Scottish ales but are a bit lighter and paler.  Hop bitterness is usually low. Ireland is one of the first countries to brew stout; there it is considered a national beverage.  Ireland’s dry stouts are markedly aromatic, with rich maltiness and intense hop flavors.  Hop bitterness is medium to high.  The beer is extra-dark, black opaque ale, with low to medium body and a creamy brown head.  The degree of sweetness and dryness will vary in dry stouts, yet they are all top-fermented and have the unique and special character of roasted barley, which produces a slightly roasted (coffee-like) trait. The most famous Irish stout is Guinness.

Welsh pubs

In Wales there are many colourful pubs offering beer, cider and tasty food. Welsh beer remains to this day low gravity and sweetish, able to be consumed by the pint to quench a day-long thirst. Welsh breweries and pubs are caught between producing traditional ales for working men in neighborhood and village pubs, and younger generations that seem inclined to abandon old styles in favor of lager and alcopops served in city-center theme bars. Can the best of the old survive the prosperity of today? One of the events that helps to support beer traditions is the Great Beer and Cider Festival in Cardiff City Hall. This Festival is called CAMRA in Wales.

Task 2. Read the following advertisements of Welsh pubs and discuss with a partner where you would like to go and what you are going to eat and drink.

Bryn Tyrch, Capel Curig, Conwy. Near Betwys-y-Coed Bryn Tyrch means 'Boar's Hill', not the best name perhaps for a whitewashed inn that specialises in vegetarian and vegan dishes, though carnivores are well catered for as well. This is walking and climbing territory in Snowdonia and the inn will advise on good walks. It has two comfortable bars with fires and reading material, and a darts board and pool table in one. Bar food is served from 12 noon to 9.30pm and may include zucchini dippers with spicy tomato sauce; stir-fried tamari, ginger and garlic; ciabatta with choice of fillings; butterbean and vegetable curry; carrot, courgette and lentil loaf; broccoli, cauliflower and Stilton crumble; chicken, leek and bacon cobbler; and sausages with mushroom gravy. Desserts include rhubarb crumble and vegan syrup tart. There's an enormous breakfast – meat, vegetarian or vegan – for guests. As well as such ales as Flowers IPA and Wadworth 6X, there's a tremendous choice of teas and coffees, which come with vegan fruit cake. Accommodation is available.

Olde Bull's Head Castle Street, Beaumaris, Anglesey. A 17th-century coaching inn visited by both Dr Johnson and Charles Dickens, the Bull's Head includes among its many fascinating artefacts the town's old ducking stool, antique weapons, including some terrifying cutlasses, and old china. There's also a brass water clock, cosy alcoves, low beams, old settles and an open fire. Another claim to fame is that the courtyard door is closed by the biggest single-hinged door in Britain. Food is served from a new brasserie lunchtime and evening, and may offer home-made soup; ploughman's; potato gnocchi with baked goat's cheese, leeks and cream, and several other pasta dishes; pork schnitzel with cous-cous and lemon and caper butter; confit of duck; and braised Welsh lamb. Desserts include traditional bara brith and butter pudding with ice-cream. Handpumped beers are Draught Bass and Worthington, with a regular guest ale, and there's a tremendous range of wines totalling more than 200, including several half bottles. The guest rooms are named after Dickens' characters: fancy a night in the Bill Sykes room?

Skirrid Mountain Inn, Llanvihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire. The Skirrid claims to be the oldest pub in Wales and is a good base for climbing in the Black Mountains. It has a long and gory history. It dates from 1100 when James Crowther was hanged from a beam in the bar for sheep stealing. Over the centuries, more than 1,800 have been despatched in the inn, which also doubled as the local courthouse. The Skirrid has also been involved in Owain Glyndwr's revolt against Henry IV in the early 15th century, and the Monmouth Rebellion of the 17th century when the Duke of Monmouth led a rebellion against James II. Not surprisingly, the Skirrrid is haunted by many ghosts and the rope mark on the hanging beam is clearly visible. Today, it's a remarkably convivial place, with its studded wood door, stone walls and flagstones, a panelled dining room, pews, and a huge log fire. Beers come from Ushers of Trowbridge and include Best Bitter and Founder's Ale, while food comes in the shape of p‰té of Brecon blue cheese; breaded Pencary wedges with home-made quince and elderberry relish; aubergines with red lettuce and cabbage; Hereford pork pot with apples, raisins, ginger and cider; and Welsh cockles and mussels in briny broth. Accommodation is available.

Neuadd Arms Hotel The Square, Llanwrtyd Wells, Mid Wales. This Georgian hotel, run with great panache by Gordon Green, is more an experience than a pub. There's always an event going on, perhaps a beer festival, walks called Real Ale Wobbles and Rambles, with free beer at check points, and the World Bog-Snorkelling Championships in August. If you don't know what bog-snorkelling is, it's best not to ask. Beers in the bar of this Georgian hotel include Felinfoel Double Dragon and Hancock's HB, with an ever-changing range of guest beers. Food, lunchtime and evening, may include cod in batter; grilled Welsh lamb cutlets; freshly-made omelettes; steaks; and shepherd's pie and mushy peas.

Cardiff Cottage, 25 Mary's Street, Cardiff. A classic Cardiff boozer for St David's Day. In the city centre, it has an ornate wood frontage with a long, narrow single bar inside with many mirrors and a raised area at the back used mainly by diners. Lunchtime grub includes steak in ale pie; fresh cod in batter and other fresh fish such as plaice and haddock; corned beef and potato pie; curry; and lasagne. There's a tremendous roast lunch on Sundays that has them queueing in the streets. First and foremost, this is a pub that serves the ales from Brain's, the local brewery, including Dark, Bitter and the strong SA, which the brewery thinks stands for Special Ale but everyone else in the valleys knows means 'Skull Attack'.

Task 3. Read the information about gentlemen’s clubs and think what features of national character are reflected in this institution.

2. Gentlemen’s Clubs.

London's Gentlemen's Clubs reached their heyday in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They originated in the 18th century as coffee shops where London's rich young aristocrats met to talk, drink and gamble, and by the 19th century had evolved into exclusive clubs. The two main locations of these clubs are on Pall Mall and on St James's Street. The name Pall Mall is derived from the popular 17th century Italian game 'pallo a maglio', which translates as 'ball and mallet'. It was a similar game to the modern day croquet and was a particularly favourite game of the court of Charles II (1660-85), who played on this site. Some of the clubs still exist today, for example the Atheneum, the Travellers Club and the Reform Club on Pall Mall and Whites, Brooks and the Carlton Club on St James's Street. The Gentlemen's Clubs represent the stereotype of a Victorian London peopled by men dressed in pinstripe suits, smoking cigars and drinking port. And even today the archaic rules and rituals are often still in place. This means that most clubs are subject to strict and elaborate membership restrictions, out of bounds for women - and closed to the public. British elitist exclusive clubs (most of them in London) combine several functions and provide varied service: a member can stay for the night, so they are a kind of hotels, clubs take pride in their rich libraries and fashionable restaurants and bars, there are comfortable lounges where a gentleman can have a business meeting or just relax after a working day, and these clubs are also a kind of museums, keeping record of their famous members and history of the club.

Most of these clubs are in private ownership. Nowadays women are also allowed to become club members, but the rules of admission are very strict.

A particularly well-known club is the very Conservative Carlton Club, made famous by the fact that Margaret Thatcher had to be made an Honorary Man in order to join! It was also considered by the IRA to be important enough to be a target and so was subjected to a bomb attack in 1990.

Atheneumis a club for the "intellectually elite" and so it is named after the ancient Roman Athenaeum, which was the Roman centre for the study of literature and science. Over the years numerous Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, literary figures and church leaders have been members of the Athenaeum. Clubs have strict dress codes. The Athaneum has a sign stating that 'Ties must be worn at all times' below a nude statue.

Brooks is an ultra-exclusive social club that was particularly well known in the 17th century for the gambling exploits of its members - Horace Walpole, the first British Prime Minister, is often quoted as saying 'a thousand meadows and cornfields were staked at every throw'.

Whites. Founded in 1695, this is the oldest of the Gentlemen's Clubs. In 1693, Francis White founded White's Chocolate House in St. James' Street.  The "Old Club" and the "Young Club" was formed in this public coffee house.  In 1753 the two clubs relocated to the top of St. James' Street.  In 1781, the two clubs merged to become White's. In the beginning, White's housed both Whigs and Tories.  Therefore, it was seen as a non-political club.  The membership is traditionally made up from the higher ranks of the aristocracy and from the upper echelons of government. It was here that Prince Charles held his stag party.

The Garrick Club was founded in 1831 by a group of literary gentleman under the patronage of the King’s brother, the egalitarian Duke of Sussex. They announced that the Club would be a place where 'actors and men of refinement and education might meet on equal terms', where 'patrons of the drama and its professors were to be brought together', and where 'easy intercourse was to be promoted between artists and patrons'. The Club was named after the great Eighteenth Century actor David Garrick. Many of the great literary personalities of the Nineteenth Century were members of the Garrick, and the Club was the scene of a famous quarrel between perhaps the two greatest – Dickens and Thackeray. Other members of the Club in the Nineteenth Century included writers such as Trollope, Meredith, actors such as Macready, Charles Kemble, Charles Mathews, Irving, composers such as Elgar and Sullivan and artists such as Millais, Leighton and Rossetti. Today the Club has around 1,300 members including many of the most distinguished actors and men of letters in England.  The original assurance of the committee, “that it would be better that ten unobjectionable men should be excluded than one terrible bore should be admitted”, ensures that the lively atmosphere for which the Club was so well-known in the Nineteenth Century continues to invigorate members of the Club. The Club possesses an important theatrical library that includes many manuscripts and documents, a valuable collection of play-texts and tens of thousands of playbills and theatre programmes.  However, the greatest treasure of the Garrick Club is the collection of theatrical paintings and drawings, much the largest and most comprehensive in existence.

Reform Clubwas the Gentlemen's Club for liberals in the 19th Century, and its members were behind the 1832 Reform Act. It is also where the Jules Verne hero Phileas Fogg took his bet to travel 'Around the world in 80 Days'. Even today it is considered to be one of the most liberal of the clubs for it is one of the few that allows women members.

Travellers Club was founded in 1819 to act as the meeting point for gentlemen who had returned from travels abroad. It is essentially a non-political social club and the only one of the Gentlemen's Clubs to offer guided tours to the public.

The Royal Automobile Club remains a private club for the use of its members and their guests. It was founded in 1897 'for the Protection, Encouragement and Development of Automobilism'. As such it is the newest of the Gentlemen's Clubs and it has a reputation for being less class-conscious than many of the other clubs. RAC motoring services is now an entirely separate company from the Club. The two clubhouses, at Pall Mall in central London and at Woodcote Park, Epsom, Surrey, offer members wonderful sporting and dining facilities, as well as accommodation and function rooms. A prospective member, whether a lady or gentleman, must be nominated and seconded by two current members of at least two years’ standing, who have known the candidate for at least two years. There are approximately two hundred staff at the Pall Mall clubhouse, and one hundred at Woodcote Park, comprising chefs, waiting staff, sports staff, administration, engineering, greenkeeping and housekeeping staff. There are often vacancies to be filled. In 1905, the Club organised the first Tourist Trophy (TT) race. This is therefore the oldest race regularly run. The Club became the governing body for motor sport in Britain. In 1913, Woodcote Park near Epsom racecourse, was purchased as a Country Club. Located on the site of a twelfth century abbey, it was a mansion built in 1679.

United Oxford and Cambridge University Club. People who have been admitted a member of a College or Hall at the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, or have been granted an Honorary Degree or MA status by these Universities, may become candidates for membership. The application is considered by an election committee. Names are then on view to Members for a month, after which formal election takes place. The unique atmosphere of the Club arises from a combination of a lower average age of Members than most clubs, with a constant refreshment by the election of younger Members, and the very wide range of Members' experiences and interests. The cost of membership is dependent on age and place of residence. The Club was formed in March 1972 by the amalgamation of the United University Club and the Oxford and Cambridge University Club being called the 'United Oxford and Cambridge University Club'. For the first year of its life the Club was housed at 1 Suffolk Street, and thereafter at 71 and 77 Pall Mall. The foundation of the Oxford and Cambridge University Club dates from a meeting of Members of the two Universities held at the British Coffee House, 27 Cockspur Street on 17 May 1830, with Lord Palmerston in the chair. In February 1996 the members of the Club voted to admit women to full membership and in 1997 H.M. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark became the Club's first Honorary Lady Member.

Task 4. Read the rules of the Royal Automobile Club and say whether they are typical of a Gentlemen’s club.

The club has strict dress codes. Gentlemen are required to wear tailored business suits, or tailored jackets and trousers, together with a collared shirt and tie at all times and in all areas of the clubhouse. Cravats are not permitted. Ladies are expected to dress with formality according to the occasion and within the spirit of these rules. However, smart casual attire may be worn in the clubhouse at weekends and on bank holidays. For both ladies and gentlemen, loose, baggy jumpers; sweatshirts; T-shirts; tracksuits; leisure suits; shorts; leggings; combat-style or jeans-style trousers or training shoes may not be worn at any time, or in any areas of the clubhouse. The only exceptions are that more casual dress or sports attire may be worn by members and their guests when entering the Pall Mall clubhouse for the sole purpose of going directly to the sports area:(1) On Mondays to Fridays up to 10am; (2) All day on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays;(3) At such other times as the Committee may approve from time to time. All dress regulations apply equally to children of either sex. The dress regulations do not apply to any person wearing their national dress or the uniform or costume appropriate to their office or vocation. Members and guests are required to remove outer street garments before entering the public rooms of the clubhouse and to deposit their hats, coats, briefcases, parcels, shopping bags, etc., in the cloakrooms. Ladies may continue to wear their hats indoors, and naturally may retain their handbags. Any items found lying about unattended may be removed to the cloakrooms. Sports equipment and sports hold-alls are not to be taken into the public rooms of the Pall Mall clubhouse, but left in the cloakroom areas. For tennis and squash each item of clothing should be predominantly white. Coloured track suits are permitted on the courts when warming up only. Smooth soled tennis shoes and smooth soled non-marking squash shoes must be worn at all times on the courts. No snorkels, flippers or face masks should be used or worn in the swimming pools. Changing is not allowed in areas other than those designated as changing rooms and, in particular, changing in the car parks at Woodcote Park is forbidden. Members are required to wear a jacket and tie in the Billiards Rooms, although the jacket may be removed during play. Picnicking in the grounds of the clubhouse is forbidden, except by the express permission of the Committee. Woodcote Park Gentlemen members and guests are required to wear tailored suits, or tailored jackets and trousers, with collared shirt and tie or cravat in the Members’ Bar and Restaurant at all times. Ladies are expected to dress with commensurate formality, according to the occasion and within the spirit of these rules. Smart casual dress is permitted in the Lounge Bar and 19th Hole. Casual dress does not include sportswear, shorts or track suits in the clubhouse. Tailored, knee-length shorts are permitted, except in the 19th Hole. The Fountain allows sportswear and casual dress at all times. For both ladies and gentlemen, loose, baggy jumpers; sweatshirts; T-shirts; tracksuits; leisuresuits; shorts; leggings; combat-style or jeans-style trousers or training shoes may not be worn at any time, or in any areas of the clubhouse. The wearing of blue denim clothing is forbidden at all times in any area of the clubhouse or grounds. On the golf courses members are required to maintain a reasonable standard of dress suited to the condition of play, but must wear golf shoes on both courses and on the putting green. When golf slacks and shirts are not worn, shirts with tailored shorts acceptable, as are plus fours and plus twos. Slacks tucked into socks are not an acceptable alternative. Golfers are required to change from golf shoes to ordinary footwear before entering the 19th Hole bar.

Task 5. Match up the names of clubs and their peculiarities.

1. Carlton Club a) It offers guided tours

2. Atheneum b) The most conservative club

3. Whites c) It has two clubhouses

4. The Royal Automobile Club d) It has been a club for Liberals

5. Travellers Club e) Prince Charles had his stag party there

6. Brooks f) Members of this club are writers, painters

7. Reform Club g) The first British PM was its member

8. The Garrick Club h) Members are ministers

Task 6.Think what theatres in Russia you could recommend to a tourist from Britain.

Do you think that Russians are a theatrical people? Are you a theatre goer?

3. Theatre.

The British have always been a theatrical nation. British theatre is among the liveliest and most innovative in the world. In Britain there are over 300 commercial theatres, 100 of these in London, and about 40 in the famous West End. However, the real vitality of the theatre in Britain is to be found less in the West End with its light entertainment than in the ‘fringe’ and pub theatres all over the country. The latter doubled in size during the 1980s, becoming a popular form of less conventional theatre. Certain theatres have become known for their presentation of new plays and powerful, sometimes controversial productions of classic ones. Among such theatres are the Glasgow Citizen’s, the Sheffield Crucible, the Bristol Old Vic, the Manchester Royal Exchange. Theatre in Britain is a powerful instrument of education as well as art and culture. Actors take drama to young people, even into primary school. In Britain young people have a fair chance to get leading roles if they are talented. The most obvious young star at the end of the 1980s was Kenneth Branagh. In 1988 K. Branagh formed his own company for small-cast productions of Shakespeare.

Theatre in Britain began in the form of short moralizing plays performed at the fairs in the Middle Ages. Frequently the plots of the plays were based on the Bible. The 16- th century was the age of Elisabethan drama. There were no actresses at the time. The male parts were performed by men. It was then that great Shakespeare created his plays. After the Civil War in the 17^thcentury Oliver Cromwell closed all the theatres as sinful places. The theatre revived during the Restoration period but for a long time it was under a strong influence of the French. In the 18^thcentury the brightest playwright was J. Sheridan. Theatres at times could be as rawdy as football matches, and one of the the great pleasures was shouting to the actors or throwing at the villain the balls made of their fish and chips wrapping. But in the Victorian time the theatre was becoming a place for the middle classes where eating, drinking, shouting were officially outlawed. The first of these attempts to create polite theatre was the management of Sadler’s Wells Theatre by Samuel Phelps, a former Drury Lane actor. The nature of the audience was determined by the starting time. Performances began at 6:30 pm and were thus suited to a more leisured class. As for the plays, it was only the talented Irish playwrights O.Wilde and G. B. Shaw who returned the former glory to British drama.

Task 7. Now read some information about the most famous English theatres and performing centres, then discuss it with a partner.

In 1960 Peter Hall established the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). In the same year, as well as presenting performances in Stratford, the company began performing at the Aldwych Theatre in London. In 1963 the company was given its first Arts Council subsidy. In 1978 the company launched an annual regional tour. In 1996 the company was remodelled to increase national touring. In 2001 the RSC announced pioneering plans to redevelop the Stratford theatres and reinvigorate the company's presence in London. Most of the country's leading actors have appeared with the RSC over the Company's history. Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Jane Lapotaire, Ian McKellen, Fiona Shaw, Antony Sher, Juliet Stevenson, Patrick Stewart, Imogen Stubbs, David Suchet, Harriet Walter and John Wood are all past RSC actors. In Stratford-upon-Avon a local brewer Charles Flower donated land adjacent to the river Avon to build the first permanent theatre in Stratford dedicated to performing Shakespeare. The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was built in 1879. The original Memorial Theatre was destroyed by fire in 1926, and the current theatre, designed by Elisabeth Scott was erected in 1932. The company became known as the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1961 and Scott's building was renamed the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The Other Place was created in a tin hut in 1974 and later replaced with a purpose built studio theatre in 1991. In 1986 the site of the original Memorial Theatre was converted into the award-winning Swan Theatre.

It is a wonderfully atmospheric galleried playhouse. The original Victorian building fell victim to a fire in 1928. The new building was built in 1932 and the inside has been designed to reflect an actual Elizabethan style theatre. In 2001 the RSC announced pioneering plans to redevelop the Stratford theatres to create one of the world's leading centres for performance, training and lifelong learning.

Aldwych theatre was designed by W.G.R.Sprague in 1905. The opening production was "Blue Bell". On the 15^th of December 1960 the Royal Shakespeare Company from Stratford-upon-Avon took over the Aldwych as its London base for 21 years before moving to the Barbican.

The Barbican Center was built in 1982. It is the London home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It has two theatres 'Barbican Theatre' with seating capacity at 1,162 and a small theatre called 'The Pit', seating capacity 185. The RSC occupy The Barbican for 6 months of of the year. The other 6 months is taken up with the Barbican's own programming titled BITE

The Royal National Theatre was designed by Denys Lasdun and opened by the Queen in 1976. It has three theatres, The Olivier which is the biggest of the three, with a capacity of 1,160, The Lyttelton with a capacity of 890, and the small Cottesloe with a capacity of 400. All shows are usually in repertoire, which means you can see many productions in a week. The National show a varied amount of productions, musicals, classics and new plays.

The Royal Opera and Ballet Theatre in Covent Garden. The Royal Opera House is the third theatre on the Covent Garden site. Its history began in 1728 when John Rich, actor/manager commissioned The Beggar’s Opera from John Gay. The success of the performance provided the capital for the first Theatre Royal at Covent Garden, designed by Edward Shepherd. On the opening night, 7 December 1732, Rich’s actors carried him there in triumph for a performance of Congreve’s The Way of the World. For the first hundred years or so of its history the theatre was primarily a playhouse; Charles II had given Covent Garden and Drury Lane almost sole rights to present spoken drama in the capital. Rich himself was a famous Harlequin, appearing under the stage name of Lun. During his management he developed pantomime as an art form in its own right, and the tradition of Christmas pantomimes at Covent Garden survived until the 1930s. The last pantomime performed there was Francis Laidler’s Little Red Riding Hood in December/January 1938/39. The first serious musical works to be heard at Covent Garden were the operas of Handel. From 1735 until his death in 1759 he gave regular seasons there, and many of his operas and oratorios were written for Covent Garden or had their first London performances there. He bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage. Unfortunately it was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre in 1808. the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden opened on 18 September 1809 with a performance of Macbeth. On the 5^th of March 1856 disaster struck again. For the second time the theatre was completely destroyed by fire. Work on the third and present theatre eventually started in 1857 and the new building opened on 15 May 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots. The theatre became the Royal Opera House in 1892. The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera were granted their Royal Charters in 1956 and 1968 respectively. In 1975 the Labour government gave land adjacent to the Royal Opera House for its much needed modernisation, refurbishment and extension.

The Drury Lane Theatre Royal is situated in Catherine Street, Westminster. It was first opened in 1663. Some of the most famous luminaries of British Theatre performed in the historic theatres on this site, including Nell Gwynne, Mrs Siddons, Garrick, Kean and Grimaldi. The playwright Sheridan also produced many of his comedies here, including 'The School for Scandal' in 1777. The present theatre was built by Benjamin Wyatt, following a fire in 1809. It Opened on the 10^th of October, 1812 with a performance of "Hamlet". After that the theatre has hosted musicals including 'Rose Marie','Show Boat', 'My Fair Lady' and most recently 'Miss Saigon'.

The Royal Adelphi Theatreis situated on the Strand. It is a medium-sized theatre, seating approximately 1,500 people, with facilities for the disabled. The Theatre was first opened in 1806. It became known as the Royal Adelphi when it was extensively refurbished in 1867. The Adelphi is currently hosting the hit musical 'Chicago', based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins.

Garrick Theatre was built in 1889 by Walter Emden with C. J. Phipps for W. S. Gilbert. It was named in honour of the English actor, producer, dramatist, and poet, David Garrick (1717-1779). The theatre opened on the 24^th of April, 1889 with the play "The Profligate". Originally there were 807 seats, today 700 seats. Born 19 February 1717 in Hereford, the second son of Peter and Arabella Garrick, David spent his boyhood in Lichfield, where he and his brother George attended for a short while the “select academy” run by Samuel Johnson. In 1737 Garrick and Johnson travelled to London. In 1741 Garrick appeared before the public for the first time. In 1747 he became involved in the management of Drury Lane Theatre. In 1769 he organized Shakespeare Jubilee at Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Globe Theatre. Over 400 years ago when young William Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon and came to London there were several playhouses there among which there was the one popular with Queen Elizabeth 1, which was called the Theatre. It was there that Shakespeare began his acting career and started to write plays. Soon, however, the actors were told to leave for the landlord would not renew the contract, which let them use the land. Rumour has it that in the dead of night the whole acting troop took down their theatre, timber by timber, and carried it across the river and rebuilt their theatre there in Southwark. They called it the Globe to celebrate the new age of discovery and invention. When in 1947 an Ameican actor Sam Wanamaker came to London and decided to visit the famous Globe Theatre, all he found was a plaque on the wall of a brewery: “Here stood the Globe Playhouse of Shakespeare”. Shocked as he was, Wanamaker decided to rebuild the Globe. On June 12 1997 Her Majesty the Queen opened the International Shakespeare Globe Centre, the re-creation of Shakespeare’s theatre. Today you can visit the beautiful new Globe, and in summer you can even see a play performed as it would be in Shakespeare’s day.

Task 8. Study the list of art festivals in Britain in 2003 and chose three events that you would like to visit. In order to find more about these festivals use www.artsfestivals.co.uk