Professor Sir Brian Vickers presents the Sam Wanamaker Fellowship Lecture,
John Ford and Feminine Virtue at Shakespeare’s Globe: 11 June 2015
Wednesday 29 April 2014
On Thursday 11 June, Professor Sir Brian Vickers will deliver this year’s prestigious Sam Wanamaker
Fellowship Lecture at Shakespeare’s Globe as part of the John Ford Experiment.
Professor Sir Brian Vickers will deliver John Ford and Feminine Virtue, at 7pm on Thursday 11 June
in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. The annual Sam Wanamaker Fellowship Lecture is given in
honour of the American actor, director, and producer who founded the project to rebuild
Shakespeare’s Globe. Sam died in 1993 after 23 years of tireless campaigning, advancing research
into the appearance of the original Globe and planning its reconstruction.
Sir Brian is a British academic known for his work on the history of rhetoric, Shakespeare, John Ford,
and Francis Bacon and knighted for services to literary scholarship in the New Year Honours of 2008.
He is Emeritus Professor at ETH Zurich, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Institute for Advanced
Study, London University, Fellow of the British Academy, and a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is General Editor of The Collected Works of John Ford in
five volumes (Oxford University Press, 2011--), the first collected edition of Ford's works since 1869.
In John Ford and Feminine Virtue Sir Brian will explore Ford's creation of dramatic situations that
reveal feminine virtue under pressure, including defining the values for which they are prepared to
suffer and ultimately celebrating their courage.
“I am honoured to be associated with Sam Wanamaker's great project of re-creating the theatres for
which the plays of Shakespeare and his fellow playwrights were written.” Sir Brian comments. “For
lovers of Ford it is exciting to experience his plays in the new indoor theatre, very similar to the "CockPit" or Phoenix in Drury Lane where they were first performed. I have enjoyed working with Globe
Education on their Read Not Dead season devoted to Ford, casting light on rarely-performed plays.
Ford's is a unique voice, and it is high time that his distinctive qualities were recognized.”
Patrick Spottiswoode, Director, Globe Education, comments: “No one is better placed to champion the
work of John Ford than Professor Sir Brian Vickers. We are honoured and delighted that Sir Brian has
accepted the Sam Wanamaker Fellowship this year.”
Ford was one of the leading playwrights of the generation following Shakespeare. Best known for his
play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Ford has been considered one of the most underrated playwrights of the
early 17th century. However, Ford is currently enjoying a renaissance: ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, and
The Broken Heart both featured in the most recent season in the indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
This year, Shakespeare’s Globe is presenting productions and staged readings of all of John Ford’s
solo-authored works. The John Ford Experiment began on 15 February with a Read Not Dead staged
reading of Love’s Sacrifice at Gray’s Inn. The Experiment continues with four more Read Not Dead
performances of Ford’s plays in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse from 17 May: The Queen, or The
Excellency of her Sex, The Lover’s Melancholy, The Chronicle History of Perkin Warbeck, A Strange
Truth and The Fancies Chaste and Noble.
On Saturday 26 September, four Ford scholars will share their perspectives on Ford in an open study
day, culminating in a performance of The Lady’s Trial by Edward’s Boys, the world-renowned boys’
company from King Edward VI School (KES) in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s own grammar
school.
Details and booking information for the Sam Wanamaker Fellowship Lecture and all events in the
season are available on the Shakespeare’s Globe website at shakespearesglobe.com/education.
Tickets are available from the Globe box office on 020 7401 9919 or online at
www.shakespearesglobe.com
ENDS
Further information and images from Phoebe Gardiner, Senior Press & PR Officer Globe Education
on +44 (0)20 7902 1416, phoebe.g@shakespearesglobe.com
The Sam Wanamaker Fellowship Lecture: John Ford and Feminine Virtue
7pm, Thursday 11 June in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe.
Tickets: £15 (£12 Friends of Shakespeare’s Globe/concessions/students). Available from the box
office on +44 (0)20 7401 9919; shakespearesglobe.com
Notes to Editors
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Sir Brian William Vickers, FBA (born 1937) was born in Cardiff, educated at St. Marylebone
Grammar School, London and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1962 with a
Double First in English, winning both the Charles Oldham Shakespeare Scholarship and the
Harness Shakespeare Essay Prize. He was awarded a Cambridge doctorate in 1967, and
taught there until 1972. In that year he moved to Zurich and held full Professorships at the
University and subsequently at ETH. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary
Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Distinguished Senior
Fellow of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. He was knighted for services
to literary scholarship in the New Year Honours of 2008. He is Director of The Oxford Francis
Bacon and General Editor of The Collected Works of John Ford (Oxford University Press;
Vol.1, 2011; vols. 2 and 3 in production).
Globe Education is one of the largest arts education departments in the UK. Each year, more
than 120,000 people of all ages and nationalities participate in Globe Education's programme
of public events, workshops and courses. Globe Education also runs an extensive programme
in the Southwark community and creates national and international outreach projects for
students and teachers. For more information, visit www.shakespearesglobe.com/education
The annual Sam Wanamaker Fellowship Lecture is given in honour of the American actor,
director, and producer who founded the project to rebuild Shakespeare’s Globe. Sam died in
1993 after 23 years of tireless campaigning, advancing research into the appearance of the
original Globe and planning its reconstruction. Previous Fellows include: Professor Graham
Holderness from University of Hertfordshire, Professor Ton Hoenselaars from Utrecht
University and Professor David Lindley from Leeds University.
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The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse: The new candlelit Jacobean theatre at Shakespeare's
Globe opened in January 2014. The Playhouse hosts concerts and other events throughout
the summer, with the main indoor theatre season running October to April.
The Shakespeare Globe Trust is a registered charity No.266916. The Globe receives no
annual public subsidy.