History, Art History and Culture

This year I hope to offer an invigorating and enjoyable course on Dramatic Monologues in which we look at the actions and mindset of a galaxy of interesting characters, mainly in poetry, but also in prose. We shall investigate Chaucer's Pardoner (with modern explanation), Shakespeare's Hamlet, Henry V and Richard II, and Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess” and "A Bishop Orders his Tomb in St Praxed's Church”. In prose we have an excerpt from "Mrs Dalloway” and in modern idiom "The World's Wife” by Carol Ann Duffy.

Don't worry: this is a course based on extracts, and I will supply most of the books to ease the weight of your luggage - but if you could obtain copies of "Mrs Dalloway” and Carol Ann Duffy's "The World's Wife” which I can't supply, that would be splendid. Cheap good second-hand copies may be had online from Abe books or Amazon.

You will be most welcome to the course, and I look forward to seeing you in the summer - and if you wish to rev yourself up for the experience, why not try out some poems from "Archie and Mehitabel” by Don Marquis? It's not every day that you come across a philosophical cockroach.

Francis Lloyd

About Francis

Francis read English at Exeter University and worked briefly as a journalist before training as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama. On leaving (in 1977) he worked first at Northampton before working in rep in Southampton, Sheffield and Colchester. He also appeared in the West End and on television. In 1985, he left the professional theatre to re-train as a barrister, and was called to the Bar in 1987.

He has not, however, given up theatre, but has appeared regularly at The Questors Theatre in Ealing, playing a number of roles, including John inOleanna,Henry Carr inTravesties, Wicksteed inHabeas Corpus, Sir Anthony Blunt in A Question of Attribution and the title role inUncle Vanya.He has also directed several plays, includingThe Importance of Being Earnest, After the Dance, Hobson's Choiceand W.S.Gilbert's Engaged!as well as new plays by Brian Abbott and Richard Gallagher and a staged performance of Christopher Reid's Six Bad Poets.

He is married to Fleur, who is a regular tutor at Marlborough, and with whom he has given lecture recitals of poetry at the Summer School.