Afternoon tea in Stratford upon Avon at the Arden Hotel

When I was last at the Arden Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon I fell in love with the old fashioned rose patterned tea service from the V & A that they had on display on the oak dresser – in fact I’m in love with the whole idea of English afternoon tea. I decided there and then, that when we came back to see the play of Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre just opposite, we would take afternoon tea in Stratford upon Avon at the Arden Hotel before the performance.

Afternoon tea at the Arden Hotel

It seemed a fitting thing to do in the heart of Stratford, the birthplace of England’s greatest poet and playwright with the old half timbered houses down the lane that Shakespeare might have skipped past as a boy.

Our family party settled down into the leather chesterfield sofas, in the pale green panelled drawing room at one side of the hotel. Through the sash windows, framed by toile de jouy curtains we had a great view of the original Victorian entrance of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, now extended with a modern frontage and tower after a recently completed 4 year redevelopment project.

Our waiter shook the starched white napkins out and laid them on our laps. He was unfazed by my son’s request “Do you have any Ribena ice lollies?” but gamely offered to pop down to the shops to get one.

Our tea was brought – Earl Grey (lemon or milk?) and fruit tea for me. I love those old fashioned cake stands they use with elegant thin cut sandwiches – smoked salmon and cucumber or chicken with salad with brown bread or white (but no crusts of course). On the second cake stand were slices of chocolate and walnut cake with scones to smother with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Enjoying our Afternoon Tea

The conversation turned to the play of Romeo and Juliet that we were about to see. My son didn’t really see the point of going to see a play when everyone knows the ending.

My father-in-law recalled the time when he saw Sir Ian McKellen dropped his trousers, exposing all, in the mad scene of King Lear and my mother-in-law remembered how at their last visit they had sat in the midst of a group of theatre critics, all scribbling furiously into their notebooks.

In between mouthfuls of cake, we debated such weighty questions as how to pronounce the word scone – is it scone as in home or scone as in shone? Apparently it all depends whether you live up north or down south.

And so, awash with Earl Grey and brushing the cake crumbs from our lap, we walked all of 2 minutes across the road and into the Royal Shakespeare Theatre to have a look around before the performance. In the shop I was persuaded by my children to fund the purchase of a book of Shakespeare sonnets and a couple of pencils with 2B or not 2B written on the side.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

We explored the building, from the Transformations exhibition about how the theatre was rebuilt, to the Squidsoup art installation where words that you typed into the computer were added into a swirling word sculpture that was projected on the wall.

Watching Romeo and Juliet Play

At the appointed hour we settled into our seats to the side of the stage that jutted out with the audience on three sides, although we had to crane our necks for the balcony scenes as we were seated in the back row. It would be well worth getting a front row seat, and those in the front row had the pleasure of having their photo taken and being compared (unfavourably) to the fair Rosalind, and having Romeo ask their opinion on whether or not he should assault Juliet’s balcony.

It was a memorable performance, with a Juliet who was very much the stroppy teenager, an energetic contrast to the dreamy photographer-on-a-bicycle, Romeo, who suddenly forgot all about his camera once he had spotted his new true love.

The costumes for Romeo and Juliet

Having once worked in the world of fashion, I was fascinated by the styling of the production, with a range of costumes, from Shakespearean doublet and hose teamed with biker boots, to Vivienne Westwood inspired corsets and taffeta skirts, hitched up into puffballs for the dance scene.

The cast went a little wild at the ball with golden sun masks and animalistic leaping to the sound of African drums, with the occasional burst of flames shooting up from the floor.

By contrast Romeo and Juliet had been shopping on the high street with Juliet in skinny jeans and converse trainers and Romeo in his hoodie and DMs. After a mere 24 hours acquaintance, they were married and Juliet was looking forward to getting her new husband into bed.

It was such a shame it all had to end so unhappily and as the sleeping Juliet started to wiggle her toes, I was willing her to wake up in time to stop Romeo taking the poison. It’s easy to forget that the world’s best known love story is also a tragedy.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre – a destination experience

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is truly much more than a theatre but a destination experience – and so it should be after the millions that have been spent on it! And our afternoon tea at the Arden Hotel, started us off in just the right frame of mind to enjoy the whole experience.

Sadly, we caught the last performance of Romeo and Juliet, but in the coming months you can also take afternoon tea with the Merchant of Venice or A Midsummer night’s dream – or better still book early for one of the autumn/winter performances and get those front row seats where you can be close enough to feel the actors’ spit on your face. That’s the thrill of live Shakespeare!

The Arden Hotel,Waterside, Straford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Tel 01789 298682
Visit the The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon

More to see in Stratford upon Avon

Seasonal and Wild – The Waterside Brasserie at the Arden Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon
The Tower and other transformations at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford
Country House Classic at the Menzies Welcombe Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon

Photo Credits: Romeo and Juliet Photos by Ellie Kurttz from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre website

Just so you know, we were treated to afternoon tea by the Arden but bought our back row seats ourselves.