"What`s in a name?  That which we call a rose   By any other name would smell as sweet"   Romeo & Juliet   Lightswood House and Park, a Grade II listed house that has been lovingly restored to it`s 18th century glory with it`s Shakespeare Garden, held their Open Day on Saturday 27th April 4 days after the Bard`s birthday on 23rd April.  The Shakespeare Garden was established in 1915 within the House`s walled gardens and named after the Bard due to it featuring plants and shrubs all named in the playwright`s work. 

  The Bard`s inspiration to Lightswood House and Park continues in the inscriptions on the restored historic water features.  One was installed outside the House in 1903 and a second at the extension off Galton Road in 1906.  The quotations by Shakespeare are from a comedy and feature Timon of Athens that was written in 1607.   Lightwood`s Open Day was bang up to date with the Belmont rep providing the entertainment dedicated to Shakespeare but with a Black Country makeover.

  Poet Laureate Brendan Hawthorne, Lynn Hawthorne, Kerry Halford and Dr Brian Dakin from Aston University, better known as Black Country personality Billy Spakemon, performed throughout the day as the Belmont Rep in Black Country dialect.  Their aim is not only to entertain but to record, celebrate and preserve the distinctive language of the Black Country.  The Belmont Rep previously performed Brendan`s play about his great-uncle, who was killed at Ypres in 1915, called Two Mothers of Distant Sons in November 2018 at Lightswood House.   

  The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands.  In the Industrial Revolution it became one of the most industrialised parts of Britain with coal mines, coking, iron foundries and steel mills producing a high level of air pollution.  It is believed it`s name comes from the soot produced by these heavy industries that covered the area.  Belmont Rep aim to make the work they produce relevant to the areas they perform in and to be ambassadors of the region and to address some serious cultural problems. 

Firstly, Shakespeare`s work has been enshrined as an unpopular monument too high in popular culture, excluding many people from experiencing it and, secondly, the question of how to preserve individual cultural heritage in drama.    The Belmont Rep, who performed with relish and enthusiasm, are breaking down the deep-rooted Black Country suspicion that theatre is something which is made by and for people "elsewhere" with no relevance or connection to local people or the local area.  The Belmont rep, all of whom profess to love Shakespeare, are taking steps towards making Shakespeare more accessible by relocating sections of his plays to the Black Country in terms of space, language and characterisation. 

Throughout the day, the Belmont Rep performed in 3 revolving sections of 15 minutes performance.  The first section, "Boonyeds Banter the Bard", with Brendan and Billy who have a regular comic strip in the Black Country Bugle, performed "Much Ado About Nothing" and queried whether "nothing" must mean "something".  The comedy duo and Black Country Bugle street philosophers contemplated the words of the Bard through the prism of "Omelette" was the first celebrity cooking programme, incorporating the Black Country word "yam" meaning "you are" in comedic excepts in the Black Country dialect.  Wearing a frilly Elizabethan shirt and a fake skull in his hand, Brendan (or is that "Yamlet"?) celebrated Black Country cultural identity by capturing fragments of language which are in danger of being lost forever including excerpts from the Shakespearean comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona. 

   Billy Spakemon (or is that "Billy Shakespeare"?) danced flamenco on stage in a Spanish sombreo as one of the "gentlemen of Barcelona" and spoke Black Country words in a Spanish accent. Can you make this stuff  up?  Where else can you go on a Saturday afternoon for entertainment of this quality?   It was a treat for the eyes and ears.  Were we now watching Shakespeare`s The Two Gentlemen of Barcelona or the Two Gentlemen from Tipton? 

  The second segment of the revolving performances was "Shakespeare Spoke Like We Dun" which translated familiar Shakespearean phrases into Black Country dialect.  The audience howled with laughter as the words of Shakespeare were spoken as they should be spoken.  And Billy Spakemon came on stage wearing a dress and a black wig.  He looked like Rob Davis, the guitarist from Mud, the English glam rock band. 

                                        "Bist Ya Bin

                                         Or Bist Ya Bay?                      

                                         That Is The Question".

  This ignited the long-running academic argument that evidence found in 18th century dialect dictionaries proved that the Bard used Midlands` dialect when writing.  Shakespeare was responsible for a number of words and phrases introduced into the English language including "bated breath", "good riddance" and "wild goose chase". 

Scholars claim that not only was Shakespeare the Midlands` most famous son but he also used dialect in his writing.    The final segment in the Shakespearean performance was "Storytelling - a Bardic Legacy".  The Belmont Rep enraptured the audience with poetry and songs in the Bardic tradition.  Tales of social change were set in the familiar surroundings of a more modern age.  Belmont Rep are passionate about poetry, spoken word and music. 

They believe that anyone can enjoy listening or taking part in culture.  They believe that poetry does not have to be stuffy, something to be studied at school, but a living, breathing mechanism that tells the story of our times more succinctly and truthfully than any other medium.    Brendan Hawthorne made history by becoming Wednesbury`s first Poet Laureate.  He struggled with exams at school because of his dyslexia but poetry grabbed his attention and he has experimented with it ever since. 

He even translated Shirley Bassey`s songs into Black Country dialect to the Dame herself on BBC 1`s The One Show.  he is a published author, playwright and musician    Dr  Brian Dakin, aka Billy Spakemon, was awarded a doctorate in 2013 after being offered a bursary by the Black Country Society and University of Wolverhampton to examine the Black Country dialect.  he is also a dyslexic.  he broadcasts on Black Country Radio and he has published several books, CDs, a novel and writes regularly for Black Country Connections, The Blackcountryman and the Black Country Bugle.   

 Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer`s Day?

(Sonnet 18)  

by Ian Henery & Billy Shakespeare      

Shall I compare thee to a summer`s day?

Brendan, thou art more cosmic and thrilling;

I`ve bought your poetry books, seen your play,

Thanks for getting me in on this billing.

Sometime too hot, the eyes of Heaven shines,

You are a Poet Laureate, it`s true:

A natural, remember lyrics and lines

And not lost on stage without a clue.    

But they eternal summer shall not fade

Your passion, in song, plays and poetry;

Nor shall death and time put you in the shade

While the proud Black Country flag shall fly free.

So long as mortals can breathe and can hear

Your work will live - unvanquished through the years.