If you’ve never visited South Dakota’s Shakespeare Garden and Anne Hathaway Cottage, two upcoming events present the perfect opportunity.
The Shakespeare Garden, nestled in the hamlet of Wessington Springs, was started on Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23, in 1927. Today it sits behind the Anne Hathaway Cottage, a thatched-roof cottage modeled after the original in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. It was created in 1932 by Clark and Emma Shay, upon their retirement from teaching. Today the Shakespeare Garden Society of Wessington Springs upkeeps and looks after the cottage and gardens, preserving them for years to come.
August 7 and 8 present two opportunities to visit the Shakespeare Gardens and Anne Hathaway house, and participate in the Shakespearean tradition. On August 7, the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum will host a high tea and Shakespeare Garden tour. The event will begin with a tradition high tea, complete with tea, fancy finger sandwiches, fruit, and desserts. Followign high tea, visitors will be taken on a guided tour of the gardens and the cottage.
On August 8, teens and adults can participate in an acting workshop in the gardens in the morning, and experience the Shakespeare play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" in the evening. Both the acting workshop and the play are put on by the Bare Bodkins Theater Company from Sioux Falls.
The acting workshop is free of cost (freewill donations are encouraged), and the play is $5 at the garden gate, children under 13 are free. Attendees should bring a lawn chair.
Cost for the garden tour and high tea is $35, which includes travel from Brookings, high tea, and a one hour tour of the gardens. For more information about the tour, call 605-688-6226.
