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The Afternoon Seminar

The seminar for Stephen that afternoon was for his unit on Shakespearean English. The unit, presented by the RSC, still located at Stratford-on-Avon, was very popular. The seminars were organised with seven students in each, but they came from all over the country. They were all joined by a video conference and the tutor could work from Stratford in between performances. Today's discussion was about the character of Macbeth and was led by the actor currently playing the role. The students had been researching the material themselves and after a brief introduction by the tutor they were all expected to present a couple of points that they thought to be important. As the seminar progressed, various tools were used to illustrate the opinions. All the students were present on the screen with a highlight mark against the one currently holding the microphone. Students could draw sketches on their screens which were instantly available to the others who in turn could annotate them to present their observations. A couple of students played back audio and video snippets they had recovered from archives of old performances where they thought that they illustrated the point they were trying to make.

In all, it was a successful seminar and Stephen eventually stood up to make a cup of tea feeling his day had been most successful so far. Just as the kettle boiled, the videophone trilled. It was Stephen's girl friend calling from the card phone by the station to say she had just returned to Aberystwyth. Calandrias parents were Spanish, but they had crossed the border and settled in Portugal many years ago. She had flown into Caersws from Lisbon having had one change in Paris. It had still been a tiring day though but nothing like the old days. She had left home at 9.00, travelled out to Lisbon airport arriving at about 9.30. The plane was a little late but still took off at 10.45 arriving in Paris at about 13:15 local time. A three hour wait followed before the Mid Wales flight to Caersws left at 16.30. The plane landed at just 16.35 (allowing for the time difference) and having cleared customs she had arrived in Aberystwyth at 17.30. Stephen drove down to collect her in his electric car. Car technology really had progressed, but that was another story.



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