Sweet Celebrations: An exhibition that's a piece of cake
Swan Room, Swan Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
9 April – 24 July 2011

To mark the Royal Shakespeare Company's 50th Birthday, the RSC invited artist Shane Waltener to transform the Swan Room in the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon into a large birthday cake.

As part of Sweet Celebrations, the artist worked with members of the public to make a frieze around the walls of the room using combined sugarcraft and graffiti techniques. Participants used sugar paste, royal icing and sweets to decorate the walls and contribute to the creation of a large-scale installation.

During a number of hands-on sessions, participants were guided through a range of processes for making decorated sugar tiles or tags, inspired by Shakespeare’s plays, his symbolic use of flowers and symbols associated with anniversaries. They were also encouraged to think about developing designs inspired by the architectural details and motifs from within the building. Outside of these sessions the public visited the exhibition to view the work in progress.

Labels: royal shakespeare company, royal shakespeare company at 50, sweet celebrations