The Winter's Tale play contains one of the most famous Shakespearean stage directions: "Exit, pursued by a bear", presaging the offstage death of Antigonus. It is not known whether Shakespeare used a real bear from the London bear-pits, or an actor in bear costume. The Royal Shakespeare Company, in one production of this play, used a large sheet of silk which moved and created shapes, to symbolise both the bear and the gale in which Antigonus is travelling. One comic moment in the play deals with a servant not realising that poetry featuring references to dildos is vulgar, presumably from not knowing what
The Next Stage on to the 'main event' : a big live concert organised by Exit Live Stage. The Next Stage The Next Stage is a Belgian non-profit organisation that organises a concerts for unsigned talent in the best clubs over Belgium and the Netherlands. It is being held in 10 provinces: (in 2009) Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Gelderland, Limburg, Utrecht, Noord-Brabant, Antwerpen, Brabant, Hainaut en West-Vlaanderen. Musicians play in a sort of "Battle of the Bands"-format, whereby the bands with the most votes move on to the next round. In between shows, the bands get courses and workshops to teach them how to be