Shirley Halse is a comedian, writer and producer. In 2018 she set up the popular book themed comedy night The Alternative Book Club, performing the show regularly in Cheltenham as well as touring the show to various festivals, including the Stratford Literary Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Green Man, 2000 Trees and the Edinburgh Fringe.
“funny, friendly and focused” – The Scotsman
Shirley has also toured several book-themed solo shows including:
The Reduced Literature Degree
With rising tuition fees and the value of higher education being increasingly called into question, Shirley Halse has condensed three years worth of the BA curriculum down into a far more efficient one hour show. We start the course with some ridiculous Old English, zip through bawdy Chaucer, needy Sidney, catty Dryden, loved-up Keats, moody Larkin, Woolf, and finally check in at Literature in the 21st century. No essays required.
Shakespeare 101
A show for anyone who loves, hates, or simply does not understand Shakespeare. We will be asking all the important questions of his plays such as: why, how, what and wherefore art thou? We will pull apart all your favourite characters and quotes and then carefully putting them back together again – with lots of help from you, the audience.
Poetry 101
A poetic re-education: taking all the poetry you (probably) hated at school and giving it a thorough re-assessment. From classroom classics like Shakespeare and Milton to modern poetic heroes like Carol Ann Duffy and Ke$ha; this will be a new and unconventional course.
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Shirley Halse 