Life in the Round

Exploring Life From Every Angle

Life in the Round offers an engaging space to explore the value of life in dialogue with today’s culture and the historic Christian faith.

Our next event, exploring Christian themes in Shakespeare’s work, will take place on Friday 22 August at 7:30pm at the Round Church. More details to follow in due course – please sign up to our mailing list to find out more. 

We host an evening event each term. Sign up to our mailing list to receive information about future events.

Upcoming Events

shakespeare's hope: redemption and resurrection in his most powerful plays

Friday 22 August
7:30-9pm (doors open 7:15pm), followed by a cheese & wine reception
The Round Church, Cambridge (CB2 1UB)

400 years on, Shakespeare’s plays remain central to the English literature and dramatic canon, his characters and poetry capturing the imaginations of each new generation. Shakespeare lived in a world in which the English Bible had recently arrived on the scene, and in which Christian understandings were deeply entrenched in society, culture and politics.

From Macbeth to The Tempest, we will consider the influence of the Bible’s language, stories and values on Shakespeare, and how he interacts with the religious framework in which his audience was immersed. Through a talk and Q&A, followed by time for informal discussion, we’ll uncover how themes such as beauty, guilt, restoration and hope enrich the Bard’s enduring works and continue to speak to the human condition today.

Isobel Burden read English Literature at the University of Cambridge, acting in theatres around Cambridge, Edinburgh and Europe and developing her love for Shakespeare in performance. She has subsequently been in education for the last twenty years, teaching all ages in schools, churches, youth groups and on stage. Isobel currently adapts and directs productions of Shakespeare’s plays with teenagers, and loves to explore with them the connections between literature and life.

To hear about future events, sign up to our mailing list below.

Upcoming Events

Shakespeare's hope: redemption and resurrection in his most powerful plays

Friday 22 August
7:30-9pm (doors open 7:15pm), followed by a cheese & wine reception
The Round Church, Cambridge (CB2 1UB)

400 years on, Shakespeare’s plays remain central to the English literary and dramatic canon, his characters and poetry capturing the imaginations of each new generation. Shakespeare lived in a world in which the English Bible had recently arrived on the scene, and in which Christian understandings were deeply entrenched in society, culture and politics.

From Macbeth to The Tempest, we will consider the influence of the Bible’s language, stories and values on Shakespeare, and how he interacts with the religious framework in which his audience was immersed. Through a talk and Q&A with Isobel Burden, followed by time for informal discussion over cheese and wine, we’ll uncover how themes such as beauty, guilt, restoration and hope enrich the Bard’s enduring works and continue to speak to the human condition today.

Isobel Burden read English Literature at the University of Cambridge, acting in theatres around Cambridge, Edinburgh and Europe and developing her love for Shakespeare in performance. She has subsequently been in education for the last twenty years, teaching all ages in schools, churches, youth groups and on stage. Isobel currently adapts and directs productions of Shakespeare’s plays with teenagers, and loves to explore with them the connections between literature and life.

To hear about future events, sign up to our mailing list below.

Upcoming

Events

Life

appreciated

Life in the Round offers an engaging space to explore the value of life in dialogue with today’s culture and the historic Christian faith.

Our events this term include an evening thinking through faith in the public sphere with Tim Farron MP and an exploration of the surprising genius of Jesus’ teachings with Dr Peter Williams. More details coming soon, and be sure to sign up to our mailing list to be notified about upcoming events.

Explore life through...

Live
talks

from guest speakers

Arts Evenings

in a 12th century venue

Informal Discussions

on life's big questions

Academic viewpoints

from university scholars

Explore

Live talks

Stimulating ideas and honest dialogue.

Some of our previous topics include:

  • Can’t we keep faith out of politics? with Tim Farron MP
  • Who wants to live forever? The problems and prospects of immortality
  • Peacebuilding in a war-torn world
  • Nature and grace in Terrence Malik
  • Three theories of everything
  • God in the brain: is belief an accident of human neuropsychology?
Explore

Arts evenings

The 12th century Round Church provides a unique and intimate arts venue, with its round regularly hosting music, drama and visual cultural experiences.   

A selection of evenings we’ve already shared: 

  • Resurrection poetry festival
  • Celebrating 75 Years of Narnia, featuring performances on the Celtic harp
  • The Power of Tolkien
  • Spoken word, live music, film discussion  
  • Dostoyevsky: a prophet for our time
  • Ethics and aesthetics: how fine art helps form people’s ethics
Explore

Informal Discussions

Big ideas explored in conversation together.

Previous events have included:

  • Lunch discussions at the Round Church
  • Think Tank – informal conversations at the pub, exploring life’s big questions
Explore

Academic viewpoints

Cambridge hosts leading scholars. How might today’s University interact with the Christian intellectual tradition from which it emerged? 

Titles from our archive:

  • AI, Innovation and the Limits of Humanity
  • What’s the Point of the University?
  • The Financial Crisis: a Christian Response
  • Does the Law need a Moral Basis?
  • Biomedical Nanotechnology: Prospects and Challenges

To hear about future events, sign up to our mailing list below.

Recent Events

Event Photos

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Socrates