There will be much ado about Shakespeare in months ahead in an ongoing online festival of live, filmed, streamed Shakespearean events on the 400-year anniversary of his birth and death. On April 23, NPR reports on “Worldwide Celebrations On The 400th Anniversary Of Shakespeare’s Death.” They state, “When it comes to Shakespeare’s legacy, it seems safe to conclude that ‘what’s past is prologue.’ ”
On April 23, the BBC presents Shakespeare Lives 2016 and Live from Shakespeare’s Globe on London’s Bankside. Katie Derham presents the opening of the dynamic Complete Walk, on which all 37 Shakespeare plays are represented by new films created by Shakespeare’s Globe and shown on 37 big screens stretching from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. This can be viewed live and through filmed videos available on the BBC Live page.
‘Taming of the Shew’ is one of the popular Shakespeare plays performed at the Stratford Festival : photo courtesy Symphony Space.
On April 23, the British Royal Ballet is celebrating as well with a live-streamed event about opera and ballet adaptations of Shakespeare’s work. Leading arts organizations across the UK are participating in the Shakespeare Lives, a dynamic, ongoing, six-month online festival available to audiences in the UK and across the globe provided by the BBC and the British Council that also includes a film tour.
Further, The Stratford Festival HD stage-to-screen series kicks off April 24 in the United States with the debut of Hamlet, followed by the rarely told The Adventures of Pericles beginning May 8th, and by The Taming of the Shrew beginning May 29th. This is the second year that the Stratford Festival has brought Shakespeare’s theater productions to the big screen. This year’s debut coincides with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s passing and celebrates his legacy.
The Stratford Festival presents ‘The Adventures of Pericles 2015’ : photo courtesy Symphony Space.
Stay tuned for more on Shakespearean events in days and months to come.
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