Get involved with National Shakespeare Week – 17-23 March 2014 – as we celebrate world renowned poet and playwright William Shakespeare, who is honoured throughout 2014 as we mark his 450th Birthday.
The English author penned many books and plays and has inspired many films since his birth in 1564. Growing up in the UK exposed students to classics such as Macbeth, Hamlet, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the absolutely defining play, Romeo and Juliet. This first ever National Shakespeare Week is a good opportunity to rediscover the plays and books of Stratford-upon-Avon’s most famous son.
Celebrations began with aplomb at the start of the year at the world famous Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on London’s Bankside with operas, plays, operas and concerts. First opened in 1599 by Lord Chamberlain’s Men – Shakespeare’s touring company – the theatre this year unveiled the eagerly anticipated new addition with the newly built Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. This year the theatre hosts the enigmatic ‘Summer by Candlelight’ series with candlelit concerts and comedy. The Globe Theatre has performances of timeless classis including Much Ado About Nothing, All’s Well That Ends Well and Antony and Cleopatra. And in a pioneering project, Hamlet is taken ‘Globe to Globe’ on a two year long tour to every country in the world. Touring from 23 April 2014 to 23 April 2016, the production will even be performed in North Korea next year!
Expect Shakespeare fever to slide up another notch on 23 April 2014, which is William Shakespeare’s actual birthday. Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, devotees across the world will revisit some of Shakespeare’s 38 plays and 154 sonnets, and the films that have been inspired by his works.
And Shakespeare’s hometown comes to life this year from on 26 – 27 April as the town celebrates his legacy with a packed weekend of incredible events and performances.
