On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare, which falls next year, the British Council has announced “Shakespeare Lives”, a global programme of events and activities celebrating The Bard’s life.
According to the announcement said, the capital will see the enactment of Twelfth Night by the well-known Filter Theatre in November, apart from visits by several renowned authors from the United Kingdom who have been working on the Bard of Avon. The authors will interact with those in the Capital. A host of other programmes are lined up to be unveiled soon for the Delhiites.
“Shakespeare Lives” is an invitation to the world to join in the celebrations by participating in a unique online collaboration and experiencing the work of Shakespeare directly on stage, through films, exhibitions and in schools. The programme aims to reach over half-a-billion people around the world. The British Council and the Great Britain campaign are working with host of British theatres, museums, educators and artistes on new productions of Shakespeare’s plays, film adaptations, public readings and educational resources for schools and English language learners of all ages in the U.K. and around the world,” said British Council director (India) Rob Lynes.
Launching this autumn, the celebrations will run throughout 2016, exploring Shakespeare as a living writer who still speaks for all people and nations. A major highlight will be “All The World’s A Stage”, a mass participation project. It will invite people from all over the world to upload and share clips of themselves performing lines from Shakespeare’s plays. This will culminate in a record-breaking, crowd-sourced performance and a new digital version of Shakespeare’s works.
Other highlights include screenings of film adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays. A MOOC (massive open online course) aimed at intermediate-level English language learners exploring the key themes and characters in Shakespeare’s plays and his continuing resonance around the world will also be conducted. Other teaching resources include Shakespeare-themed lesson plans for all levels, a series of webinars for English language teachers and animated Shakespeare stories for children.
The British Council is also offering 10 research and development grants for artistes and companies to develop new collaborative project ideas with counterparts overseas. A global tour of the Royal Society of Literature poets, who have written responses to the sonnets, and opportunities for emerging poets and graphic novelists from around the world will also be included.
A global short-film-making competition in partnership with Straight 8 called “Bitesize Bard”, that invites budding film-makers from around the world to reinterpret one of eight iconic Shakespeare’s scenes in a single take. The 12 best films will be selected by a renowned panel taken from the world of theatre.
“Shakespeare Lives will be the biggest ever festival on the Bard across the world, including India,” added Mr. Lynes .
