William Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon was yesterday to lead global celebrations to mark 400 years since the playwright’s death, with enough star-studded plays, concerts and parades to bring the town to a standstill.
Top British actors including Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ian McKellen were to perform some of the bard’s most famous scenes at the central English town’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, was to attend the Shakespeare Live! show, which was also to be broadcast on TV worldwide by the BBC and beamed to cinemas around Europe.
London was also to join in the festivities, with Shakespeare’s Globe theatre — famed for its productions full of detail from the Bard’s era — hosting the final performance of a Hamlet world tour that has taken place in 195 countries.
About 37 short films — one for each of Shakespeare’s plays — featuring stars like Dominic West and Gemma Arterton were also to be shown on giant screens snaking along the River Thames.
Dominic Dromgoole, outgoing artistic director of the Globe, put Shakespeare’s timeless appeal down to “fantastic stories that sit at the heart of human experience in all forms.”
“He’s a great wit, a great entertainer and his plays are generous — they make you feel more and understand more,” he told reporters.
Stratford, where Shakespeare was born and died, kicks off the merriment with a parade of performers wearing pantaloons, ruffs and codpieces through its historic streets, ending at his burial site.
Visitors, performers and literature buffs from around the world were expected to descend on the sleepy market town for a day of theater, dancing, fireworks and music.
Although celebrations are held every year at this time to commemorate Shakespeare’s life, organizers this year were promising something extra-special.
“It will be a spectacle like nothing we have seen before in the history of these precious, traditional celebrations,” town clerk Sarah Summers said. “It will be full of music, color and action.”
Focal points for the celebrations include Shakespeare’s family home, where it is assumed he was born in 1564, and Holy Trinity Church, where he was buried.
The schoolroom where Shakespeare is believed to have learned his craft, owned by King Edward VI School, was to be permanently opened to visitors yesterday following a £1.8 million (US$2.6 million) renovation.
Children currently studying at the school were to carry a quill to the Globe in London by cycling, rowing and running the 165km journey.
From Warsaw, to Dubai and Las Vegas, Shakespeare’s plays were also to be playing to packed houses to mark the occasion, highlighting the international appeal of the English language’s leading playwright.
“Everyone knows about Romeo and Juliet, about Hamlet and King Lear. Those iconic shapes speak to everyone, because they are embedded in human culture,” Dromgoole said, just before welcoming the Hamlet cast back from a tour that included a stop in Sudan.
“I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface of how much Shakespeare can do in the world,” he added.
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