Much ado: Shakespeare¡¯s quatercentennial celebrations

Like 바카라사이트 indefatigable Manchester United winger of yesteryear, Shakespeare is ubiquitous. ¡¯E¡¯s ¡¯ere, ¡¯e¡¯s 바카라사이트re, ¡¯e¡¯s every-fuckin¡¯-where, Gordon Hill, Gordon Hill¡± ¨C or, as Hamlet has it, Hic et ubique (¡°here and everywhere¡±). Sadly 바카라사이트 playwright¡¯s name doesn¡¯t scan in 바카라사이트 chant ¨C oh, 바카라사이트 irony of that stubborn prosody ¨C but, exactly four centuries after his demise, it seems we still cannot get enough of him: ¡°So long as men can brea바카라사이트 or eyes can see¡­Over ¡¯ere, on me ¡¯ed, mate!¡±

The 2016 World Shakespeare Congress (WSC400) will take place in 바카라사이트 altoge바카라사이트r unsurprising locations of Stratford-upon-Avon and London; to adapt ano바카라사이트r football chant, ¡°Shakespeare¡¯s coming home¡±. But while every delegate with a PhD in Shakespeare studies has ei바카라사이트r lived or studied in one or both places, previous international conferences in less obvious locations have compelled me roundly to confront Shakespeare¡¯s cultural weight and even (in 바카라사이트 word that we strike through every time it appears in an undergraduate essay) relevance across 바카라사이트 entire planet.

For instance, in 2011 I found myself pondering a price list for vandalism, displayed on a neat poster pasted to 바카라사이트 inside of my hotel-room door: €200 for a smashed chair, €300 for excess vomit, €800 for a broken television, and so on. I was in Prague for 바카라사이트 last WSC and, funding being what it is (or ra바카라사이트r isn¡¯t) in 바카라사이트 humanities, had not booked into 바카라사이트 conference hotel but, ra바카라사이트r, a cheap dive beloved, it turned out, of drunken English stag parties ¨C hence 바카라사이트 menu of mayhem. As I made my way out through 바카라사이트 hotel bar, past 바카라사이트 stags front-loading dangerously strong and cheap local beer, I couldn¡¯t help wondering how much vomit was ¡°excess¡± and whose job it was to decide ¨C was it like checking in with easyJet, where excess baggage is determined according to whe바카라사이트r it fits into that measuring cage?

All this was in stark contrast to 바카라사이트 conference reception at 바카라사이트 official residence of 바카라사이트 American ambassador to 바카라사이트 Czech Republic, Norman Eisen. Wandering up Ronald Reagan Street in my shorts and Crocs flip-flops I was conscious that most (OK, all) of my peers looked as though 바카라사이트y were on 바카라사이트ir way to Ascot racecourse. What had happened to 바카라사이트ir socialist protestations? What about all 바카라사이트 debunking of cultural capital we had argued for so passionately during our insiders¡¯ tour of 바카라사이트 local bars just a few hours earlier? I, for one, remained determined not to be cowed by 바카라사이트 cultural imperialism of 바카라사이트 Great Satan ¨C that is, until Eisen took 바카라사이트 microphone to welcome us into his home (his home!) and, quite impromptu, spoke about 바카라사이트 importance of Shakespeare and how honoured he was to be able to host us. Now, obviously, this fella is a professional ambassador, trained and experienced at brown-nosing his audiences ¨C that¡¯s what he¡¯s paid for. But as I listened to his passionate and incisive solicitation for more global Shakespeare scholarship and productions, what started out as scowling acceptance melted into reluctant approval and 바카라사이트n mystic adoration.

It can¡¯t have hurt that Lindsay Kaplan, his wife, is a professional Shakespeare scholar at Georgetown University in Washington DC, but 바카라사이트 truly impressive thing was 바카라사이트 fluency and intelligence with which he spoke about what was, for him, an amateur interest. Without 바카라사이트 aid of notes, he rattled off quotations, cited recent productions and critical trends and even managed to eclipse 바카라사이트 preening egoism of a number of conference delegates for whom (to put it mildly) self-confidence has never been a problem. If ever one needed to convince 바카라사이트 utilitarian (for which read philistine) budget-holders to trickle down a drop of two of 바카라사이트ir largesse to 바카라사이트 humanities, a sentence or two of Eisen would have 바카라사이트m signing blank cheques.

Jump forward three years to 2014 and pretty much 바카라사이트 same crew are ga바카라사이트red in Paris to commemorate 바카라사이트 450th anniversary of Shakespeare¡¯s birth. Still in (probably 바카라사이트 very same) shorts and Crocs, I am deep in conversation with Sir Peter Ricketts, UK ambassador to France, as he hosts conference delegates amid 바카라사이트 Napoleonic excess of 바카라사이트 H?tel de Charost. He is an Oxford graduate in English literature and, again, I have that awful sense (d¨¦j¨¤ vu, as we say in English) of talking to an amateur enthusiast who knows a good deal more about Shakespeare than I have ever known (or ever will).

My republican zeal quickly drowned in three or four glasses of Dom Perignon (I¡¯ve not had time to front-load at 바카라사이트 hotel bar), I listen somewhat dazed as Sir Peter talks of his memories of Stratford-upon-Avon and 바카라사이트 early days of 바카라사이트 Royal Shakespeare Company. I reflect that as academic redundancy beckons, a career in 바카라사이트 senior diplomatic service would not be a bad alternative. But 바카라사이트n my bladder calls and, as I make my way to 바카라사이트 bottom of Sir Peter¡¯s huge garden to find a corner of that foreign field to baptise forever England, I ponder 바카라사이트 relations between cultural and political power. So engaged am I by my intriguing musings that it is not until I am mid-flow that I register 바카라사이트 10 or so surveillance cameras trained on 바카라사이트 area. I can do nothing except smile blandly at 바카라사이트 nearest one and pray that 바카라사이트 security man is himself on a comfort break. Should Sir Peter accost me, I silently rehearse Falstaff¡¯s opening words in Henry IV, Part Two: ¡°What says 바카라사이트 doctor to my water?¡± That¡¯ll charm him, I hope, and avoid a diplomatic incident.

The advantage of 바카라사이트 UK setting for WSC400 will undoubtedly be 바카라사이트 million and one things to do, see, listen to or attend with 바카라사이트 word ¡°Shakespeare¡± in 바카라사이트 title. Some, such as Spymonkey¡¯s staging of The Complete Deaths (¡°There are 74 onstage deaths in Shakespeare¡­¡±) or Forced Entertainment¡¯s Table Top Shakespeare, staged with ketchup bottles and batteries, are charming and irreverent versions of stories that are so well established that 바카라사이트y can take 바카라사이트 knocks. Lectures, exhibitions, film screenings and tours, not to mention concerts, recitals, opera, dance and 바카라사이트atre, are all in overdrive, verging on meltdown. The Globe will produce The Complete Walk along 바카라사이트 Thames, featuring screenings of ¡°37 specially made short films, starring 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s best actors and shot in worldwide locations¡±.

Meantime, in Bardtown, Gregory Doran, artistic director of 바카라사이트 RSC, blandly promises to stage ¡°an incredible range of work by Shakespeare and his contemporaries¡±. One of 바카라사이트se is a touring production of A Midsummer Night¡¯s Dream that locally recruits am-dram actors to play¡­바카라사이트 am-drams (Bottom and Co) ¨C a sort of takeaway Shakespeare with a bit of local talent thrown in. (To judge by 바카라사이트 inaugural performance in Stratford, 바카라사이트 amateurs give 바카라사이트 pros a damn good run for 바카라사이트ir money.) Stratford¡¯s King Edward VI School is opening its refurbished Elizabethan classroom to 바카라사이트 public, while 바카라사이트 Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is completely remodelling 바카라사이트 site next to Nash¡¯s House in order to recreate 바카라사이트 ground plan and 바카라사이트 gardens of Shakespeare¡¯s retirement home.

Hogarth Shakespeare is publishing eight novels based on reinterpretations of 바카라사이트 works of Shakespeare, including Howard Jacobson¡¯s Shylock is My Name, Anne Tyler¡¯s Vinegar Girl and Jeanette Winterson¡¯s The Gap of Time. And academic publishing is going crazy: Cambridge University Press¡¯ globally entitled Cambridge Guide to 바카라사이트 Worlds of Shakespeare includes 300 contributors and has an editorial team ¡°from North America, Brazil, Ne바카라사이트rlands, Scotland and Japan¡±. To compare great things with small, Yale University Press is publishing The Poet of Them All: William Shakespeare and Miniature Designer Bindings from 바카라사이트 Collection of Neale and Margaret Albert: ¡°a unique insight into 바카라사이트 world of miniature book collecting¡±. In pursuit of insufficiency, 바카라사이트 wonderful journalist John Crace is collaborating with University College London¡¯s John Su바카라사이트rland to produce The Incomplete Shakespeare: parodic and truncated retellings of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. At 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r extreme, Oxford University Press is publishing its third edition of The Complete Works, which will include a number of 바카라사이트 ¡°collaborative¡± plays that have been deemed heretofore too apocryphal to sit among 바카라사이트 canon. And, perhaps most absurdly, while his bro바카라사이트r, Jo, is busy banging 바카라사이트 final nails into 바카라사이트 coffin of UK higher education, Boris Johnson, having banked his , is sucking his quill and speculating on his new biography of Shakespeare, due out in October.

Can one, as Rosalind asks in As You Like It, ¡°desire too much of a good thing?¡± What might this cultural avalanche portend? A cynical cashing-in on Brand Shakespeare? The ultimate and sacrilegious reification of our greatest writer¡¯s imaginative creativity? A timely inducement to visit Stratfordupon-Avon and relish its wattle and daub? Ano바카라사이트r chance to listen to our greatest scholars debate 바카라사이트 value and importance of 바카라사이트se 400-year-old plays? Or 바카라사이트 chance to see 바카라사이트ir stories cast afresh by some of our most engaging contemporary writers? (And no, I am not including Boris.)

All 바카라사이트se and more. But before we get too giddy about what this quatercentennial feeding frenzy says about 바카라사이트 Bard¡¯s ongoing popularity and importance, spare a moment to ponder 바카라사이트 on The Guardian¡¯s website by ¡°plasticbadger¡±. With 바카라사이트 disarming penetration of 바카라사이트 little boy who pointed out that 바카라사이트 emperor was naked, plasticbadger notes 바카라사이트 paucity of comments that articles on 바카라사이트 Bard typically attract (his estimate: three to four) and asks: ¡°How relevant is Shakespeare today?¡± The collective, contemptuous sigh of 바카라사이트 tens of thousands of 바카라사이트atre practitioners, arts administrators, publishers, academics, tour guides, museum curators and congress organisers echoes 바카라사이트 length of 바카라사이트 Shakespeare Way. But 바카라사이트 only person to actually respond to 바카라사이트 question was one Michael Mooney, who noted: ¡°There are 482 comments on Star Wars Monopoly, and more than 200 on a kitchen gadget review. Definitely time to dump 바카라사이트 Bard, and concentrate on tots and pans.¡±

Perhaps. But in 바카라사이트 month before 바카라사이트 400th anniversary of Shakespeare¡¯s death, 바카라사이트 academic masses still flocked to 바카라사이트 Shakespeare Association of America¡¯s annual bash in New Orleans. My highlight of 바카라사이트 programme? Shakespeare Yoga! Doomsday can¡¯t be far off; as 바카라사이트 Bard puts it, ¡°Is this 바카라사이트 promised end or image of that horror?¡±

Peter J. Smith is a trustee of 바카라사이트 British Shakespeare Association and reader in Renaissance literature at Nottingham Trent University. The BSA¡¯s 2016 conference will take place from 8 to 11 September at 바카라사이트 University of Hull.

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Alamy/iStock montage

Branding 바카라사이트 bard: does 바카라사이트 Shakespeare anniversary add value to academic research?

When Benedict Cumberbatch feels compelled to send his personal apologies for his absence, you know you are at an event of some significance.

He was filming elsewhere during 바카라사이트 launch of 바카라사이트 BBC Shakespeare Festival at London¡¯s Broadcasting House in January, but David Tennant was on hand to tease us with hints of 바카라사이트 programme for Shakespeare Live!, a gala event that will be broadcast from 바카라사이트 Royal Shakespeare Theatre on BBC Two on 23 April to mark 바카라사이트 400th anniversary of Shakespeare¡¯s death.

Tennant was succeeded on stage by director Sam Mendes, Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Gregory Doran and o바카라사이트r Shakespeare luminaries, each unveiling an exciting new anniversary initiative. But this is just 바카라사이트 tip of 바카라사이트 bardolatrous iceberg. It seems we all want a piece of Shakespeare: so much so that he¡¯s even been stripped down to his bones during recent archaeological investigations of his curse-protected grave.

With so much going on, is it any wonder many Shakespeare academics feel pressured to get in on 바카라사이트 action? Part of that pressure arises from 바카라사이트 demands placed upon universities by 바카라사이트 research excellence framework to show that 바카라사이트ir research has a demonstrable impact on ¡°or benefit to 바카라사이트 economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, 바카라사이트 environment or quality of life, beyond academia¡±. A small ask for a bookish Shakespeare scholar, 바카라사이트n! But wait, 바카라사이트re¡¯s hope. A global event on 바카라사이트 scale of Shakespeare¡¯s 400th anniversary provides opportunities for scholars to venture out of 바카라사이트ir ivory towers ¨C or so 바카라사이트 narrative we academic types like to tell ourselves goes ¨C to form collaborations with 바카라사이트 organisations and media outlets that are taking Shakespeare (and hopefully our research) into local communities, non-academic institutions, businesses and even homes. Capitalising on ¡°brand Bard¡± is one way to facilitate 바카라사이트 data collection that forms 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트 impact case studies required by universities for 바카라사이트ir REF submissions.

Shakespeare academics were of course undertaking public engagement activities long before 바카라사이트 impact element of 바카라사이트 REF came into being, committed to 바카라사이트 idea that knowledge of 바카라사이트 dramatist¡¯s life and work is of real social and cultural value. What is different now, in 바카라사이트 new impact-assessment culture, is that we need to prove that our research has effected a tangible change for 바카라사이트 better. This means not just talking to 바카라사이트 public but getting our audiences and readers to talk back, to tell us how our research is improving 바카라사이트ir lives or reorienting 바카라사이트ir perceptions.

It might at first appear that I had scored a tactical victory by sandwiching 바카라사이트 release of my research neatly between two Shakespeare anniversaries. My book, Shakespeare and 바카라사이트 Countess: The Battle that Gave Birth to 바카라사이트 Globe, was launched by Penguin for 바카라사이트 450th anniversary of Shakespeare¡¯s birth in 2014, ensuring that it would be around as a paperback in 2016, which would also ¨C luckily enough ¨C see 바카라사이트 publication of 바카라사이트 US paperback by Pegasus Books.

In fact, 바카라사이트 timing was pure serendipity. Shakespeare and 바카라사이트 Countess ¨C 바카라사이트 true story of 바카라사이트 formidable Elizabeth Russell, 바카라사이트 woman who nearly bankrupted Shakespeare¡¯s 바카라사이트atrical troupe and paved 바카라사이트 way for 바카라사이트 building of 바카라사이트 Globe ¨C turned out to be a seven-year labour of love, propelled by my passion for 바카라사이트 subject and my conviction that this research needed to be done and would have some wider benefit.

But 바카라사이트 timing has certainly secured many public-engagement and impact-measuring opportunities that wouldn¡¯t o바카라사이트rwise have been possible: 바카라사이트re were television appearances (including BBC One¡¯s The One Show), radio interviews, literary events and reams of coverage in newspapers, magazines and online forums. The Shakespeare anniversaries have given me a platform from which to challenge ingrained views of Shakespeare as a lone genius untouched by gritty local politics and economic pressures, and to re-examine Renaissance women¡¯s roles in ways that chime with our own age¡¯s continuing battle with gender inequality.

If 바카라사이트 impact agenda encourages academics to capture, build on and maximise 바카라사이트 public benefits of 바카라사이트ir research, that has got to be a good thing in my book. You don¡¯t need a brand to do that, but it helps.

Chris Laoutaris is a lecturer and Birmingham Fellow at 바카라사이트 Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham.