2016 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and it is being marked nationally and internationally by events and celebrations of the prolific playwright’s work.
Shakespeare 400: ‘Chapter & Verse’ will bring together a wide range of groups in Canterbury to offer a local view of the work of the Bard. Focussing on unique aspects of this historic town and its people, Chapter & Verse offers the opportunity to rediscover the familiar in new ways through Shakespeare’s work and the fascinating spaces, places and people who live and work in and around the City.
Collaborators in ‘Chapter & Verse’ include the Templeman Library Special Collections and Archives, the School of English and the School of Arts at the University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury Cathedral, King’s School Canterbury, the Marlowe Theatre, the Gulbenkian and the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge. The project has been overseen by Jane Gallagher in the Templeman Library Special Collections and Archives. More information about the year-long series can be found on the School of English website. All welcome.
Events coming up next week
Shakespeare 400 Open Lecture Series: ‘In Time with Shakespeare: Performance and Jet Lag’ (Professor Robert Shaughnessy)
Hosted by the School of Arts
Tuesday 29th March, 5pm, Jarman Studio 1 (followed by a drinks reception in the Jarman Building)
Abstract: As one of the ways in which time is conceptualized as space, and vice-versa (and through which both are thought of in terms of journeying), jet lag is one of the metaphors we live by. It is one with resonances for Shakespearean performance, which by definition exists in multiple time zones. This talk compares the predicaments of the jet-lagged traveller, the off-form actor, and the jet-lagged, off-form travelling actor to suggest a new angle on Shakespeare.
The Paper Stage: Arden of Faversham
The Paper Stage is a public play-reading project dedicated to the extraordinary and diverse drama of the Renaissance.
Tuesday 29th March, the Peter Brown Room (Darwin), 6pm
Arden of Faversham, author unknown. This play is based on actual events that occurred roughly fifty years before it was written. A land grabbing business man, disliked by many people, becomes the target of a plot to disperse his wealth. The twist being, that the plot is devised by his wife! To make sure that her husband comes to an untimely end she engages the services of more than one ‘assassin’, but nothing runs smooth for the conspirators. Does Arden survive? Are the killers successful? Does Arden’s wife get her hands on the money?