Alexandria, 22 April 2016 – The British Council and Alexandrina Bibliotheca celebrate William Shakespeare’s work on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016. The celebration includes delivering an exciting public programme which includes workshops and performances by the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company, music by the Kantu Early Music Ensemble, film screenings and a three-day academic conference. Activities start on 23 April, Shakespeare’s birthday, and continue for the rest of the week.
Shakespeare Lives is an invitation to the world to join in the festivities by participating in a unique online collaboration and experiencing the work of Shakespeare directly on stage, through film, exhibitions and in schools. It will run throughout 2016, exploring Shakespeare as a living writer who still speaks for all people and nations. The British Council and the GREAT Britain campaign are working with a host of British theatres, museums, educators and artists on brand new productions of Shakespeare’s plays, film adaptations, public readings and educational resources for schools and English language learners of all ages in the UK and around the world. In Egypt the British Council is working in partnership with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to deliver this exciting public programme.
The BBC is also celebrating Shakespeare Day through live streaming a dazzling array of actors, musicians, artists, and events on Saturday 23 April 2016 : www.bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives
Shakespeare Day Live
Presenters and full Schedule for 23 April 2016 announced
www.bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives
#ShakespeareLives
A dazzling array of actors, musicians and artists including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, David Tennant, Dame Carol Ann Duffy, Adrian Lester, Germaine Greer, Ralph Fiennes, Simon Russell Beale, the BBC Scottish Symphony and the BBC Concert Orchestras together with new work inspired by Shakespeare from young artists from across the UK and Europe are featured on Shakespeare Day Live which launches Shakespeare Lives, a six month online festival marking the 400th anniversary of the death of the Bard.
• Suzy Klein, Ore Oduba, Matthew Sweet, Sara Mohr-Pietsch, Andy Akinwolere, Jamie McDougall and Katie Derham will present the online celebration of Shakespeare, co-curated by the BBC and the British Council and co-ordinated by the Shakespeare digital team based in Birmingham.
• Shakespeare Day Live will feature special contributions from the Royal Opera House, Shakespeare’s Globe, the BFI, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Hay Festival and the Royal Shakespeare Company, broadcast online at bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives
• Shakespeare Day Live will inaugurate Shakespeare Lives - a six month online festival, which will bring together a remarkable collection of interpretations of Shakespeare’s work in one digital space, for audiences in the UK and around the world to experience.
• Highlights of Shakespeare Lives will be made available on BBC iPlayer - the first time programmes from not-for-profit arts organisations will have been brought to wider audiences through the BBC
Shakespeare Day Live will be delivered by a team of presenters from locations across the UK and available to watch anywhere in the world.
Highlights of Shakespeare Day Live include:
• Three visits to Shakespeare’s Globe on Bankside in London, as the cast and crew of Hamlet return from a two-year round the world tour and prepare for their homecoming performances. There will also be a showcase of the Complete Walk: 37 screens playing a series of specially-made films, starring Mel Giedroyc, Meera Syal and Peter Capaldi, along a 2.5 mile route between Westminster and Tower Bridge
• Simon Russell Beale and Adrian Lester explore Shakespeare’s most challenging role: Hamlet.
• An online exclusive of David Tennant’s acclaimed performance as Richard II staged by the RSC
Graham Sheffield, Director Arts, British Council, says: “Shakespeare is loved and performed all over the world. He remains the UK's single most significant cultural figure 400 years after his death, a remarkable feat in itself! In the contemporary context his work enables the exploration of complex issues and develops stronger relationships between Britain and the world. We are delighted to see the work of so many great artists and organisations from the UK shared with the world through our new partnership with the BBC.”
Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC, says: “This weekend we’re experimenting live with digital formats like never before. Alongside a fantastic line up on radio and television, we’re hosting a digital festival, shaped with partners, to bring their creativity to millions here and the world over. And, for the first time, the BBC will be showcasing the great talent we have in our leading cultural institutions on BBC iPlayer. It’s another step towards an open BBC – something we all believe in.”
BBC iPlayer
As part of the BBC’s plans to provide a richer service to audiences and help foster growth in the creative industries, on the 23rd April a curated mix of programmes from not-for-profit arts organisations involved in the six month Shakespeare Lives festival – the British Film Institute, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Opera House will be made available to audiences for the first time on BBC iPlayer.
Programmes will include:
• Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere, with Ian McKellen: a British Film Institute production, in which Ian McKellen shares his unique insights into the problems and joys of interpreting Shakespeare for the theatre, television, radio and cinema.
• David Tennant’s performance as Richard II in the latest production of the play from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• A performance at Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried, of Ex Cathedra’s ‘A Shakespeare Masque – a contemporary Ode to Shakespeare, written by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, with music composed by Sally Beamish.
• A celebration of the cast and crew of Hamlet, produced by Shakespeare’s Globe, as they return to bankside after a two-year round the world tour.
• Breakfast with the Bard: in collaboration with Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, Suzy Klein and guests examine the archaeology of Shakespeare’s New Place, and the newly commissioned artworks on display there.
• Ballet, Opera and the Bard: an exploration of Shakespeare in ballet and opera provided by the Royal Opera House.
FRIDAY 22 AND SATURDAY 23 APRIL
SHAKESPEARE DAY LIVE RUNNING ORDER
www.bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives
#ShakespeareLives
FRIDAY 22 APRIL
Shakespeare Odes: Live Broadcast
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon
1930 – 2130 BST
A world-premiere commemorative concert in the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried. Choral group Ex Cathedra and City Musick perform Thomas Arne’s 18th century musical setting of An Ode to Shakespeare by David Garrick – the 18th century actor and theatre manager responsible for our modern-day appreciation of The Bard; and A Shakespeare Masque, specially written for the event by the Poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy, and composed by Sally Beamish, and narrated by actor Sam West. Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch and broadcast in conjunction with BBC Radio 3.
SATURDAY April 23
Breakfast with the Bard: Live Broadcast
Shakespeare’s New Place, Stratford upon Avon
0800-0900 BST
Shakespeare Day Live has exclusive access to Shakespeare’s New Place, the site of Shakespeare’s adult home and the place where he died. The area is being reimagined as a commemorative garden with exhibitions in neighbouring Nash’s House, formerly owned by Shakespeare’s granddaughter and her husband. Presenter Suzy Klein and guests discuss Shakespeare the man, the archaeology of his home; the newly commissioned artworks and a look ahead to the day’s events in Stratford.
BBC Birmingham: Live Broadcasts
Mailbox, Birmingham
Throughout the day, presenter Andy Akinwolere broadcasts live from the home of BBC Birmingham with guests, facts, films and fun about Shakespeare. Andy challenges our preconceptions of Shakespeare and brings him up to date with interactive films, a look at the touch-screen table developed in conjunction with the University of Birmingham; all hosted from the Blue Room; the BBC’s home of innovation.
The Complete Walk: Live Broadcast
Shakespeare’s Globe, Bankside, London
1100-1130 BST
Presenter Katie Derham celebrates the opening of The Complete Walk, all 37 Shakespeare plays each represented by new films created by Shakespeare’s Globe and shown on 37 big screens stretching from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge on this special day.
Hamlet Returns: Live Broadcast
Shakespeare’s Globe, Bankside, London
1230-1300 BST
After a two-year world tour to almost every country, Shakespeare’s Globe’s production of Hamlet returns home. Katie Derham joins the cast and crew on their triumphant return to the Globe stage as they are welcomed back by Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole.
The Late Plays: Live Broadcast
Shakespeare’s Globe, Bankside, London
1730-1830 BST
With exclusive performances from inside the candle-lit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Katie Derham explores the world of Shakespeare’s Late Plays which Dominic Dromgoole has been staging to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
11:30-12:00 Live from Mailbox: Silent Shakespeare with BFI
Second visit to Mailbox as Andy Akinwolere explores BFI’s Silent Shakespeare collection with BFI Curator of Silent Film Bryony Dixon - who will also discuss the BFI’s new film Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Cinema and the making of the music for the film with musicians and composers from Shakespeare’s Globe, plus updates social media activity.
Opera and Ballet with the Bard Live Broadcast from the Royal Opera House
Covent Garden, London
1300-1400 BST
Great music and performance from the world of ballet and opera, presented by Ore Oduba. We join Royal Ballet stars Lauren Cuthbertson and Edward Watson as they rehearse The Winter’s Tale. Also featured the potion scene from Kenneth MacMillan’s classic Romeo and Juliet and music from Verdi’s two great Shakespearean operas Otello and Falstaff.
New Shakespeare Songbook: Live Broadcast
Mailbox, Birmingham
1400-1500 BST
Shakespeare was a great songwriter – with songs appearing in many of his greatest plays. To mark the 400th anniversary of his death, the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union have commissioned a New Shakespeare Songbook inviting composers and musicians throughout Europe to write new songs based on the Bard’s texts. Presenter Andy Akinwolere takes us on a musical journey through Europe as contemporary songwriters respond to the poetry of Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays.
Sound of Cinema: Live Broadcast
King Edward School, Stratford upon Avon
1500 – 1600 BST
The BBC Concert Orchestra celebrates the music of Shakespeare on film. Classic scores from Olivier’s Henry V, Greenaway’s Prospero’s Books to Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing are given the full symphonic treatment under the baton of Shakespeare enthusiast and BBC CO Principal Conductor Keith Lockhart. Presented by Matthew Sweet.
Dream On: Live Broadcast
Bute Hall, University of Glasgow
1900-2000
Students from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art collaborate with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on a programme of delights featuring music, dance, composition and British Sign Language. The performance features four intertwining pieces inspired by Midsummer Night’s Dream, including a special recording by David Tennant. The programme is curated by Graham McLaren, currently associate director for the National Theatre of Scotland, and presented by Jamie MacDougall.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Richard II
RSC
David Tennant stars as the doomed Richard II in Greg Doran’s critically-acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production, available for the first time online across the world.
Hay Festival Talking About Shakespeare
Through a mixture of new short films and the festival’s extensive archive top authors, actors, academics and thinkers including Stephen Fry, Germaine Greer and Dame Judi Dench explore Shakespeare, his works and his legacy.
Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere, with Ian McKellen
BFI
Sir Ian McKellen shares his unique insights into the problems and joys of interpreting Shakespeare for the theatre, television, radio and cinema.
Being Hamlet
BBC
Two of the greatest contemporary Hamlets, Simon Russell Beale and Adrian Lester discuss this most celebrated and challenging of roles. Their discussion of the Prince of Denmark fittingly takes place on Danish soil in the elegant surroundings of the ambassador’s residence in London. From Gielgud to Branagh, Olivier to Plummer, they explore the rich variety of approaches to a role to which so many actors aspire.
The Works
Set on a Peckham council estate, this short film , written and directed by Elliot Barnes Worrell celebrates Shakespeare’s timeless themes with a cast Headed by Ralph Fiennes. Using only the words of Shakespeare, The Works explores the vast complexities that exist within a community of young Londoners who refuse to be defined by their circumstances.