Art
MY Kingdom FOR A BARD!
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Art writer Kristy Campbell celebrates National Shakespeare Day and looks at his influence on language and art
nnouncement of the third lockdown in the UK from the New Year has spurred many of us on to source new hobbies, arrange indoor family activities, and to celebrate national holidays and observances that we might not have taken the time to do before.
site, where flowers are laid annually during the celebrations. It is here in this medieval market town that pageants and processions take place to commemorate his work. Music and dancing bring the town to life, with actors in themed attire retelling his tales.
Already, 2021 has gifted us the Orthodox New Year, Burns Night, Chinese New Year, Shrove Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, Purim, and Maha Shivaratri. So why stop there? Each year on the 23 April, National Shakespeare Day is observed globally, to commemorate one of the world’s most distinguished poets and playwrights.
Along with the remarks ‘Love is blind’ (The Merchant of Venice), ‘Vanish in to thin air’ (Othello), and ‘Break the ice’ (The Taming of the Shrew), Shakespeare also left behind the very place where many of these terms were first projected, The Globe Theatre in London. Originally built in 1599 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, an acting company Shakespeare wrote for, the theatre was later destroyed by fire and replaced by a contemporary structure in 1997 in Southwark, London.
Shakespeare’s contribution to the English Language has left a monumental mark to this day, gifting us an exceptional list of plays, sonnets and verses, composed of elaborate speeches, dramatic metaphors, rhyming couplets, and vivid representations of comedy and tragedy. Throughout the UK, students often have the pleasure (and the challenge) of studying his works in English and Drama studies, while many individuals join production companies to indulge in and master the complex style and expressions. Some of Shakespeare’s treasures include - Richard III, Henry VI, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace, is also home to his burial
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