As every nation descends upon England for the London 2012 Olympics, sport will not be the only cultural focus, with the World Shakespeare Festival taking place as part of the Cultural Olympiad. For those who are mystified by this term of quasi-mythical proportions: the Cultural Olympiad is an umbrella label, referring to all of the most prolific artistic events happening during this Olympic year.
The Shakespeare Festival, which began on the 23rd April, is a collaboration of different theatre companies from around the world, performing the entire works of the Bard, in new, exciting interpretations, and in many different languages.
From the 26th April, the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon will be showing Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad, which is a radical re-telling of the original, transposed to modern-day Iraq. Instead of Capulets and Montagues, the audience will witness the conflict between Shiite and Sunni groups, and the love and violence which ensues when these clash.
The tragedy of this adaptation, I am sure, will be all the more meaningful in the wake of the Iraqi war, the awful scenes of which once played on our television screens on an almost daily basis. The play will be performed in colloquial Arabic, by the players of the Baghdad Iraqi Theatre Company, proving that Shakespeare’s beauty and understanding of the human condition transcends language, and can awaken the hearts and minds of any culture. Other performances include Two Roses for Richard III, which is a Brazilian version of Shakespeare’s history plays, featuring circus and aerial skills to create a lively and dynamic experience. The Globe in London – Shakespeare’s old stomping ground – are putting on Pericles in Greek, Antony and Cleopatra in Turkish, and Henry VI Part II in Albanian. The list goes on. Place a pin in a world atlas, and chances are you’ll hit a country which is producing, or at least inspiring an adaptation for the Festival.
This is set to be the biggest ever celebration of Shakespeare’s plays, and demonstrates that his works are just as enjoyable and potent today, in this multifarious and ever-changing global village, as they were in Renaissance England.
Shakespeare created something new in the English language, and his writing has the capacity to keep on creating itself, in any new culture and in any language. That is why he was, is, and always will be brilliant.