We chatted yesterday about the enormous influence Shakespeare had on the English language, and how his birthday is a good time celebrate not necessarily his age, but his modern cultural influences.

Today, I thought it might be fun to realize how much Shakespeare’s work has influenced not just the English-speaking world, but the entire population of this vast and diverse planet.  This year, the 400th anniversary of his death, has seen a huge number of productions of the Bard’s great work, in venues ranging from a garden in Kabul to a restaurant in Mumbai; and in formats as diverse as the people who perform them, including using Brazilian circus performers who help tell the tale of Romeo and Juliet and a Maori tradition war dance (known as a Haka) to interpret Troilus and Cressida.  Check out their journey to the Globe Theatre in London right here:

http://youtu.be/O1z5rN8CxZQ

You can check out the full range of incredible performances and performers at the website  Year of Shakespeare, which has tirelessly documented the various invocations of the Great Man’s work across the planet, many of which have been, or will be, performed at the Globe Theatre in London.

What’s remarkable about these performance is the ways in Shakespeare is not just the fact that his work has inspired humans across the planet, and clearly continues to do so, but also in ways in which his work is invoked to tell modern stories about contemporary experiences, as well.  In Pakistan, actors use The Taming of the Shrew as way to explore the difficulties encountered by Pakistani women in today’s society (a picture of their performance at the Globe is to the left).  Bahgdad’s Iraq Theater Company staged a version of Romeo and Juliet to reflect contemporary rifts in society.  Check out a talk from the director below:

A Polish production of Macbeth has used the concept of insanity to look at all those ostracized and isolated from society, including drug addicts and gangsters, implicitly questioning not only Macbeth’s motivations, but our own.  A theater troupe from South Sudan–the newest country on the globe– has translated Cymbeline into Juba Arabic for the first time ever, and incorporated contemporary local slang and indigenous folklore, as a way of bringing Shakespeare’s story closer and closer to the current lived experience of its actors.  You can watch the incredible labor of love that this project is in the video below:

This week, Radio Free Europe released a video of Hamlet’s immortal “To be or not to be” soliloquy, performed by actors from countries across the former Soviet Union, each in their own native language.  Check it out in the clip below:

 

What is wondrous about all these performances is how intensely personal, how deeply felt, and how powerfully insightful each of these performances, and the countless others going on this year, truly are.  These are not the dull recitations of a man dead for four centuries…they are the living, breathing embodiment of a contemporary culture, using the words and tales handed down, generation by generation, from a remarkable storyteller.  These aren’t simply lines on a page–they have become the words through which actors, directors, and viewers around the world have spoken a truth about their own experiences, providing a voice to people who have so long been voiceless, and representation for those who might otherwise be overlooked, and uniting people around the world with plots and characters as real and recognizable today as they were in the 17th century.

That is nothing short of remarkable.  And it is the power that Shakespeare’s tale still have, and the freedom they have given to so many, that we are celebrating when we celebrate Shakespeare.  So check out Year of Shakespeare, and celebrate with us, wherever you are, and in whatever language speaks to your heart.