Year with Shakespeare. The great playwright as a diplomat

MOSCOW. The year of language and literature of Russia and Great Britain begins.

Such an initiative in a period of international tension, not mitigated by diplomatic efforts, seems not just appropriate, but saving. Only enlightenment, acquaintance with the culture of another nation and a full-fledged dialogue can become that alarm clock that will not allow you to completely fall into the monster-giving dream. The headliner of the current program was the playwright, born April 23, 1616. The many-month-old Shakespeare Lives festival will allow not only to wipe at William our great Shakespeare, but also celebrate its 400th anniversary on a grand scale. Most of the events will be associated with the name of The Bard of Avon, who is still more alive than many. Exhibitions, competitions, concerts, seminars will allow you to learn more about his work and British literature in general.

The project has already begun with the launch of an online educational course in January. Within a month and a half, you can listen to a free course of lectures on the work of the playwright, get acquainted with a detailed analysis of the most popular plays, their linguistic component. In the last month of winter, dozens of Russian cinemas will begin broadcasting Shakespearean productions from the legendary Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and Barbican Center. Spring will be especially eventful. The competition of translations of works by contemporary British authors, the appearance of the Shakespearean train in the Moscow metro, the exchange of exhibits between the Tretyakov Gallery and the London National Portrait Gallery. "Shakespeare" for students, seminars and discussions in Yasnaya Polyana, the British Film Festival, the active participation of authors from the United Kingdom in the Moscow Book Fair. Similar events will be held on the banks of the Thames, including film screenings, olympiads, awarding of the best translators, and a competition of illustrators of Russian classics.

Shakespeare wrote dozens of plays, several poems and 154 sonnets, made a significant contribution to the formation and standardization of modern English, influenced the work of many famous writers. 400 years later, it helps establish a constructive dialogue between the two countries.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru