On this, the 456th birthday of William Shakespeare, there’s no dearth of ways to celebrate the poet and playwright generally regarded as the greatest English-language writer ever (not to mention one of the most prolific). Following, a few suggestions to get the party started:
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Stream a free performance of Shakespeare's Globe production of Romeo and Juliet on YouTube.
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Post a tribute to Will on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook with the #ShareYourShakespeare tag. (Thank you, Folger Shakespeare Library and Royal Shakespeare Company!)
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Pen a 14-line Shakespearean sonnet (from the Italian sonetto, or “little song”) to your sweetheart. (Couplet-composing skills a little rusty? Not to worry—WikiHow provides complete sonnet-writing instructions.)
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Shakespeare’s words were meant to be heard! Treat your ears to one of the many dramatic masterpieces available as e-audiobooks to Mechanics’ Institute members, including:
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Sample other writers’ perspectives on the Shakespearean world. Kathryn Harkup’s newly-released Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts and Bernard Cornwell’s historic novel Fools and Mortals, for example, are both available to MI members as ebooks.
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Seriously into Shakespeare? Join the public Facebook group of the Shakespeare 2020 Project, dedicated to reading and discussing his complete works this year. Party on, Bard buffs!
