British Council, BBC to celebrate Shakespeare through digital camapaign

Commemorating the 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare, the British Council in association with the BBC will announce a "Shakespeare Day Live" digital campaign on April 23 to bring across the upcoming six month online festival on the Bard.

Leading arts organisations across the UK will make available performances, analysis, and talks, all streamed on "Shakespeare Day Live", a digital pop-up channel co-curated by the BBC and the British Council which kicks off "Shakespeare Lives" - a six month online festival available to audiences in the UK, India and across the globe.

"This weekend we're experimenting live with digital formats like never before," said BBC director general Tony Hall.

"Alongside a fantastic line up on radio and television, we're hosting a digital festival, shaped with partners, to bring their creativity to millions here and the world over," he said.

"And, for the first time, the BBC will be showcasing the great talent, we have in our leading cultural institutions on BBC iPlayer. It's another step towards an open BBC - something we all believe in," he added.

Programmes to be presented include David Tennant's performance as Richard II, a celebration of the cast and crew of Hamlet and a performance at Holy Trinity Church.

As a part of this festival, the British council will launch 'All the World's report' that questioned 18,000 respondents in 15 countries about the knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare.

The report reveals that internationally Shakespeare is widely known, liked, understood and regarded as relevant even today.

Over a third of those questioned said that Shakespeare made them feel more positive about the UK in general, with respondents in India (62%) and Brazil (57%) scoring the highest.

"Shakespeare is loved and performed all over the world," said Graham Sheffield, director arts, British council.

"He remains the UK's single most significant cultural figure 400 years after his death, a remarkable feat in itself! In the contemporary context his work enables the exploration of complex issues and develops stronger relationships between Britain and the world."

"We are delighted that with great Britain campaign support, we are able to see the work of so many great artists and organisations from the UK shared with the world through our new partnership with the BBC"," he added.

--IANS

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