Launch of the Shakespeare 400 Celebration at the BA
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The Bibliotheca Alexandrina launched the “Shakespeare 400: Forever and a Day 2016” celebration, which was organized by the BA in collaboration with the British Council in Egypt. The international event was held from 23 to 27 April 2016 in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the death of the great dramatist William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The celebration included an international academic conference and a festival that encompassed hundreds of artistic and cultural events.
The events started with the academic conference, inaugurated by Dr. Ismail Serageldin, the director of the BA; Jeff Streeter, the director of the British Council; Heba El-Rafey, the director of the BA Public Relations and International Communications Department; and Dr. Mark Thornton Burnett, a professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen’s University, Belfast.
The conference emphasized the role of the British Council in supporting this BA celebration, which succeeded in organizing a rich, cultural and artistic program that presented the works and legacy of Shakespeare. The celebration was attended by the actor and music historian Simon Russell Beale, one of the most renowned talents of British theater.
The BA also invited a large number of experts, researchers, and individuals interested in the works of Shakespeare to attend and participate in the conference. The topics tackled by the conference included translating Shakespeare, criticism and Shakespeare, Shakespeare on stage and on screen, and Shakespeare: history and politics.