The best quotes from Shakespeare’s works will be displayed in an exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City from 05 to 19 November 2016. Shakespeare Lives in Words is to be set at Duong Sach, Nguyen Van Binh Street, District 1.
As part of the global Shakespeare Lives programme, the exhibition is organised by the British Council in partnership with Nha Nam, a famous local publisher. The event also received support from Duong Sach Nguyen Van Binh.
Shakespeare Lives is a series of events and activities throughout 2016 celebrating Shakespeare’s works on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death. Activities in English, education and the arts will explore the story of how the ‘Bard of Avon’ and his works continue to inspire people all over the world.
More than 30 quotes from such classics as Hamlet, Macbeth, the Tempest and Romeo and Juliet, amongst others powerfully show that the verse, though created nearly half a millennium ago, is still alive and kicking. Here is a selection: ‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’, ‘We know what we are, but know not what we may be.’, ‘Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.’
In the form of an installation of colours and shapes, Shakespeare Lives in Words will surround and wow audiences with words everywhere. There will be cut-outs in big sizes, words in colour screens and words in different layouts. Broader contexts of the quotes and fun facts about Shakespeare’s life will also be displayed. In addition, there will also be a corner where participants can read Shakespeare’s works in Vietnamese and learn about English words invented by Shakespeare.
The opening ceremony will be taking place at 09.30, Saturday 05 November 2016 at the main stage of Duong Sach Nguyen Van Binh. Audiences can enjoy a Shakespeare sonnet read by Paul Millard from British Council Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Luu Thai Thuan, the winner of ‘Shakespeare Lives in Sonnets’ translation competition held by the British Council Vietnam in September. Director Khanh Hoang from The City Drama Theatre and students from Ho Chi Minh City Open University will bring to the opening an act from Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare’s greatest works of all time, especially for this occasion.
Leading on Shakespeare Lives activities in Vietnam, the British Council has been collaborating with publishing houses, arts organisations and schools to engage audiences with new creative work inspired by Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Shakespeare Lives activities will enable audiences to reassess perceptions of Shakespeare and provide new inspiration to engage with his work which never fails to charm readers from across the world.