Shakespeare’s Big Four-Five-Oh

His is an amazing name when you think about it. Something tremulous, something virile. Vulnerability and power in tension — or is it harmony? Like his characters, so recognisably real in their complexity, even the playwright’s signature seems to encompass a vision of humanity in all its strengths and failings. “What’s in a name?” Juliet famously asked. Well, in the case of her creator, rather a lot, for it’s his name that’s carved in giant letters at the summit of Mount Literature (much like the Hollywood sign but rather more accessible to the public).

While one might well argue that a play by any other writer might smell as sweet, it’s hard to imagine a corpus of work eclipsing Shakespeare’s any time soon, or a single writer offering such pleasure, hope and empowerment to people the world over. Although it’s not certain that today is William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, the temptation to align England’s national day with a celebration of Britain’s greatest writer has been so great for so long that there seems little point in quibbling. So a very happy birthday, Will, and a very happy St. George’s Day to you all.

It’s a big one, 450, and it’s being celebrated in a big way. Shakespeare’s Globe, which recently had New York audiences slavering for more in its sold-out run at the Belasco, is taking its production of Hamlet Globe to Globe to every country in the world over the next two years. In New York, the coming weeks will see a variety of performances and parties (see our newsletter here to start planning your calendar), including the fourth annual Sonnet Slam in Central Park on Friday featuring our very own Deputy Consul General, Nick Astbury.

Later in the summer, the Park will play host to the annual Shakespeare in the Park performances, always a sell-out success. As if further proof were needed of the public’s undying Bardlust, I’ve been lucky enough to attend the English-Speaking Union’s National Shakespeare Competition for the last few years, and the enthusiasm (and outrageous talent) of American high-schoolers when it comes to performing Shakespeare’s work seems to guarantee its longevity for at least as long as I’ll be haunting Broadway’s theatres.

Today is also World Book Night in the UK and the US. WBN is an annual celebration-giveaway that will see around three-quarters of a million books delivered into the hands of those who, for whatever reason, aren’t in the habit of reading regularly. It’s a great cause, not least because many studies point towards a positive correlation between reading and good mental health. It’s also a helpful reminder, as we immerse ourselves in celebrating Shakespeare’s infinite virtue, of the quality and breadth of English literature today. Writers from both sides of the Atlantic feature on the WBN lists, from Doris Kearns Goodwin to Adele Parks, Armistead Maupin to John Boyne.

Returning to the stage, we’re also slap-bang in the middle of 59E59’s annual Brits Off Broadway season, an excellent reminder of the extraordinary depth of British theatrical talent. This year’s highlights include the New York premiere of Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s Arrivals and Departures, his 77th play (Shakespeare wrote a mere 37ish, depending on where you draw the scholarly line). And if you’re travelling to London anytime soon, his 33rd, A Small Family Business, is currently being revived at the National Theatre.

Let us celebrate Shakespeare’s big four-five-oh, then, by raising a glass to his greatest legacy: the extraordinary fecundity of English literature in the four and a half centuries since. Pick up a book or get yourself to the theatre and rediscover the magic and power of the word. You won’t regret it!