Culture

The Bard Comes to Guangzhou

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“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?”

We’ve all heard of the famous Shakespeare and at least read one or two of his works. From the star-struck lovers, Romeo and Juliet, to the revenge of Prince Hamlet, Shakespeare should be no foreigner to any students of AISG. Coming to theaters, or should I say Guangzhou Opera House, for 160RMB per ticket are three of Shakespeare’s renowned plays: Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. Starting from March 19th till April 23rd, every Saturday except for the 2nd of April is playing two of the aforementioned Shakespearean plays, one of which, Hamlet, is featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as Prince Hamlet. 

You may be asking, what does this have to do with AISG? How does this concern me? Well, our English teachers are banding together to see how much student interest there is to see these Shakespearean tragedies that are playing in Guangzhou.

Don’t let the words “Opera House” and “Benedict Cumberbatch” trick you, sorry to disappoint, but Mr. Cumberbatch is not coming to Guangzhou. No, in fact this is a live “streaming” for all those who may have jumped up in their seats, but don’t let the fact that Mr. Cumberbatch is not coming to Guangzhou stop you from going to these plays. Despite being a live streaming of a live play instead of a live play, fans of both Mr. Cumberbatch and Shakespeare can enjoy plays that are of literary excellence in a stunning atmosphere as cameras of the play are carefully placed in a position of the auditorium where the “best seat in the house” will be provided to all onlookers. For more information about National Theater Live, see here.

Although Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer of all time, most students don’t know his plays beyond Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. In order to help students who have no knowledge of the other less known plays of Othello and King Lear before students decide to go watch the live streaming, I will provide a brief overview of what to expect. In order to make this a little more interesting than a plain old brief summary, here’s a summary for Othello and King Lear in 10 words or less.

Othello:

Not promoted to lieutenant? Best ruin the general’s life.

King Lear:

King makes mistake and everybody dies. There is no hope.

As mentioned above, the dates are as follows:

Saturday, March 19

  • Hamlet – 2:30pm
  • King Lear – 7:30pm

Saturday, March 26

  • Hamlet – ???
  • Othello – 2:30pm

Saturday, April 9

  • King Lear – 2:30pm
  • Othello – 7:30pm

Saturday, April 16

  • Hamlet – 2:30pm
  • King Lear – 7:30pm

Saturday, April 23

  • Hamlet – 10:00am
  • Othello – 2:30pm
  • King Lear – 7:30pm
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